Monument Against War and Fascism in Vienna: History, Meaning and Guide
THE HISTORY OF THE MONUMENT: Philipphof, 1945 Bombing and Albertinaplatz
Standing on Albertinaplatz, just one hundred metres from the Vienna State Opera and adjacent to the Albertina gallery, is one of the most powerful — and least visited — war memorials in Central Europe. The Monument Against War and Fascism (Mahnmal gegen Krieg und Faschismus) was created by Austrian sculptor Alfred Hrdlicka and unveiled on 24 November 1988, marking the fiftieth anniversary of Kristallnacht. It commemorates all victims of the National Socialist terror in Austria between 1938 and 1945, as well as the civilian casualties of the Second World War — in particular the estimated 300 people killed when Allied bombs buried them alive in the basement shelter of the Philipphof apartment building on 12 March 1945.
The memorial is composed of four distinct sculptural elements: the Gates of Violence (Tor der Gewalt), a carved granite arch made from stone quarried at the Mauthausen concentration camp; the Kneeling Jew, a bronze figure depicting a Jewish man forced to scrub the pavement — as actually happened in Vienna on the day of the Anschluss, 13 March 1938; the white marble figure of Orpheus Entering the Underground World, honouring those who resisted the Nazi regime; and the Stone of the Republic, inscribed with the text of Austria’s 1945 Declaration of Independence.
The monument is referred to in German as Mahnmal gegen Krieg und Faschismus (literally «memorial against war and fascism») or Hrdlicka-Mahnmal. It is located on the square officially known since 2009 as Helmut-Zilk-Platz (named after the former Vienna mayor), though the historic name Albertinaplatz remains in common use. The memorial is sometimes confused with an entirely different monument of the same name in Hamburg-Harburg — a sinking pillar created by Jochen Gerz and Esther Shalev-Gerz in 1986. The Vienna and Harburg memorials are unrelated.
It took almost fifty years for Austrian authorities to initiate a memorial to the civil victims of the Second World War in the very heart of Vienna. The creative call for a new monument was announced only in 1988. Albertinaplatz Square, near Vienna State Opera, was determined as a site for the future ‘Monument against Fascism’ (Mahnmal gegen Krieg und Faschismus). The place was infamous for Philipphof – a former family dwelling, destroyed during the war. On the morning of 12 March 1945 — the seventh anniversary of the Anschluss — Allied bombers targeted the centre of Vienna in one of the heaviest air raids on the Austrian capital. The Philipphof, a residential apartment building at Augustinerstraße 8, constructed between 1882 and 1884, took a direct hit. Approximately 300 people sheltering in its basement were buried alive when the building collapsed above them. Unlike most war sites, the Philipphof was never excavated: the rubble was removed in 1947, but the bodies remain beneath the square to this day. The Albertinaplatz itself stands literally above these victims — a fact which gives the location of the monument its particular resonance.
The monument against Fascism in Vienna was ceremonially unveiled on November 24, 1988. This Vienna War memorial consists of a separate thematic composition with its own meaning and respect.
THE GATES OF VIOLENCE (Tor der Gewalt): Granite from Mauthausen
“Tor der Gewalt”, which is generally translated as “Gates of Violence” or “Gates of Power” or sometimes “Gates of War,” is the first compositional part of this Vienna war memorial. A stone scene of images of war was created from a piece of granite rock, taken from the infamous Mauthausen quarry, next to the Mauthausen concentration camp near Linz in Austria. The camp was the biggest among others on the territory of pre-war Austria and had been taking advantage of thousands of prisoners, starting from the Anschluss in 1938. The choice of material was deliberately symbolic: stone extracted through slave labour and suffering was transformed into a monument against the system that created that suffering. The granite came from the same geological formation that supplied the Reich’s construction projects throughout occupied Europe.
“Gates of Violence” is to be divided into two separate parts. The one on the left side honors victims of repressive actions and persecutions under the Nazi regime between 1938 and 1945, along with victims of prisons and concentration camps. The right part of the “Gates of Violence” monument honors all casualties of the Second World War, both civil and military. Statues consist of stone images, with one particular famous one – a figure of a woman upside down, giving birth to a child. It symbolizes the post-war lost generation, who have not seen the horrors of war.
