Visitors who explore Vienna on foot may find an absolutely free way to know more about the history of the city and that is by seeing some of its most prominent landmarks or sculptures. Aside from the impressive buildings, these monuments have been designed and erected all over Vienna for significant historical reasons. Here are some of them: Johann Strauss Monument. One of the most photographed statues in the city is the gilded bronze sculpture of the famous musician and Danube Waltz composer Johann Strauss II.
It was created by Edmund Hellmer in 1921 and placed in Stadtpark. Statue of Marie-Therese. Lording over the Maria Theresa Square in Vienna is the sculpture of Marie-Therese, Queen of Hungary and Croatia and Archduchess of Austria. In her 40-year reign she was credited for revitalizing the better part of Europe through sweeping educational and economic reforms. Haydn Monument. Another prominent landmark erected in honor of a famous Viennese musician is the Haydn monument in Mariahilferstrasse. Created by Heinrich Natter and unveiled in 1887, the marble statue was financed by the musician’s admirers. Pestsaule. Situated in the center of Graben is a commemorative sculpture built for the hundreds of thousands of victims of the bubonic plague that struck Vienna in 1679. Towering over the square at 69-feet, the memorial column was a collaboration of efforts by several well-known sculptors, architects and engineers among them Matthias Rauchmiller, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and Paul Strudel. Morzinplatz Memorial.
During World War II, Morzinplatz was the seat of the military headquarters of the Gestapo in Vienna. After the war, a memorial site was built for the countless victims of the Nazis. The Monument against War and Fascism is made up of four statues – the “Gates of Violence” which is a reminder about the horrors of war; the bronze statue of an elderly Jewish man on his hands and knees; the statue of Orpheus entering the Underworld for the brave men and women who died in air raids and fighting the Nazis; and the Stone of the Republic which commemorates the founding of the Austrian Republic in 1945.
