Look at the tower in front of you and compare it with the one on the other side. The south tower is 136 metres tall and was finished in 1433. This one, the north tower, stopped at 68 metres and wears a cap from 1578 that looks like a hat put on in a hurry.

1What the documents say

The master builder Hans Puchsbaum laid its foundations in 1450 and died in 1454. Work went slowly and stopped in the early 16th century: money was short, Gothic was going out of fashion and the Turks were threatening Vienna. Since 1957 it has housed the Pummerin, the great bell cast in 1951 from the metal of its predecessor, which shattered in the 1945 fire.

2What legend says

The popular version claims Puchsbaum wanted to marry his master's daughter and, to win her, had to finish the tower in an impossible time. The devil offered to help on one condition: he must never speak a holy name. When he saw his fiancée crossing the square he called out to her, Maria, and the scaffolding collapsed. As early as 1722 a Viennese writer rejected the story, which may echo a real building accident.

At the east end of the cathedral another tale awaits: that of the Zahnwehherrgott, the Lord of the Toothache.

It is a Christ from around 1420; the one in the niche is a faithful copy, and the original is kept inside, in the north tower hall. Tradition says some drunken young men mocked it because it had a cloth tied round its face, and that same night they were struck by terrible toothache that only went away when they begged its forgiveness.

3What to look for

  • The Renaissance cap of the north tower.
  • The eagle on the roof in the coloured tiles on the north side.
  • The Zahnwehherrgott, in its niche at the east end.
The Zahnwehherrgott, a half-length Christ crowned with thorns
The original figure, around 1420, now kept inside the cathedral.

Documented

Puchsbaum laid the north tower's foundations in 1450 and died in 1454; the tower was left unfinished in the early 16th century and capped in 1578; the Pummerin has hung in it since 1957.

Oral tradition

Puchsbaum's pact with the devil and the punishment of those who mocked the Zahnwehherrgott belong to popular tradition.

Sources and credits

St Stephen's Cathedral (stephanskirche.at); Dombauhütte St. Stephan, history of the towers; Wien Geschichte Wiki, entries "Hans Puchsbaum" and "Pummerin".

Photos:

  • The unfinished north tower of St Stephen's Cathedral, with its octagonal cap and the Capistrano pulpit on the left: Falk2, CC BY-SA 4.0.
  • The Zahnwehherrgott, a half-length Christ crowned with thorns: Palickap, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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