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.