Structures - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 1968 - 2 Shilling

Klagenfurt, the provincial capital of Carinthia, has a monument that is known far beyond Austria's borders - the Lindwurm on Neuer Platz. It has become a memorial, a little transformed image of the city's seal and at the same time the visible expression of the local legend, which tells that the place that Klagenfurt occupies today was once a desolate wetland. In this swamp - as the legend says - a dreadful dragon lived and got some fat oxen from the surrounding pastures. The duke erected a tower on the edge of the moors and promised the one who would succeed in rendering the monster harmless, both the tower and other wages. Some stout servants then tied a fat bull to a chain in the tower and hid a strong barb that ended with the chain, under the wool of the ox. Then, as the dragon sank down the bull full of greed, he suddenly got stuck. The servants hurried up and killed him with their clubs. Afterwards, the oldest settlement was created around the scene of the desperate dragon fight, from which Klagenfurt finally developed. The oldest surviving seal of the city, which dates back to 1287, has the lynx as a coat of arms: not the one of the memorial on the special stamp, but an animal, half worm and half griffin, with bird wings and two bird claws.