5 Euros Pummerin Bell

The Pummerin — Austria's largest bell, hanging in the north tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna — was recast in 1951 from the metal of its predecessor, which crashed to the ground and shattered when the cathedral burned during the final days of fighting in Vienna in April 1945. The recasting used bronze from the original fragments, making the bell itself a physical record of the war's destruction. Upper Austria donated the new bell to Vienna, a gesture that carried considerable political weight in a country still navigating postwar reconstruction and occupation by four Allied powers.

The bell rings publicly only on New Year's Eve, which amplifies its ceremonial status well beyond its physical presence.