I arrived at the subway station Stephansplatz, where my first stop was not the famous cathedral, but a less known location underground, directly within the subway station: Vergilius Chapel, an underground chapel built in the 13th century. The remains of the wall paintings depict equal-armed crosses within circles, which can be interpreted, according to C. G. Jung ("Man and His Symbols"), as a symbol of the union between the material and the spiritual - while the more familiar Latin cross puts a greater emphasis on the spiritual component (ibid.). This cross-variant is surely fitting for a place that may have been originally intended as underground crypt for the remains of Saint Coloman.
Being already at Stephansplatz, I had to take a quick look at the cathedral of course, but only from the outside since it was the day of the inauguration of the new archbishop.
I continued to Schwedenplatz, where I ate lunch and passed more by chance than intention St. Rupert's Church, one of the oldest churches in Vienna (the title of "oldest church" is disputed).
The square around the church is silent, apart from a couple of passers-by I'm the only one here. It's probably much more crowded here in summer.
After lunch I walk by Maria am Gestade, a nice Gothic church in the inner city.
From the middle ages, I get unexpectedly thrown back into Antiquity, as a statue of my favorite goddess near the church catches my eye. Turns out, it's a promotion for the European congress of radiology taking place this year in Vienna.
But back to Medieval Vienna! My next stop is a pretty inconspicuous house at Tuchlauben - only a plaque on the wall indicates that it contains a museum: The Neidhart Festsaal. The doors are closed even during opening hours, you need to ring the bell to get in. The museum is one room on the upper floor - but despite the small size it's well worth the visit. The room was a dance hall dating back to the 15th century and contains wall paintings referring to scenes from 13th century minstrel Neidhart von Reuental.
By the way, Neidhart Festsaal is temporarily closed from 2nd March 2026, so you need to hurry up when you still want to visit it. I end my tour at the Wien Museum Karlsplatz, where it take a stroll through the part of the exhibition dedicated to the middle ages.
If you like that pavise, you can take a look at more of these shields in the online collection of the Wien Museum.
