• Monument Against War and Fascism
Commissioned by the city of Vienna, sculptor Alfred Hrdlicka designed the »Monument Against War and Fascism« on Albertinaplatz in Vienna's city centre. The monument was dedicated on November 24, 1988.
Image: Vienna, March 1938, Members of the NSDAP force Jews to scrub political slogans off the street, Dokumentationsarchiv des österreichischen Widerstandes
Vienna, March 1938, Members of the NSDAP force Jews to scrub political slogans off the street, Dokumentationsarchiv des österreichischen Widerstandes

Image: Vienna, 2003, Elements of the monument on Albertinaplatz, Verein zur Erforschung nationalsozialistischer Gewaltverbrechen und ihrer Aufarbeitung Wien, Claudia Kuretsidis-Haider
Vienna, 2003, Elements of the monument on Albertinaplatz, Verein zur Erforschung nationalsozialistischer Gewaltverbrechen und ihrer Aufarbeitung Wien, Claudia Kuretsidis-Haider
On March 12, 1938, the German Wehrmacht marched into the Republic of Austria, enthusiastically greeted by many Austrian citizens. The next day, Austria's »Anschluss« (annexation) to the German Reich was proclaimed. Local National Socialists immediately began persecuting political opponents and Jews. In the first surge of arrests in 1938 alone about 70,000 people were detained.
Image: Vienna, March 1938, Members of the NSDAP force Jews to scrub political slogans off the street, Dokumentationsarchiv des österreichischen Widerstandes
Vienna, March 1938, Members of the NSDAP force Jews to scrub political slogans off the street, Dokumentationsarchiv des österreichischen Widerstandes

Image: Vienna, 2003, Elements of the monument on Albertinaplatz, Verein zur Erforschung nationalsozialistischer Gewaltverbrechen und ihrer Aufarbeitung Wien, Claudia Kuretsidis-Haider
Vienna, 2003, Elements of the monument on Albertinaplatz, Verein zur Erforschung nationalsozialistischer Gewaltverbrechen und ihrer Aufarbeitung Wien, Claudia Kuretsidis-Haider
The monument is dedicated to all victims of war and fascism.
The monument's elements, which are spread out over the square, refer to different aspects of Austrian history under National Socialism: Austrian soldiers killed in action, the fate of concentration camp prisoners, civilian victims of war, the beginnings of the persecution of Jews in 1938 and the new political order after 1945.
Image: Vienna, 2003, The monument's dedication, Verein zur Erforschung nationalsozialistischer Gewaltverbrechen und ihrer Aufarbeitung Wien, Claudia Kuretsidis-Haider
Vienna, 2003, The monument's dedication, Verein zur Erforschung nationalsozialistischer Gewaltverbrechen und ihrer Aufarbeitung Wien, Claudia Kuretsidis-Haider

Image: Vienna, 2003, Bronze sculpture entitled »Street-washing Jew«, Verein zur Erforschung nationalsozialistischer Gewaltverbrechen und ihrer Aufarbeitung Wien, Claudia Kuretsidis-Haider
Vienna, 2003, Bronze sculpture entitled »Street-washing Jew«, Verein zur Erforschung nationalsozialistischer Gewaltverbrechen und ihrer Aufarbeitung Wien, Claudia Kuretsidis-Haider
On September 30, 1983, the Vienna City Council decided to give Alfred Hrdlicka the commission to establish a »Monument Against War and Fascism« on Vienna's Albertinaplatz. Hrdlicka designed a walkable monument comprising five segments. On November 24, 1988, the monument was inaugurated. In 1991, Hrdlicka finally completed the monument.
Two elements constitute the »Gate of Violence«. Two groups of figures stand on granite blocks from the former Mauthausen concentration camp. One of the groups commemorates the Austrian soldiers who were killed in action, the other commemorates the victims of concentration camps. A further marble block, portraying the figure of a man, commemorates civilian bomb victims. The bronze sculpture entitled »Street-washing Jew« emphasises one of the most notorious acts of persecution of the Jews in Austria: After the »Anschluss« to the German Reich in 1938, there were so-called »Reibeaktionen« (scrubbings), organised throughout the country by local NSDAP members who forced Jews to clean streets, walls of buildings or fences, in front of a jeering public.
A further element, the »Stone of the Republic«, shows the text of Austria's Declaration of Independence from April 27, 1945. It is engraved in a block of granite over 7 metres high and symbolises Austria's political new beginning.
In 2009, the northern part of Albertinaplatz was renamed after former Vienna mayor Helmut Zilk (1927–2008) who had been a strong advocate of the memorial.
Image: Vienna, 2003, »Gate of Violence« sculptures, Verein zur Erforschung nationalsozialistischer Gewaltverbrechen und ihrer Aufarbeitung Wien, Claudia Kuretsidis-Haider
Vienna, 2003, »Gate of Violence« sculptures, Verein zur Erforschung nationalsozialistischer Gewaltverbrechen und ihrer Aufarbeitung Wien, Claudia Kuretsidis-Haider

Name
Mahnmal gegen Krieg und Faschismus
Address
Helmut-Zilk-Platz
1010 Wien
Phone
+43 (0)1 534 369 031 5
Fax
+43 (0)1 534 369 990 319
Web
http://www.nachkriegsjustiz.at
E-Mail
gewaltverbrechen@nachkriegsjustiz.at
Open
The monument is accessible at all times.