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The Austrian sculptor Alfred Hrdlicka created a monument in 1988–91 to commemorate all those killed during the National Socialist regime and World War II. Separate elements, made of granite from the area of the Mauthausen concentration camp, are arranged on the square where the Philipphof house was situated. The house was destroyed during an air raid on 12 March 1945 and more than 300 people were buried alive in the debris. The monument includes the Austrian Declaration of Independence on the “Stone of the Republic”.

Between the Kunsthistorisches and Naturhistorisches Museums is a statue of Empress Maria Theresa (1717–80). The German sculptor Kaspar von Zumbusch created the monument in 1888, presenting the empress on the throne surrounded by ministers and advisors, as well as composers such as Mozart.

Stadtpark is dotted with monuments of Austrian artists and composers, but the gilded statue of Johann Strauss (see p52) is allegedly the city’s most photographed. The Viennese Waltz King is portrayed playing the violin amid ecstatic dancers and is framed by a marble arch. The monument was crafted by Edmund Hellmer in 1921 and has been attracting tourists ever since.

Another great composer commemorated in Stadtpark is Franz Schubert, seated on a marble base. The monument was commissioned by the men’s choir Wiener Männergesangs-verein, which specialized in Schubert’s songs, and was created by Carl Kundmann in 1872.

Next to the Burggarten is a monument to one of the greatest writers in the German language, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The statue, seated on a massive base and cast in bronze, was created by Edmund Hellmer in 1900. Opposite the monument is a memorial to another distinguished writer of German literature and Goethe’s contemporary, Friedrich Schiller (see p110).

Am Hof is dominated by the monument to the Virgin Mary that was cast in bronze by Balthasar Herold (1664–7). The base shows four angels fighting four animals which symbolize the four major catastrophes for humankind in the 17th century. The dragon stands for starvation, the lion for war, the fantastical Basilisk, for the plague, while heresy is symbolized by a snake.

The grave of the leading Secessionist painter Gustav Klimt (see p25) is in the Hietzinger Cemetery, close to Schloss Schönbrunn. The simple gravestone bears his name in the way he signed his works of art. He died in 1918 following a stroke.

Franz Schubert was buried at the Währinger Friedhof on 21 November 1828, following his early death aged 31. When the cemetery was closed down in 1872, however, his bones were moved to the Central Cemetery. There he was given an honorary grave among many of his composer friends.

Composer Arnold Schönberg (1874–1951), the creator of the 12-tone music technique (see p59), has a striking modern cube as his gravestone, designed by the sculptor Fritz Wotruba.

Gustav Mahler, the director of the Vienna State Opera from 1897 to 1907, was buried at the Grinzinger Friedhof in 1911. The cemetery is in a peaceful location on the outskirts of the city. Mahler’s simple white gravestone was designed by his friend, the architect and designer Josef Hoffmann.