Heldenplatz

Heldenplatz is a historic plaza in Vienna that is part of the grounds of the Imperial Palace.The Federal President lives in the adjacent Hofburg, while the Federal Chancellor lives on Ballhausplatz, which connects to the Heldenplatz.Because the north-west wing of the Neue Burg, which was planned as part of the Kaiserforum, was never erected, the Heldenplatz is not technically closed to the Volksgarten.

For decades, on the occasion of the Austrian national holiday on October 25th and 26th, a military event has been staged on the Heldenplatz.On October 26, the Federal President conducts the usual inauguration ceremony.

The responsible army ordered the memorial chambers cleared after a concealed Nazi booklet was discovered in the memorial to the slain soldier in 2012 and the names of SS personnel were uncovered in the books of the dead.

On May 8, 2013, the army staged a vigil for the victims of National Socialism on Heldenplatz for the first time to commemorate the 68th anniversary of freedom from National Socialism.In addition, a festival of pleasure with a huge festival concert by the Wiener Symphoniker took place for the first time on Heldenplatz with free entrance, as organized by the Mauthausen Committee Austria and the Wiener Symphoniker.This event has been held every year since then, draws around 15,000 people, and has been televised on television since 2015.

Because the parliament building will be restored from 2017 to 2022, two temporary pavilions have been built on Heroes’ Square to house offices and public relations.Archaeologists assisted the excavation effort, with the remnants of the castle gate uncovered in the summer of 2016.The structures will be demolished once more by the summer of 2023.

In recent years, Heldenplatz has hosted several large events.The “Sea of Lights” rally on January 23, 1993, was the largest in Austrian history.A Letter To The Stars flew tens of thousands of white balloons bearing letters to Nazi victims on May 5, 2003.

Over 100,000 people attended Voices for Refugees, a solidarity concert for asylum seekers, on October 3, 2015.Annually repeating activities include, for example, the army and emergency services performance show on the national holiday and the hands-on demonstration on Sports Day.During the summer, Friday Night Skating begins and concludes on the square’s paved area.On June 30, 2018, over 100,000 people joined the last protest of a trade union demonstration against the 12-hour day at Heroes’ Square.Since December 2018, Fridays for Future has held regular climate strikes at Heldenplatz. The largest thus far (as of February 2020) took place on September 27, 2019, with up to 80,000 people taking part.

History

Following the Napoleonic War of the Fifth Coalition, Austria’s loss at the Battle of Wagram in 1809, and the Treaty of Schönbrunn, the surviving bastions of Hofburg Palace were slighted and replaced by a curtain wall with the still-preserved Outer Castle Gate (ußeres Burgtor). Several squares and gardens, notably the Volksgarten public park, were built within the Hofburg walls.

The current Heldenplatz on the ancient outer plaza of the Hofburg was created during Emperor Francis Joseph’s reign as part of the magnificent Ringstraße boulevard project. However, the proposed Kaiserforum (imperial forum) was never constructed. From 1864 through 1869, notable architects such as Carl von Hasenauer, Theophil Hansen, and Heinrich Ferstel competed by submitting their drafts, which were eventually surpassed by Gottfried Semper in 1869.

Semper created a large-scale ‘general plan’ that stretched from the Leopold Wing of Hofburg Palace in the northeast beyond the Ringstraße to Maria-Theresien-Platz between the mirror-imaged buildings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Naturhistorisches Museum, up to the Museumsquartier in the southwest. Construction began in 1871, and the Neue Burg Wing was completed in 1881. The northern section of the Volksgarten park remained incomplete when the masons’ work halted in 1913. It provides a panoramic view of the Ringstraße, which includes the Austrian Parliament Building, the Rathaus (town hall), and the Burgtheater.

Two equestrian sculptures created by Anton Dominik Fernkorn with socles by Eduard van der Nüll stand in the plaza. The Archduke Charles of Austria monument, based on a famous painting by Johann Peter Krafft, was dedicated in 1860. It was intended to exalt the Habsburg family as great Austrian military commanders and to highlight Austria’s leadership within the German Confederation, despite the fact that they had recently suffered a catastrophic loss at the terrible Battle of Solferino. The second statue of Prince Eugene of Savoy was unveiled in 1865, a year before Austria’s defeat at the Battle of Königgrätz.

When the defense walls were demolished, the Outer Castle Gate on the south side remained intact. It was erected in 1824 by Pietro Nobile on designs prepared by Luigi Cagnola and inaugurated by Emperor Francis I of Austria in honor of Napoleonic War soldiers. It was renovated as a war monument in 1933/34 and currently contains the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Vienna, Austria