The Sheet Metal Worker Angela Stadtherr: Creating St. Stephen's Weather Vane in Vienna

This feature details the creation and installation of a new copper weather vane for St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna in 1950. It highlights Angela Stadtherr, the artist and sheet metal worker behind the over-meter-tall 'giant bird,' who was Vienna's only female construction and fancy sheet metal worker at the time. The piece delves into her artistic background, her other works, and the significant media attention her role as a woman in a male-dominated profession garnered during the installation.

In 1950, the St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna received a new weather vane, a copper 'giant bird' measuring over a meter in height, installed at an impressive 70 meters. The creator of this significant piece was Angela Stadtherr (1899–1983), who held the distinction of being Vienna's only female construction and fancy sheet metal worker at the time. Stadtherr, a graduate of the School of Applied Arts under the sculptor Anton Hanak, had inherited her father's workshop and specialized in both functional items like gutters and cans, as well as more artistic endeavors. Her artistic career included participation in the 1925 Paris International Exhibition of Decorative Arts and numerous sculptures and reliefs throughout her later years, including art for public housing in Vienna. The intricate work on the cathedral's weather vane, a restoration based on an older design for Dombaumeister Karl Holey, spanned several weeks. The mounting of the multi-hundred-kilogram weather symbol was a media event, documented by press photographers and newsreels. Much of the high media interest was attributed to Stadtherr's unique position as the sole woman in a heavily male-dominated trade, with many articles highlighting that 'a woman stands her ground,' reflecting contemporary societal views on women in 'classic male professions.'