THE KNEELING JEW: Alfred Hrdlicka’s Most Controversial Sculpture
Stepping over the “Gates of Violence”, we see the on-ground bronze statue, depicting an old Jew who had to suffer humiliation. Just after the Anschluss in March 1938, anti-Semitic actions had become a common scene, and sometimes, Jews were forced to wash streets on their knees, sweeping anti-Nazi mottos. The back of a statue is covered with barbed wire – one of the symbols of imprisonment within concentration camps. This element has been added after a while – people used the bronze statue as a place to sit. The bronze figure is sometimes described inaccurately as depicting a Jew «cleaning the street» — the German term used in contemporary Nazi reports was «Reibpartien» (scrubbing parties). Historical photographs taken on 13 March 1938, the day of the Anschluss, document Viennese Jews being forced to scrub anti-Nazi slogans from the pavement on their knees, surrounded by crowds of laughing spectators and SA men. Vienna’s Jewish community — which numbered approximately 200,000 and represented the largest concentration of Jews in the German-speaking world before 1938 — would be reduced to fewer than 5,500 by 1945. Of those who remained in Vienna, over 50,000 were murdered in the Holocaust.
Initially, the sculpture was placed without the barbed wire across its back. However, after the artist noticed tourists casually sitting on the figure to rest, he added the bronze wire in 1991 to prevent further desecration and to emphasize the ongoing pain of the victims.
ORPHEUS ENTERS THE UNDERGROUND
The next composition within the Vienna Monument against Fascism is known as Orpheus Enters the Underground World. A stone man figure, transfixed in white marble. The statue honors both people, who resisted the Nazi regime and civil casualties of the airstrike bombing, particularly in Vienna, and those who died under the ruins of the Philipphof house. This specific element directly connects the memorial to the exact ground it stands on, marking the site of the former Philipphof building that was destroyed during a heavy Allied bombing raid on March 12, 1945. Hundreds of people seeking shelter in the building’s cellars were buried alive, and because many bodies could not be recovered, the site itself remains an undisturbed mass grave. By using the Greek mythological figure of Orpheus descending into Hades, the artist visually represents the descent into the rubble and the inescapable realm of the dead.
THE STONE OF THE REPUBLIC
The stone of the Republic stands next to Orpheus and symbolizes the will for freedom and independence. It was covered with the names of Austrians who proclaimed the necessity of the Austrian Republic Renaissance and the text of the Declaration of Independence of Austria on April 27, 1945. Standing as the visual and thematic anchor at the rear of the complex, this colossal block of Mauthausen granite weighs over 50 tons. It bears the engraved text of the Austrian Declaration of Independence, proclaimed on April 27, 1945, which marked the official re-establishment of the democratic republic. The stone intentionally contrasts with the preceding sculptures of suffering, symbolizing the enduring weight of history and the solid foundation of a reborn, free nation rising from the ashes of dictatorship.
VISITING THE MONUMENT: c and Nearby WW2 Sites in Vienna
Location: The monument stands on Albertinaplatz — also known as Helmut-Zilk-Platz since 2009 — in Vienna’s 1st district (Innere Stadt). The exact address is the square between the Albertina museum and the back wall of the Vienna State Opera (Staatsoper). GPS coordinates: 48.204681°N, 16.368991°E. Google Maps search: «Mahnmal gegen Krieg und Faschismus Wien».
Getting to the Monument Against War and Fascism:
- U-Bahn: Lines U1, U2, U4 to Karlsplatz (3-minute walk). Exit toward the Opera, then cross Opernring to Albertinaplatz.
- Tram: Lines 1, 2, 71, D stop at Oper/Karlsplatz, a 2-minute walk.
The memorial is free of charge and open 24 hours, 365 days a year. No tickets required. Plan 15–20 minutes minimum. The best photographs of the Gates of Violence are taken from the elevated terrace of the Albertina gallery.
Nearby WW2 sites in Vienna you can visit:
- Holocaust Memorial Vienna (Judenplatz): ~700 m north. Rachel Whiteread’s concrete cube, unveiled in 2000, commemorates the 65,000 Austrian Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Open 24/7, free.
- Anschluss 1938 sites (Heldenplatz): ~400 m northwest. The square where Adolf Hitler announced the Anschluss on 15 March 1938 to an enormous crowd.
- Vienna Jewish Museum (Jüdisches Museum Wien): ~600 m northeast, at Dorotheergasse 11. Covers Jewish history in Vienna from the Middle Ages to the Holocaust. Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00. Admission approx. €12.
- Vienna Flak Tower Arenbergpark: ~1.5 km southeast. Another of the six Flak towers — one of the better-preserved. Walking distance from the monument.
I am very grateful to war archives, museums, libraries, private collections, and writers for the historical photos in this article. To the extent that some author or a copyright owner may not want some of the above black-and-white photos to be used for educational purposes here, please contact me for adding credits or deleting the pictures from the article.