Maria Theresia

A statue for the Empress of the people

Maria Theresa is the most significant ruler of enlightened absolutism and the only female monarch in the history of the Hapsburgs. When her father Charles VI dies in 1740 leaving no male heir, she takes over the business of ruling. And Archduchess Maria Theresa not only assumes control militarily. While it is her husband, Francis I, who is crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1745, it is she alone who carries out all official duties.

The strict Catholic proves less than tolerant towards members of other denominations. Nevertheless the people adore her. She introduces compulsory schooling, has 16 children of her own and as a result takes on the role of the symbolic mother of the people.

Maria Theresa is enthroned at the top of the monument. At her feet lie 4 female figures, the embodiments of the virtues of righteousness, strength, clemency and wisdom. Men must take their place below them. On the diagonals four equestrian statues of generals greet us from the front line. The reliefs and statues on the sides of the base of the monument are dedicated to the Empress’s spheres of power and interest. There is, for instance, a statue of her personal physician, Gerard van Swieten, and behind him a relief depicting Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as a child.

Even in today’s Vienna, Archduchess Maria Theresa, Queen of Bohemia and Hungary, is referred to as an empress, despite her never having been one. The grand monument between the Naturhistorisches Museum and Kunsthistorisches Museum is unveiled in 1888.