Plague between Prague and Vienna

Vienna’s prominent landmark, the Pestsäule (Plague Column), commemorates the devastating bubonic plague epidemic of 1679 that killed thousands of the city’s in- habitants. The gigantic, three sided marble pyramidis covered with baroque clouds is dedicated to the Trinity and the Nine Choirs of Angels. Although pledged by Emperor Leopold I in the very year of the outbreak of the disease, the memorial could not be completed until 1694. Its imagery reflects some of the most tragic events but also some of Austria’s greatest triumphs, because the invasion, siege, and repulsion of the Ottoman army in 1683 added new meaning to the monument’s concept. Vienna’s Pestsäule is now recognized as one of the most innovative and ambitious sculptural ensembles created anywhere in Europe in the Post-Bernini era.