Hesserdenkmal

The Hesser monument stands in Vienna beside the Westbahnhof on a grassy island between the two carriageways of the Neubaugürtel. It was moved here in 1989 when the U-Bahn station was built, having originally marked the midpoint between the station and the Lazaristenkirche. The obelisk and its bronze crown are protected as both a historic monument and a work of public art. The monument commemorates the 13 May 1809 fight at Schwarzlackenau when the 49th Infantry Regiment ‘Freiherr von Hess’ blocked Napoleon’s troops from crossing to the left bank of the Danube. It was unveiled on the centenary in 1909 by Emperor Franz Joseph. The sculptor Josef Tuch created the two soldier groups and the roaring lion on the reverse, basing the lion on a model from Schönbrunn Zoo. Visitors see a 16-metre obelisk topped by an Austrian imperial crown above two bronze reliefs. One shows a soldier raising the regimental flag while another kneels wounded; the other depicts a lion standing on captured colours and weapons. The standing infantryman echoes the equestrian statue of Archduke Charles on the Heldenplatz, linking the past to the present.