Monuments in Vienna
Beethoven Monument
The cultural heart of Austria, Vienna, has several sites reflecting its artistic past. Honoring the city’s strong ties to classical music, the Beethoven Monument pays especially respect to the honored composer, Ludwig van Beethoven. Carefully crafted with unmatched artistic ability, the monument captures Beethoven’s genius and his ongoing impact on the field of music.
Tucked in the peace of Beethovenplatz, close to Vienna’s old center, the Beethoven Monument is an arresting piece of art. Revealed on May 12, 1880, during a gathering of renowned officials and passionate music lovers, the monument was created by the great sculptor Kaspar von Zumbusch.
Rising over seven meters, the bronze monument radiates grandeur and respect. From the painstakingly created facial features to the beautifully flowing clothing, Zumbusch’s exquisite workmanship is seen in the minute details adornning every surface of the monument. Serving as an eternal homage to Beethoven’s great musical heritage, the artwork effectively captures his spirit and core.
Holocaust Memorial
English artist Rachel Whiteread came up with a touching monument in 1998 to pay tribute to Holocaust victims in Austria. A sobering reminder of the lives lost, the memorial is a stark concrete cube. Countless petrified books, each representing a different victim and their own story, cover its outside.
Built from reinforced concrete, the memorial’s towering form rises to a height of 3.8 meters from its base at 7.5 meters. Though a symbolic gate graces the front, the memorial itself stays out of reach, maybe reflecting the sad destiny of those it honors.
Crucially part of the memorial is an accompanying display kept at the Mizrachi residence. This all-encompassing exhibition explores the horrific events of the Holocaust and offers thorough details on the persecution and sad end for 65,000 Austrian Jews. For guests, the exhibition—which is organized in cooperation with the Jewish community of Vienna and the Austrian Resistance Documentation Archive—is a teaching tool.
Local people opposed the memorial despite its good intentions since they worried about the visual effect it would have on the surroundings. This sparked a campaign aiming at maintaining the alleged beauty of the area.
Pope Benedict XVI visited the memorial during his official tour to Austria in 2007, therefore confirming its relevance in honoring the Holocaust victims.
Heroes' Monument of the Red Army
The Monument to the Heroes of the Soviet Army is a constant reminder of the Soviet troops who gave their last sacrifice freeing Austria from Nazi rule on Vienna’s Schwarzenbergplatz. Major General Dmitry Trofimowicz Shepilov of the Red Army’s initiative and direction helped to bring this homage to pass.
Designed by Major S. G. Yakovlev and sculpted by Junior Lieutenant M. A. Intezaryan, with Sheinfeld’s engineering knowledge guiding construction, this monument is an arresting piece of workmanship. Strategically meant to confirm their post-war negotiation posture with allied forces, the instruction for the second and third Ukrainian fronts to start an offensive on Vienna in February 1945 was a military move. Launched on March 16, 1945, this Vienna attack resulted in the effective city liberation on April 14, 1945.
A 12-meter pedestal topped by a Red Army soldier is the monument’s center point. This man represents bravery with his golden helmet and letters PPSh-41 inscribed on it. A semicircular colonnade elegantly encloses the pedestal and its monument, therefore highlighting the architectural grandeur of the memorial.
Mozart Monument
Towering 7.5-meter statue in the middle of Vienna’s Burggarten bears witness to the unmatched brilliance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Originally shown on Albrechtsplatz in 1896, just five days following Tilgner’s death, this striking monument was created by visionary architect Karl König and sculpted by virtuoso Viktor Tilgner.
Carefully created from beautiful Lasa marble, the monument’s sculptures lie atop a base of strong black diorite stairs. A moving emblem of Mozart’s ongoing power and influence, a music stand topped with masks, wreaths, and putti figurines rests on the pedestal. The monument also has a moving portrait of Mozart at the young age of six and a relief illustrating scenes from his famous opera “Don Giovanni.”
Established a remarkable 77 years before the monument’s opening, the Mozart Monument Fund had many difficulties in relation to the location and design. Sadly, during an air strike in 1945 the monument suffered damage. But it was painstakingly rebuilt and moved to the Burggarten on June 5, 1953. Two St. Margarethen sand-lime brick pillars and a unique flower border in the form of a clef encircling the memorial added even more enhancement.
Vienna Plague Column
Situated in the heart of Vienna, a soaring baroque monument is evidence of faith and resiliency. Conceived during the terrible plague epidemic of 1679, the 21-meter-high Vienna Plague Column is a Trinity Column. In a passionate vow, Emperor Leopold I promised to build this pillar of kindness once the epidemic passed.
Artist Johann Frühwirth first displayed a temporary wooden column with nine angelic figures and a mercy seat on top of a Corinthian pillar. Working from the imaginative program of theater engineer Lodovico Ottavio Burnacini, Matthias Rauchmiller, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, and Paul Strudel turned out a marble masterpiece.
