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Art historians‘ monument

1933/34 – 1938 – 1945

The monument in front of the Department of Art History in court 9 was unveiled in 2008. The memorial, created by Hans Buchwald from an idea by Wolfgang Georg Fischer, recalls all alumni of the Department of Art History who were ostracised, displaced and murdered because of their ethnicity, religion and/or political beliefs in the Austro-fascist and Nazi eras.

The accessible installation is in the form of a ring-shaped table which has been ripped in two. The chairs are sometimes placed close to the table and sometimes with a gap – some can be sat on while others always remain unoccupied. The centre of the monument on the lawn is a newly-planted empress tree.

A glass plate between the torn halves of the table bears the names of those who were ostracised, displaced and murdered. Over seventy people are named here.

Members of Vienna University who were displaced, ostracised and murdered under Austro-fascism and National Socialism, but whose names are not known, are also remembered.

Photo: Gerhard Sindelar, 2018
© beyondarts

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