At Albertinaplatz in central Vienna, the Monument Against War and Fascism commemorates victims of war, with particular attention to people persecuted under Nazi rule in Austria. Its four works include granite from the former Mauthausen concentration camp, a bronze figure of a Jewish person forced to scrub anti-Nazi graffiti, and a stone slab bearing excerpts from Austria’s 1945 Declaration of Independence. The site also marks the place where hundreds of people died in a bombing in 1945. Take time to read each sculpture as a memorial, not simply as public art.
The site at Albertinaplatz
The memorial stands in the open space at Albertinaplatz, where the Philipphof apartment complex once stood. Built in 1882, the complex replaced a medieval pig market. During its construction, workers uncovered an ancient Roman grave and a section of Roman road measuring 21 feet.
The Philipphof was destroyed in a 1945 air raid. Hundreds of people sheltering in its cellar died in the bombing. The memorial marks this loss alongside the wider suffering caused by war and Nazi rule in Austria.
Four works, four parts of the remembrance
The Gates of Violence is made from unfinished granite quarried in the area of the former Mauthausen concentration camp. Its two-part form depicts a mass of people enclosed by the stone. Nearby, a hunched bronze figure, bound with barbed wire and holding a brush, represents a Jewish person forced to clean anti-Nazi graffiti from the streets.
Orpheus Enters Hades is carved from unfinished limestone. It commemorates people killed in bombings and those who died resisting National Socialism. The Stone of the Republic carries excerpts from Austria’s Declaration of Independence, written in 1945.
The bronze figure has also prompted discussion about how the memorial represents Jewish victims. In 2015, artist Ruth Beckermann’s installation The Missing Image used original footage of people watching Jews scrub the streets. The installation questioned the image’s meaning, but was not made permanent.
Preguntas frecuentes
Where is the Monument Against War and Fascism?
It is at Albertinaplatz in central Vienna. The address is Augustinerstraße 8, 1010 Vienna.
What can you see at the memorial?
The four works are The Gates of Violence, a bronze figure of a Jewish person forced to scrub anti-Nazi graffiti, Orpheus Enters Hades and The Stone of the Republic.
Is the monument accessible at any time?
It is open around the clock, every day. The entrance is wheelchair accessible.
