Graben - Plague Pillar

In the middle of the Graben stands the famous Plague Pillar. This 21m/70ft tall Baroque pillar (also called the "Trinity Pillar") owes its existence to a vow made by Emperor Leopold I. He swore that when the plague ceased he would pay for the erection of a pillar which would reach up to heavens. The plague of 1679 cost 75,000 Viennese their lives, other estimates even reach 150,000. The first plague pillar was erected in the same year.

The construction of the definitive Plague Pillar by Matthias Rauchmiller was begun in 1681, continued after his death, which occurred in 1686, by J.B. Fischer von Erlach, and completed in 1693 by Locovico Burnacini. The figure of the Emperor kneeling in prayer is the work of Paul Strudel, that of the Trinity was modeled by Johann Kilian of Augsburg.