Denkmal der Republik

Denkmal der Republik stands in Vienna between the Parliament building and Palais Epstein, facing Grete-Rehor-Park. Three busts rise from separate pedestals. Behind them, three upright granite blocks support a fourth block laid horizontally, creating a stark geometric backdrop. A slightly raised platform and wheelchair access shape the approach to this historical site.

The monument commemorates the proclamation of the Republic of German-Austria on 12 November 1918. Victor Adler occupies the centre, with Jakob Reumann on the left and Ferdinand Hanusch on the right. Adler helped establish Austrian social democracy, while Hanusch advanced the eight-hour day, holiday rules, unemployment insurance and collective bargaining. Reumann became Vienna’s first Social Democratic mayor from 1919 to 1923 and helped secure the city’s federal-state status.

Franz Seifert, Anton Hanak and Mario Petrucci created the three busts, with Carl Wollek designing Hanusch’s sculpture. Karl Seitz’s socialist administration unveiled the monument in 1928, ten years after the republic’s proclamation. Austrofascist authorities dismantled it in 1934, but storage preserved the pieces until reconstruction after the Second World War. A bomb damaged the rear and lighting in 1961, while a text plaque joined the site in 2009. Each 12 November, floral arrangements mark the anniversary on the two lower granite blocks beside the steps.