Monument against war and fascism

The Monument against War and Fascism is an open-air group of four bronze and stone sculptures by Alfred Hrdlicka, standing on Albertinaplatz behind the Vienna State Opera and beside the Albertina.

The city commissioned it for the fiftieth anniversary of the 1938 Anschluss and unveiled it on 24 November 1988: the "Gate of Violence" (Tor der Gewalt), "Orpheus Entering the Underworld", a kneeling bronze figure scrubbing the ground known as the "Street-Washing Jew" (Der straßenwaschende Jude), and a granite block wrapped in barbed wire representing the victims of war and fascism.

It was Vienna's first public monument to name the country's own role in Nazi crimes rather than only its own victimhood, and it remains one of the most-photographed pieces of public sculpture in the city.

Hrdlicka, a Vienna-born sculptor and self-declared communist who had opposed the Nazi regime as a young man, deliberately gave the work a confrontational, unheroic look rather than the conventional bronze figure on a plinth, which is part of why it still provokes debate decades after its unveiling.

The four groups sit at street level rather than on a plinth, spread across a stretch of paving on the square's southern edge.

The "Gate of Violence" is a tall granite archway carved with figures suffering war and persecution; "Orpheus Entering the Underworld" is a standing bronze figure beside it. The "Street-Washing Jew" — a bronze man on his knees scrubbing the cobbles with a brush, referencing the humiliation forced on Vienna's Jews after the Anschluss — sits lowest and closest to passers-by, deliberately at the same level as the pavement. The granite block wound in real barbed wire stands apart, honouring camp victims.

A bronze plaque set into the ground names the work and its date; no wall text or gallery frames the pieces, since the square itself is the setting.

Together the four groups are meant to be read in sequence rather than as separate, unrelated statues: violence, flight, humiliation and commemoration.

Ten to fifteen minutes on foot covers all four groups; the monument sits on an open square rather than a route, so there is no fixed circuit to walk.

Most visitors reach it while walking between the Opera and the Albertina and stop only briefly, but a reader who wants to take in the inscriptions and each figure's separate history should budget closer to twenty minutes.

The square is open around the clock and the sculptures read clearly at any hour; daylight brings out the granite's texture best, and the low winter sun in the early morning throws long shadows across the "Gate of Violence" that make it easier to photograph than at midday.

Evenings are quieter, since the surrounding foot traffic is mostly opera- and museum-goers who thin out after the Albertina closes. Holocaust-remembrance dates on the civic calendar occasionally bring official ceremonies to the square, which can mean a small crowd and roped-off area rather than the usual open access.

There is no ticket, no gate and no opening hours: the monument is a permanent open-air installation on a public square, free to view at any time.

This sets it apart from the neighbouring Albertina, whose own collection charges a separate museum admission and keeps its own opening hours, distinct from the monument outside its doors.

Albertinaplatz sits directly behind the Vienna State Opera, at the corner of Operngasse and Augustinerstraße in the first district.

The U1, U2 and U4 lines all stop at Karlsplatz, a five-minute walk away; tram lines 1, 2, 71 and D run along the Ring within the same distance. The Albertina's own entrance opens directly onto the square.

The "Street-Washing Jew" figure sits at ground level and has repeatedly been used by passers-by as a seat or a step, which the city and Jewish community groups have objected to as disrespectful given what the figure depicts; a low barrier and a sign now ask visitors not to sit on it.

There is no queue, no dress code and no photography restriction, since the work sits on open public ground. The square doubles as a taxi rank and tour-bus stop, so it can be busy with traffic noise rather than crowds.

The granite "Gate of Violence" photographs best in raking morning or late-afternoon light, which brings out the carved relief; the bronze "Street-Washing Jew" is easiest to shoot from a low angle at the figure's own eye level, since shooting down on it flattens the piece.

The Opera's façade forms a natural backdrop for wide shots taken from the square's northern side, and the contrast between the opera house's ornate stonework and Hrdlicka's rough, unpolished figures is itself a subject many photographers return to.