Burnacini’s magnificent design imagined a cloud pyramid sustaining the Trinity flanked by ethereal angel figures and a depiction of faith, with Emperor Leopold personally shown in supplication. Notwithstanding the extended building time, several changes, and the participation of several artists, the monument shows a great coherence. From a modest devotional column, it developed into a brilliant high-baroque show marking the beginning of a new creative era.
Replaced all over the realm, the Viennese plague column came to represent a classic archetype. Its significance was strengthened even further during World War II when it was painstakingly covered to protect it from unintended damage. This amazing monument is a moving testament of human will against hardship.
Prince Eugen Equestrian Monument
Made of bronze, this great equestrian monument honors Austrian House general Prince Eugen von Savoy. Unveiled in 1865 in Heldenplatz in Vienna, Austria, the monument was a joint work by Anton Dominik Fernkorn and his pupil Franz Pönninger.
Though he had health issues, Fernkorn was crucial in forming the monument’s models. But Pönninger was assigned the project’s completion since Fernkorn’s health was worsening. This amazing tribute resulted from the 448 hundredweight of ore contribution of the arsenal and a total cost of 310,53 fl.
The design of the monument consists in a four-sided rectangular base with corner volutes resting on a four-sided pedestal with beveled sides. Master stonemason from Viennese descent Joseph Kranner realized this complex design.
Further adding to its appeal are etched plaques and metal appliqués on the monument. Human figures, fruits, coats of arms, and battle titles are just a few of the varied subjects these decorative accents highlight. On the back side, lions abound in the Savoy coat of arms, etched there.
On October 18, 1865, Emperor Franz Joseph I opened this great monument honoring Prince Eugen von Savoy’s 202nd birthday. Apart from being evidence of the general military capability, the Prince Eugen Equestrian Monument is a masterwork of creative cooperation and workmanship.
Johann Strauss Monument
Tucked down in Vienna’s Stadtpark, the Johann Strauss Monument is a cherished memorial to the Waltz King, Johann Strauss Sohn. Rising on a Lasa marble pedestal, the gilded bronze monument perfectly embodies Strauss in mid-waltz, violin in hand. Appropriate for this musical icon is a magnificent Lasa marble arch with reliefs of leaves and dancing couples.
Inspired four years after Strauss’s death, Princess Rosa Croy-Sternberg and her committee started the monument. Originally thought of as the Franz-Josefs-Kai, the current site was decided upon in 1907. Originally pledged in 1905, the 10,000 crowns that the Vienna City Council contributed finally were distributed in 1913. Prominent sculptors Franz Metzner, Edmund Hellmer, and architect Alfred Castelliz took part in a 1906 competition.
Along with a Vienna Philharmonic concert, the monument’s great opening took place in 1921. The monument has been restored over time; faulty gilding was removed in 1935 and a thorough refurbishment costing around 300,000 euros was started in 2011.
Beyond Vienna, reproductions of the Johann Strauss Monument grace locations including Osaka, Kunming, Parque de Los Colegiales in Havana, and Shanghai Tower.
Bruckner Monument
Tucked amid the lush Stadtpark area of Vienna, the Bruckner Monument is evidence of the ongoing legacy of Austrian composer Anton Bruckner (1824–1896). On October 25, 1899, a year after Bruckner’s death, this bronze effigy—a replica of Viktor Tilgner’s original work from 1898—was presented with tremendous hoopla.
Attracting a coterie of celebrities, the inauguration event’s grandeur was enhanced by Fritz Zerritsch’s painstakingly created base. But early years of the monument were marked by vandalism, which required its move to the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna’s garden. Designed by Stefan Kameyczky, a simpler marble pedestal replaced the original, and the monument was rebuilt in the Stadtpark in 1988.
With his body slightly slanted to the right, Tilgner’s sculpture catches Bruckner in a period of peaceful introspection. Unlike the 1899 version, which included a half-clothed female figure and a kithara (a type of lyre) on Zerritsch’s ornate base, the rebuilt monument exhibits a simplified form. Bruckner’s visage commands the observer’s whole attention since the bronze bust rests on a plain, unadorned marble pedestal.
Emperor Franz Monument
The Emperor Franz Monument is a constant reminder of the rule of Emperor Franz I and Emperor Franz II situated in the middle of Vienna’s Hofburg Palace. Emperor Ferdinand I commissioned this royal homage, which Pompeo Marchesi sculpted, and it was presented in 1846.
Rising on an octagonal pedestal, the magnificent Emperor figure in the monument wears ceremonial attire. Bronze reliefs showing the several vocations of the population adorn the pedestal itself. Four allegorical images encirccling the monument represent the values of faith, power, peace, and justice.
