Heldenplatz

The Heldenplatz ("Heroes' Square") is a historical plaza in Vienna. Many important actions took place here — most notoriously Adolf Hitler's announcement of the Anschluss of Austria to the German Reich in 1938.

The plaza

The "Heldenplatz" is the outer plaza of the Hofburg and was built under the reign of Emperor Francis Joseph, as part of what was to become the "Kaiserforum" (imperial forum), which, however, was never completed. In the northeast, it is bordered by the Leopoldinian Tract of the Hofburg, in the southeast by the Neue Hofburg, and in the southwest by the Ringstraße, from which it is separated by the "Äußeres Burgtor" ("outer castle gate"). The northwestern part, where there are no buildings, offers a view of the Ringstraße with the Parliament, the Rathaus (town hall), and the Burgtheater. On the plaza, there are the two equestrian statues of Prince Eugene of Savoy and Archduke Charles of Austria, who are remembered as great military leaders.

Literature

Even though the plaza has been used for many events and occasions since then, the historical connotation of Hitler's speech remains strong in the public perception. This is also the reason why the Heldenplatz has been the subject of several works of literature, most prominently of Thomas Bernhard's play "Heldenplatz" and a poem by Ernst Jandl named "wien: heldenplatz".

External links

*cite web |url=http://ejournal.thing.at/LitPrim/jan-wh.html |author=Ernst Jandl |title=wien: heldenplatz