This panorama shows the The Pestsäule (Plague Column) in Vienna. The image also shows some of the cafes and shops that line the Graben, a pedestrianised road very popular with tourists.

Pestsäule and Garben - Vienna visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Pestsäule and Garben' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Wien.

The original Pestsäule (Plague Column) in Vienna was erected by Emperor Leopold I in 1679 after a plague epidemic ravaged the city. The original model, carved by Johann Frühwirth produced from wood, had a Corinthian column showing the Trinity surrounded by angels. It took another 15 years for the final version of the Pestsäule to be unveiled.

In that time, the Pestsäule had evloved from the simple Corinthian column into an elaborate Baroque monument full of allegorical figures. To the south of the Pestsäule is a kneeling figure of Leopold I praying to a figure representing Faith who, accompanied by a cherub, is plunging a fiery trident into Plague represented by an old hag. The sculptures at the base were designed by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and the full name of the Pestsäule is Dreifalktigkeitssäule (Trinity Column).

Jesuits took the deliverance theme further, erecting more Pestsäule throughout the Austrian Empire symbolising not only deliverance from plague, but also from the Protestant or Turkish 'plague'. Thus Pestsäule became symbols of the Couter-Reformation.

Graben

The Viennese Pestsäule stands on the Graben. This pedestrianised road is one of the most important in Vienna, leading to Stephansplatz and Stephansdom. The name translates into English as 'ditch', and it was once a moat that lay outside the Roman camp situated in Vienna. The moat was filled sometime in the 13C and then widened and built upon during the 19C. The Pestsäule and the Bartolotti-Partenfeld Palace at Number 11 are all that remain of the Baroque era on Graben. Petersplatz and Peterskirche are just off the Graben very near to the Pestsaule.

Graben
1010 Wien,
Austria

Bus: Petersplatz/Graben (1A, 2A, 3A)
Tram: Stubentor/Parkring (2)
U-Bhan: Herrengasse (U3), Stephansplatz (U1, U3)