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| Crowned bust of Rudolf IV von Habsburg, Duke of Austria on a 100 Schilling silver coin of the Republic of Austria |
Austria 100 Schilling silver coin 2001 Duke Rudolf IV
Obverse: University teaching scene
Obverse Designer: Thomas Pesendorfer
Reverse: Crowned bust of Rudolf IV von Habsburg, Duke of Austria, St. Stephen's Cathedral at left
Reverse Designer: Herbert Wähner
Edge Description: Reeded
Rudolf IV of Austria. This portrait is the first half frontal portrait of the Occident. It had been on display above his grave in the Stephansdom of Vienna for several decades after his death, but can now be seen in the Museum of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna. Apart from the (invented) archdukal crown, the foreshortening of which the artist did not completely master, the portrait is completely realistic.
Fineness: 0.9000
Weight: 20 gramm
ASW: 0.5787oz
Diameter: 34mm
1365 Rudolf IV "The founder" founded the University in Vienna, the second oldest in the German-speaking countries (Prague 1348). Herbert Wähner chose the lower part of Vienna's oldest university seal (1366-1398) as a motive. It is a medieval lecture. The teacher is sitting on a wooden chair decorated in front of him a great book. His students sit attentively at his feet, some of them already mature bearded men. The establishment of universities in Europe as centers of learning was a key feature of the Middle Ages.
Rudolf IV. "The Founder" was chosen as the representative motif for the Middle Ages in Austria. A sandstone figure at Singertor the Vienna St. Stephen's Cathedral was Thomas Pesendorfer, acting as a template for the Münzporträt. The Austrian Duke carries a notched crown with bow, which he himself had introduced as Erzherzogshut. In his right hand he holds a model of Stephen's Cathedral, the expansion and decoration was very encouraged by it. Austria under the Habsburgs had become an important part of the Holy Roman Empire. Its ruler considered himself the greatest of the princes of the empire as equivalent.