The German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 name Spinnerin am Kreuz ("Spinner at the Cross") is the title given to two separate Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n stone-tower sculptures (over 600-years-old), one in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 and the other in the nearby city of Wiener Neustadt

Wiener Neustadt

-Main sights:* The Late-Romanesque Dom, consecrated in 1279 and cathedral from 1469 to 1785. The choir and transept, in Gothic style, are from the 14th century. In the late 15th century 12 statues of the Apostles were added in the apse, while the bust of Cardinal Melchior Klesl is attributed to...

 ("New Vienna"). They are related to the story of a wife spinning beside a cross

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

. Both columns had been designed originally by Meister Michael Knab:

• in Vienna, the stone tower was built in 1375, rebuilt c.1452;
• in Wiener Neustadt, the stone tower was built in 1382-84.

Both stone-towers were rebuilt or renovated to survive into the 21st century.

Stone tower in Vienna

The first Spinnerin am Kreuz is located in Vienna's 10th district (Favoriten

Favoriten

Favoriten, the 10th district of Vienna, Austria , is located south of the central districts. It is south of Innere Stadt, Wieden and Margareten...

), as a legendary old landmark on Wienerberg hill. It was erected in 1375, according to plans by stonemason Meister Michael Knab, but was temporarily destroyed in 1446. Five years later, in 1451/52 (?), it was re-erected in a new design, still using the old foundations, by Hans Puchsbaum. (He also designed the short spire on Stephansdom

Stephansdom

St. Stephen's Cathedral is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP...

 cathedral.) The purpose of this limestone pillar was to mark the southern border of Vienna and also provide a navigational landmark for faring folk. Before the limestone bildstock was created, a wooden column had stood at this site, first mentioned in a document from 1296.

The stone tower is a tall yet elaborately structured tabernacle

Church tabernacle

A tabernacle is the fixed, locked box in which, in some Christian churches, the Eucharist is "reserved" . A less obvious container, set into the wall, is called an aumbry....

 pillar on an octagonal cross-shaped floor plan. The tower is decorated with pinnacle

Pinnacle

A pinnacle is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire...

s plus baldachin

Baldachin

A baldachin, or baldaquin , is a canopy of state over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over high altars in cathedrals, where such a structure is more correctly called a ciborium when it is...

s, with groups of figures in the baldachins (The Crucifixion, The Scourging Of Christ, Christ Crowned With Thorns, Ecce Homo

Ecce Homo

Ecce Homo are the Latin words used by Pontius Pilate in the Vulgate translation of the , when he presents a scourged Jesus Christ, bound and crowned with thorns, to a hostile crowd shortly before his Crucifixion. The original Greek is Ἰδοὺ ὁ ἄνθρωπος . The King James Version translates the phrase...

). The general area of Wienerberg hill had been used as a place of execution (mostly by hanging) until the year 1747 and during 1804-1868. The Vienna tower has been restored or renovated several times.

Stone tower in Wiener Neustadt

The second Spinnerin am Kreuz is located in the city of Wiener Neustadt

Wiener Neustadt

-Main sights:* The Late-Romanesque Dom, consecrated in 1279 and cathedral from 1469 to 1785. The choir and transept, in Gothic style, are from the 14th century. In the late 15th century 12 statues of the Apostles were added in the apse, while the bust of Cardinal Melchior Klesl is attributed to...

 (Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

), some distance south of Vienna. The 2nd stone-tower was erected by Meister M. Knab (who designed the first tower), outside of the town (in front of the Wiener Tor gate), during 1382-1384. The tower is 21 m (69 ft) high, consisting of four tapering elements, and richly ornamented with figures. Among the figures are statues of saints, reliefs depicting scenes about the Passion of Christ, and coats of arms. Other figures are relief busts of the master builder

Master Builder

Master Builder can refer to:* Master builder, also "master mason", a central figure leading construction projects in pre-modern times .* The Master Builder, a play by Henrik Ibsen....

 and the founder, plus their wives.

Story of the spinning wife

There is a well-known legend that relates the tale of the Spinnerin am Kreuz:

A merchant's wife, after he had left for a Holy Land Crusade, had come to the site every day to sit by a cross and work with her spinning wheel, while waiting for her husband to return. As she sat at the cross and prayed for her husband's safety, she also promised to use the money she earned, by spinning wool, to donate a piety column (a Bildstock).

Long after the crusade had ended, her husband had not returned to Vienna. Everyone advised the woman to forget about the man and marry again; however, the faithful wife continued to spin at the cross, and waited until, finally, one day her husband actually did return. In gratitude, the couple endowed the building of the Spinnerin am Kreuz to thank God for the husband's safe return.

In modern times, both towers bear the name Spinnerin am Kreuz and were built within 9 years of each other.

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