Vienna’s authorities have ultimately decided against installing a monument to the Polish king who in 1683 led a multi-national force to alleviate the city’s siege by the Turks, saying it would fan “Islamophobic and anti-Turkish sentiments.”
The monument was to be set up at the top of Kahlenberg hill, from which King John III Sobieski led the charge against the encampment of the Ottoman Turkish besiegers under the command of Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa on September 12, 1683.
Sobieski’s victory at Vienna was the high watermark of Turkish expansion into Europe and began the slow, 150-year-long process of pushing the Ottoman Empire out of Hungary and the Balkans.
According to a statement made by Viennese city councilor Veronica Kaup-Hasler representing the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), however, the monument would create a space for “xenophobic agitation”.
She said: “Today, Sobieski’s monument must be a sign of peace and international accord, rejecting triumphant rhetoric.”
The Viennese authorities, which are controlled by the left-wing SPÖ, an opposition party on a national level, said that their decision was supported by reservations voiced by Austrian and Polish groups of experts.
Sobieski’s victory at Vienna was the high watermark of Turkish expansion into Europe and began the slow, 150-year-long process of pushing the Ottoman Empire out of Hungary and the Balkans.
According to a statement made by Viennese city councilor Veronica Kaup-Hasler representing the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), however, the monument would create a space for “xenophobic agitation”.
She said: “Today, Sobieski’s monument must be a sign of peace and international accord, rejecting triumphant rhetoric.”
The Viennese authorities, which are controlled by the left-wing SPÖ, an opposition party on a national level, said that their decision was supported by reservations voiced by Austrian and Polish groups of experts.
The decision drew a harsh rebuke from Stefan Berger, the culture spokesperson for the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), the country’s largest opposition party.
He said: “Over the years, the city’s red [left-wing] government has repeatedly promised that the monument would be built. New, completely outrageous excuses were continually presented as to why construction was being delayed. The SPÖ will simply break its word if it no longer wants to keep its promise.”
The platform for the monument was erected on the Kahlenberg hill back in 2013, with the monument by Polish sculptor Czesław Dźwigaj completed in 2018.
However, the 8-meter-tall, 3-ton monument has not been erected in its intended spot and remains on display in the southern Polish city of Krakow.
He said: “Over the years, the city’s red [left-wing] government has repeatedly promised that the monument would be built. New, completely outrageous excuses were continually presented as to why construction was being delayed. The SPÖ will simply break its word if it no longer wants to keep its promise.”
The platform for the monument was erected on the Kahlenberg hill back in 2013, with the monument by Polish sculptor Czesław Dźwigaj completed in 2018.
However, the 8-meter-tall, 3-ton monument has not been erected in its intended spot and remains on display in the southern Polish city of Krakow.
Already back then, the Viennese city hall said that the monument could become the focus of “controversial activities,” for example far-right manifestations held on the anniversary of the alleviation of the city’s siege.
Since then, FPÖ and several far-right organizations have been campaigning for the erection of the monument, but in recent years have been joined by the mainstream liberal-conservative Christian democrats from the ruling Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and the centrist The New Austria and Liberal Forum (NEOS).
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