Monumental

One end of Traungasse, the street I live on, leads to Schwarzenburgplatz, where one of the most dramatic monuments I’ve encountered resides, the Russian Liberation Monument (Befreiungsdenkmal). Erected by the Soviets in 1945, its heroically presented Soviet soldier, with his weapon pointed to the heavens and already practically in the clouds, is counterbalanced by the names of the fallen Soviet soldiers inscribed in the thick ochre marble below. Evidently this unknown soldier is also known locally as ‘the unknown plunderer.' The Austrian writer Rainer Metzger, in his book Der Tod bei der Arbeit (a title not very conducive to translation---Death with the Work doesn't quite convey) writes that the monument represents an 'aesthetic of violence.’ Fresh wreaths often embellish it, their ribbons inscribed in Cryllic. Also in Cryllic, etched into the upper part of the colonnade encircling the soldier: "Eternal mercy for the heros of the Red Army, fallen in the fight against the German fascist bandits, and who fought for the freedom and independence of the peoples of Europe." A few feet away, a refreshing fountain sprays thousands of droplets of water up and out into the atmosphere, a cool embrace, even from afar. At first I assumed the fountain was part of the monument, but learned that the Hochstrahlbrunnen (high jet fountain) was built in 1873 by Anton Gabrielli, in celebration of Vienna’s first long-distance water supply from the Schneeberg. It also serves to soften the harsh effect of its neighbor.