Wiener Neustädter Altar In St. Stephen`s Cathedral Stephansdom, Vienna Wien, Austria Österreich Royalty-Free Stock Photo

The Wiener Neustädter Altar at the head of the north nave was ordered in 1447 by Emperor Frederick III, whose tomb is located in the opposite direction. On the predella is his famous A.E.I.O.U. device. 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. Stephen`s Cathedral when the Wiener Neustadt monastery was closed after merging with Heiligenkreuz Abbey.