The monument to Grillparzer

A civil servant becomes a poet

The monument to poet Franz Grillparzer (1791-1872) in Vienna’s Volksgarten lies close to Ringstraße, opposite Parliament. One of the first monuments to an artist, it is unveiled on May 23rd, 1889.

Grillparzer is first and foremost a student of law and is employed as an imperial civil servant until his retirement in 1856. In 1821 he is transferred to the Ministry of Finance and, in 1832, made Director of the Imperial and Royal Court Chamber Archives. Grillparzer’s former study now belongs to the Literature Museum of the Austrian National Library and can be viewed at Johannesgasse 6 in the 1st District.

Grillparzer leads a double life as civil servant and poet. His literature leans towards Sturm und Drang, while as imperial civil servant he committed to the old order.

After his death the former civil servant is honoured by his contemporaries as one of the Fatherland’s major people’s poets and before long a committee of representatives from the middle and upper classes forms under the leadership of Prince Johann Adolf of Schwarzenberg, demanding that a monument be erected in Grillparzer’s memory. A competition is announced, won by Carl Kundmann in March of 1877. But his design is not realised. After lengthy talks the jury decides on a compromise between Kundmann’s concept and that of the runner-up, Rudolf Weyr. In addition, the famous Ringstraße architect Carl von Hasenauer is brought onboard.

The monument to Franz Grillparzer is eventually unveiled in 1889, with a larger-than-life, sitting figure of Franz Grillparzer at its centre. The wall behind the figure of the poet is decorated with reliefs depicting his literary works. On the left side are scenes from “Die Ahnfrau”, “Der Traum ein Leben” and “König Ottokars Glück und Ende“ (“The Fortune and Fall of King Ottokar“). On the right are scenes from “Sappho”, “Medea” und “Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen”.