The Emperor Franz Monument is a physical reminder of Austria’s imperial past, a window into a bygone age, not only a piece of art.
Grillparzer Monument
A massive Lasa marble monument of Franz Grillparzer, created by talented Carl Kundmann, calls attention in the center of Vienna’s Volksgarten. This amazing portrayal was realized in concert, with Carl von Hasenauer guiding the architectural design.
This monument started out as a commission headed by Johann Adolf II zu Schwarzenberg under Archduke Carl Ludwig’s sponsorship. Following two rounds of bidding, Kundmann was finally hired under contract in 1876; Rudolf Weyr then joined the project. Originally, both designers imagined a semicircular arrangement with a relief wall; this idea was finally fulfilled.
Revealed on May 23, 1889, a full 17 years after Grillparzer’s death, the monument bears evidence to his ongoing legacy. Arranged left to-right, the semi-elliptical wall behind the monument features a sequence of reliefs, each capturing a moving scene from the poet’s celebrated dramas, including “The Ancestor,” “The Dream a Life,” “King Ottokar’s Fortune and End,” “Sappho,” “Medea,” and “The Waves of the Sea and Love.” The sculptor Rudolf Weyr painstakingly created these complex reliefs, providing still more level of narrative and depth to this great homage.
Maria Theresa Monument
Vienna’s Maria Theresa Monument is evidence of the extraordinary rule of Maria Theresa, a beloved Habsburg monarch. Considered part of Vienna’s World Heritage Historic Center, the monument graces the Maria-Theresien-Platz on Ringstrace.
Carefully created by Johannes Benk, Carl Kundmann, and Caspar Zumbusch (with his student Anton Brenek), the bronze sculptures of the monument took almost 13 years to complete and weigh an amazing 44 tons. With the empress’s statue rising at 6 m, architect Carl von Hasenauer created the monument’s construction covering an expansive base area of 632 m2 and reaches a height of 19.6 m.
Director of the Imperial House, Court, and State Archives Alfred von Arneth developed the idea for the monument. Enthroned and carrying a scepter and the Pragmatic Sanction, a key legal document allowing her rule as a woman in the Habsburg territories and Hungary, the empress is seen. Adorned on the cornice surrounding the throne, four allegorical female images representing justice, strength, mildness, and wisdom capture the multifarious nature of the empress.
Radetzky Monument
Rising majestically in front of Vienna’s government building, the Radetzky Monument is an equestrian monument honoring Field Marshal Josef Wenzel Radetzky von Radetzky, a revered figure in Austrian military history. Designed by Caspar von Zumbusch, the monument faithfully depicts Radetzky’s dominating presence riding across the battlefield.
George Niemann’s red marble foundation for the monument offers an arresting basis for the bronze statue. Reliefs by Hans Bitterlich flanking the base capture turning points in Radetzky’s military career. Radetzky is on the left at a war conference surrounded by his reliable generals. On the right, fervent celebrations of his leadership by representatives of many military branches and ethnicities.
Graced front of the base is a bronze double-headed eagle, emblem of the Austrian Empire. Above it comes a plaque bearing the famous words of Franz Grillparzer: “In deinem Lager ist Österreich.” Taken from Grillparzer’s sonnet of thanks for Radetzky, this moving line captures the great esteem and affection the country harbours for its war hero.
The Radetzky Monument reminds us powerfully of Austria’s great military tradition and the continuing legacy of one of its most revered leaders.
Neptune Fountain
Nestled within the sprawling expanse of Schönbrunn Palace Park, the Neptune Fountain stands as an enduring testament to Empress Maria Theresa’s ambitious remodeling project, initiated in 1778. Spanning an impressive hundred meters in length, over fifty meters in width, and reaching a height of just over seven meters, the fountain occupies a commanding position on the central axis, bridging the regal Palace and the majestic Gloriette.
The fountain’s design is a symphony of artistry and symbolism. The central figure, the sea nymph Thetis, Achilles’ mother, implores a tempestuous storm to thwart the abduction of Helen by the Trojan prince Paris. At Neptune’s feet, a nymph clutches a cornucopia, symbolizing the boundless riches of the sea. Four Tritons, mythical figures with the upper body of a human and the tail of a fish, propel Neptune’s chariot around the central tableau.
Beyond its aesthetic allure, the Neptune Fountain embodies a deeper political metaphor prevalent in the art of the 16th to 18th centuries – the sovereign’s dominion over their realm. Beneath the fountain lies a labyrinthine brick vault with formidable walls reaching a thickness of one and a half meters. An adjoining tunnel leads to the rear Glorietteteich, a reservoir that provides the fountain’s lifeblood through an ingenious gravity-fed system.
