Stephansdom catacombs

Vienna’s Stephansdom cathedral contains altars, organs, statues, relics, and all the other accumulated treasures of an ancient cathedral. It also houses the remains of around 11,000 people in catacombs you can visit on a tour.

• Intriguing little visit to the cathedral crypts
• Expect coffins. Urns. And bones (lots of them)
• Mix of airy vaults and darker catacombs
• My tour was in German & English
• Tickets available from the guide
• See also:
  • Consider an all-inclusive cathedral and museum ticket*
  • Stephansdom cathedral overview

Tour contents

(The exit from the catacombs photographed in the early 1920s; Wiener Kunstverlag E. Schreier (Producer); Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 106259/3, Excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)

So here’s my experience with a visit below the cathedral…

You first follow the guide down the steps leading into the crypts, mentally preparing for a scene out of some horror movie, only to find yourself in an airy, well-lit chapel that’s regularly used for mass.

The tour proper begins just beyond the chapel in the old parts of the catacombs that date back to the 14th century.

Although over 650 years old, renovations some 50 years ago give this part a clean, modern look. Indeed, bishops and other church personages are still laid to rest there today.

This area of the catacombs includes the Ducal Chamber right under the cathedral’s High Altar. It holds the coffins of Rudolf IV (1339-1365) and his family. As Duke of Austria, Rudolf proved a pivotal figure in the construction of the cathedral form you see today.

Urns containing the Imperial organs of many high-ranking Habsburgs share much of the same space.

For many years, apparently, the remnants of emperors and their ilk got split between three churches.

• The Capuchin Church got the body for the Imperial Crypt
• The Augustinian Church got the heart
• Stephansdom got the remaining internal organs

Lucky Stephansdom.

The tour continues into the “new” parts, built in the 18th century and extending out beyond the limits of the cathedral building above. These are the catacombs Hollywood would have designed: darker, damper, and filled with skulls and other corporeal remains.

Some 30 rooms served for burials between 1745 and 1783, with around 11,000 people finding their last resting place within. Space issues (and the smell) forced their closure.

You peek into rooms filled with scattered bones, including a mass grave for plague victims. All look like something a plucky heroine might discover halfway through a dystopian novel.

The stacks of bones (a space-saving measure) piled high like firewood cannot fail to draw a shudder.

An occasional skull peers out, eye sockets forlorn and accusing…cue an urgent desire to look over your shoulder.

Don’t be the last in line as you exit this area.

You actually end the tour outside the cathedral, the bright light and bustling square a contrast to the still, darker, bone-filled rooms you emerge from.

Tickets & visitor tips

The guide sold/checked tickets at the end of my tour. So don’t follow them down without a ticket or the means to pay for one (€6.00 for an adult at the time of writing).

If you’re doing more than a couple of things in Stephansdom, it makes sense to get an all-inclusive ticket, like the one that covers both towers, access to the main part of the cathedral, and the Dom Museum:

Tours run every 30 minutes to two hours most days: a notice outside the catacombs entrance announces the next tour time. You don’t have to book ahead – just join a tour. Check current times here.

• My tour was bilingual – the tour guide said everything in German and English

• We went round in about 20 minutes, but it was a small group and the guide only needed to use English most of the time. So set aside a little longer otherwise

• Most of the tour route takes you through fairly wide, bright rooms and corridors, but expect one or two uneven floors, darker areas and steps, too

• Should you wish to tick off a couple more boxes on your list of Vienna crypts, then consider:
  • The Imperial Crypt (mentioned above) contains dozens of Emperors, Empresses and similar. Full of spectacular coffins
  • The Michaelerkirche church often offers tours of its crypts

How to get to the catacombs

See the main Stephansdom article for travel tips. Once inside, head up the north side of the cathedral, where there is public access. Keep going past the entrance to the North Tower and you’ll see steps down and the Meeting Point notice on the left just before the end barrier. Wait there for the guide.

Address: Stephansplatz, 1010 Vienna