Austria: virtual tour inside Vienna’s Cathedral. Fr Faber (parish priest), “the Church has to keep up with the times”

St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna can now also be explored virtually: from the attic to the catacombs, from the nave to the north tower to the famous Pummerin. The cultural platform “Discover-Culture” – a project by the Benedictine Abbey of Admont and the online marketing agency “LightCyde” – has captured the landmark of Vienna on digital media. Virtual tours provide insights that would normally remain hidden, video sequences and audio tracks, like those by the Cathedral’s priest, Toni Faber, as well as general information and special contents, such as about the secret of the tower’s golden ball, according to a statement from Admont Abbey. The offer “is not seen as a competition with the on-site visit, but rather as a supplement”, explained Mario Brandmüller, economic director at Admont Abbey. Virtual tours on the cultural platform are intended to “reach a completely new audience” and should “above all encourage visits to the original sites”, said Brandmüller. The Cathedral’s priest, Fr Toni Faber, explained that the virtual visit is a unique opportunity “to discover how rich and different the treasures of the Cathedral are”, and he stressed: “I believe that the Church simply needs to keep up with the times”. The aim of the project is to make cultural treasures accessible to a wide public. With the help of a special 360-degree camera, every corner of the Viennese landmark was captured.
Valentina Bombelli