Pestsäulen#

Plague Monuments: In Austria, memorial columns in honour of the Holy Trinity (Feast of Holy Trinity) or of the Virgin Mary (Immaculata columns) were built between 1650-1800, in most cases to thank God for the end of a plague epidemic. Plague monuments are numerous in Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Burgenland and Styria (e.g. Baden, Heiligenkreuz, Perchtoldsdorf, Wiener Neustadt, Goellersdorf, St. Poelten, Krems, Langenlois, Zwettl, Linz, Eferding, Hallstatt, Eisenstadt, Graz and Vorau). The plague monument on Graben street in Vienna served as an important model (also for the Hungarian, Moravian and Bohemian areas), being the most significant work of art in that field. Following a vow by Leopold I, J. Fruehwirt started building a wooden plague monument in 1679. In 1682 M. Rauchmiller began building a stone column according to plans by F. Menegatti, which was later continued by J. B. Fischer von Erlach (relief work by J. J. Bendl) following a modified design in 1687/88 (completed in 1692). Paul Strudel created the cloud obelisk designed by L. Burnacini (he also created the kneeling statue of Leopold I). The sculptures were created by artists such as T. Kracker and M. Gunst.

Literature#