Vienna - Austria Fountain Austria-Brunnen

In the middle of the Freying square is the Austria Fountain which is a work of Ludwig Schwantaler. It was cast by Ferdinand Miller in the Munich bronze foundry and unveiled on Freyung in 1846. Its allegorical bronze figures represent Austria and the main rivers of the monarchy as it then existed, the Po, Elbe, Weischel and Danube. There may be some truth in the Viennese chronicles which state that Alma von Goethe, the granddaughter of the poet, was the model for the figure of Austria at the age of 17, shortly before her death.

After the bronze figure was completed, Schwanthaler is said to have had it filled with cigarettes in Munich to smuggle them into Vienna. The figure was set in place so quickly on arrival, however, that he never had the chance to "empty" Austria and the cigarettes may still be there to this day.