Plague Column

The Plague Column on the Graben was built between 1679 and 1694 to commemorate the epidemic that killed roughly a third of Vienna’s population. Emperor Leopold I commissioned the design from Fischer von Erlach, Lodovico Burnacini, and sculptor Paul Strudel, with a philosophical program by a circle that included Leibniz. At 21 meters, the gilded column is hard to miss; what is easy to miss is its double purpose as sacred memorial and Habsburg political statement, encoding Leopold’s piety, the Ottoman siege of 1683, and dynastic legitimacy in a single sculptural program. Free, always accessible. U1/U3 to Stephansplatz, 2 minutes to the Graben.