have wanted to. We bypassed the area, almost immediately, and gave our backs to the crowds as we strolled down and headed to St. Stephen Cathedral. As time slipped by, I began to realize how much Bauer and I have failed to have any proper conversations ever since we left the Museum. Yet, his preference to resort to silence did not bother me that much. It actually gave me an ample the opportunity to savour the sights and smells of my first ever visit to the city.
As we drew nearer, I felt as if I could almost taste the cathedral’s distinctive atmospheric ambiance that just got transferred to all of our surroundings. The massive structure had an undeniable presence. So much that I found myself intuitionally drawn to the left and instantly feeling dwarfed by its captivating magnificence, obliged to even stop and stare in admiration for one long breath-taking moment. The structure was, without a doubt, the ultimate offspring of a brilliant fusion of Gothic and Romanesque architecture.
The bell tolls reminded me of how Beethoven had discovered his complete deafness right here in this very same spot. The story goes that he had seen birds flying out of one of these towers, alarmed by the loud dings, which he himself had failed to hear. The cathedral’s most glorious feature, however, was its glazed ornately patterned colourful roof carrying the Habsburg dynasty insignia. The same family, which its name now adorns the palace we had just left about thirty minutes earlier.
“This way, child.” Bauer whispered and I closely followed him. We arrived at the cathedral’s main door, for some reason they called it the Giant’s Door ; Bauer did not really have the time to explain. I noticed three altars at the far end of the cathedral where the Archbishop’s Throne was situated. The cathedral’s layout was designed in a Cross shape, just like all medieval churches, while the crypts and catacombs sprawled in the basement beneath us. As holy as this place can be, I could not still prevent the eerie chill that ran through my bones.
Bauer turned to me as he led our passage across some seated worshippers then our hike up a stone spiral staircase that bathed in sunlight and prancing dust speckles. He was setting the stage for something; yet another one of his argumentative antics.
“What do you know about the relationship between the Vatican and the Austrian church?” He asked.
“Enough to know that there had been quite some turbulences starting with Vienna’s diocese inauguration and ending with the recent and on-going Austrian Bishops’ Call to Disobedience.” I replied while unbuttoning my coat. They certainly had one efficient heating system .
“Emperor Fredrick did prevail upon Pope Paul II to grant Vienna its own bishop, that is true, but that was a long six centuries ago. Today however, the real turmoil lays in managing the crisis created by the ‘Call to Disobedience’. I have to admit that if our religion had taught us anything it’s that ideas have, over and over again, proved extremely hard to thwart.” He then added before opening his office’s seemingly heavy ornate wooden door: “I must admit that they are, in their very own way, trying to keep up with the times that are constantly changing. So to an extent, I reservedly understand their cause . ”
I seriously doubted that he shared those views with the Archbishop of Vienna.
The heavy door swung open, smoothly, without the slightest creak. They were well funded. Well at least enough to carry out even the smallest of maintenance nuisances. Inside his office sat another priest, with an exotic complexion, on one of two Louis XVI dark brown wooden chairs. Bauer must have trusted that man so much that he would leave him
As we drew nearer, I felt as if I could almost taste the cathedral’s distinctive atmospheric ambiance that just got transferred to all of our surroundings. The massive structure had an undeniable presence. So much that I found myself intuitionally drawn to the left and instantly feeling dwarfed by its captivating magnificence, obliged to even stop and stare in admiration for one long breath-taking moment. The structure was, without a doubt, the ultimate offspring of a brilliant fusion of Gothic and Romanesque architecture.
The bell tolls reminded me of how Beethoven had discovered his complete deafness right here in this very same spot. The story goes that he had seen birds flying out of one of these towers, alarmed by the loud dings, which he himself had failed to hear. The cathedral’s most glorious feature, however, was its glazed ornately patterned colourful roof carrying the Habsburg dynasty insignia. The same family, which its name now adorns the palace we had just left about thirty minutes earlier.
“This way, child.” Bauer whispered and I closely followed him. We arrived at the cathedral’s main door, for some reason they called it the Giant’s Door ; Bauer did not really have the time to explain. I noticed three altars at the far end of the cathedral where the Archbishop’s Throne was situated. The cathedral’s layout was designed in a Cross shape, just like all medieval churches, while the crypts and catacombs sprawled in the basement beneath us. As holy as this place can be, I could not still prevent the eerie chill that ran through my bones.
Bauer turned to me as he led our passage across some seated worshippers then our hike up a stone spiral staircase that bathed in sunlight and prancing dust speckles. He was setting the stage for something; yet another one of his argumentative antics.
“What do you know about the relationship between the Vatican and the Austrian church?” He asked.
“Enough to know that there had been quite some turbulences starting with Vienna’s diocese inauguration and ending with the recent and on-going Austrian Bishops’ Call to Disobedience.” I replied while unbuttoning my coat. They certainly had one efficient heating system .
“Emperor Fredrick did prevail upon Pope Paul II to grant Vienna its own bishop, that is true, but that was a long six centuries ago. Today however, the real turmoil lays in managing the crisis created by the ‘Call to Disobedience’. I have to admit that if our religion had taught us anything it’s that ideas have, over and over again, proved extremely hard to thwart.” He then added before opening his office’s seemingly heavy ornate wooden door: “I must admit that they are, in their very own way, trying to keep up with the times that are constantly changing. So to an extent, I reservedly understand their cause . ”
I seriously doubted that he shared those views with the Archbishop of Vienna.
The heavy door swung open, smoothly, without the slightest creak. They were well funded. Well at least enough to carry out even the smallest of maintenance nuisances. Inside his office sat another priest, with an exotic complexion, on one of two Louis XVI dark brown wooden chairs. Bauer must have trusted that man so much that he would leave him
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