Spinnerin am Kreuz, Austria   

This is an used pin still in great condition.  These items measure approx 3.0 cm high by 1.0 cm wide with a bar pin style back.

The German name Spinnerin am Kreuz ("Spinner at the Cross") is the title given to two separate Austrian stone-tower sculptures (over 600-years-old), one in Vienna and the other in the nearby city of Wiener Neustadt ("New Vienna") They are related to the story of a wife spinning beside a cross. 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.

The first Spinnerin am Kreuz is located in Vienna's 10th district (Favoriten), 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 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 pillar on an octagonal cross-shaped floor plan. The tower is decorated with pinnacles plus baldachins, with groups of figures in the baldachins (The Crucifixion, The Scourging Of Christ, Christ Crowned With Thorns, Ecce Homo). 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.