Maria Theresa Monument

The Maria-Theresien-Denkmal stands in Vienna’s Maria-Theresien-Platz, a broad square between the Art History Museum and the Natural History Museum. It commemorates Empress Maria Theresa, who led the Habsburg lands from 1740 to 1780. The bronze monument was completed in 1888 after thirteen years of work by Kaspar von Zumbusch and his pupil Anton Brenek. The base is made of granite from Upper Austria and Bohemia, while the columns come from South Tyrol. At the top sits a six-metre figure of the empress on her throne, holding a scepter and the Pragmatic Sanction. The monument was conceived to restore pride after defeats in the Austro-Prussian War and the Third Italian War of Independence. Emperor Franz Joseph chose Zumbusch’s design from three submissions in 1874. Alfred von Arneth, director of the Imperial Archives, wrote the programme for the reliefs and statues. Around the plinth are four arch fields, each paired with a statue and a relief depicting key figures from the empress’s reign. Visitors find the empress enthroned at the centre, surrounded by four female figures representing justice, strength, mildness and wisdom. On each side of the pedestal are reliefs and statues of her advisers, administrators, military leaders and cultural figures. Four equestrian statues of field marshals stand at the corners. The square itself is framed by two grand museums, making it a focal point of Vienna’s Ringstrasse.