The pulpit

The pulpit, a Late Gothic masterpiece in limestone from Breitenbrunn, can be found on the north side of the central nave. The base, like a stone flower dissected by a six-pointed star, supports a ‘stem’ decorated with apostles and saints and the swell of the pulpit, on which can be found the busts of the 4 Latin Church Fathers. The steps up to the pulpit wind round the pillar with all their Gothic tracery; on the hand rail, frogs and lizards are fighting their way up too. Tucked away beneath the pulpit is the portrait of a medieval master builder, clearly recognisable by his compass and angle measure.

The pulpit is the scene of many a dramatic set-to, in the last century as well as during the Reformation. On October 7, 1938 Cardinal Innitzer makes his famous appeal to the youth: “You have only one Führer, Jesus Christ”. Innitzer, who had previously supported Austria joining Nazi Germany, nearly paid for the comment with his life; the Archbishop’s Palais is stormed by an angry Hitler Youth shortly afterwards.