vienna112
vienna112
The Wiener Neustädter Altar



This altar at the head of the north nave was made in 1447 on the orders of Emperor Frederick III, whose tomb is opposite it, at the head of the south nave. On the predella is his famous A.E.I.O.U. device (an acronym that may have stood for the Latin inscription "Austria erit in orbe ultima - Austria will be forever").

Frederick ordered it for the Cistercian Viktring Abbey (near Klagenfurt) where it remained until the abbey was closed in 1786 as part of Emperor Joseph II's anti-clerical reforms. It was then sent to the Cistercian monastery of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (founded by Emperor Frederick III) in the city of Wiener Neustadt, and finally sold in 1885 to St Stephens’ when the Wiener Neustadt monastery was closed after merging with Heiligenkreuz Abbey.

The altarpiece is composed of two triptychs, the upper being four times taller than the lower one. When the lower panels are opened, the gothic grate of the former reliquary depot above the altar is revealed.

On weekdays, the four panels are closed and display a drab painted scene involving 72 saints. On Sundays, the panels are opened showing gilded wooden figures depicting events in the life of the Virgin Mary.