In continuation of the popular “Churches in Austria” series, the present commemorative addresses the 700th anniversary of the foundation of the main church in Baden, an elegant Biedermeier town south of Vienna. The stamp shows a delightful painting of the old presbytery by a German painter and graphic artist called Paul Hey (1867-1952).
The first documentary mention of a priest in Baden dates back to 1220, and although no mention is made of the position he held, he might have been the chaplain at Baden Castle. When nearby Traiskirchen and all its subsidiary churches were placed under the control of Melk Monastery in 1312, now exactly 700 years ago, Baden obtained its release. As an independent parish, initially still under the patronage of Melk, the territory was transferred to theArchbishopric of Vienna in 1729, until then having belonged to Passau. In 1784, finally, Baden became a parish church in its own right.
The long and eventful past of this church is also reflected in many different style elements in the building. From the Romanesque, for instance, we still find representations of animal heads under the vaults of the central nave, while the baptismal font and a number of individual figures on the church walls and the south portal date from the Gothic. A number of funerary monuments have survived from the Renaissance, some of which are attached to the columns of the church. In the course of the 18th century, again, a number of side altars were introduced into the church nave, in particular the Sebastian Altar, endowed by the citizens of Baden in memory of the plague year 1713, as testified by a votive panel that today hangs above the sacristy exit. Traces of the Baroque can be found above all in the altar painting, which shows the stoning of St Stephen, and in the valuable sacristy cabinet dating from 1743. Towards the end of the 19th century, finally, extensive re-gothicisation works were begun, during which the Neo-gothic panelling and the choir stalls were made.
The impressive organ, transferred to the church in 1787, was originally built for the church of St Dorothy in Vienna. When it was restored in 1987, the original keys on which Mozart and probably also Beethoven played, were reinstalled. Mozart himself gave the spa town Baden a worthy souvenir in the form of his famous “Ave Verum”, which was specially composed for this church.
the attachments to this post:
St.Stephan-Baden
Pentru a putea adăuga comentarii trebuie să fii membru al altmarius !
Alătură-te reţelei altmarius