The story
If you are standing near the great spray of the Hochstrahlbrunnen fountain, you might feel a fine mist on your skin as the wind shifts. Just beyond the water, a bronze man sits atop a massive horse, looking out over the rush of cars and trams with a calm, heavy gaze. This is the heart of Schwarzenbergplatz, a space that feels less like a typical street and more like a grand, elongated stage where the history of Vienna has been performing for centuries.
The man on that horse is Karl Philipp, the Prince of Schwarzenberg. Born in 1771, he was an Austrian field marshal who rose to become one of the most significant military figures in European history. His name is etched into this pavement because he was the commander-in-chief of the Allied armies that finally defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. To the people of that era, he was the man who broke the French Emperor’s grip on the continent.
While the monumental statue of the Prince was unveiled in 1867, the city officially gave this square his name in 1880. It was a time when Vienna was tearing down its old defensive walls to breathe and expand, creating the grand Ringstrasse. This square became a vital pivot point. Today, it acts as a gateway, connecting the prestigious inner district and the Ringstrasse to the sprawling gardens of the Belvedere palaces to the south.
As you walk, you will notice that this street is a study in contrasts. On one side, you have the elegant Palais Schwarzenberg, which still belongs to the Prince’s descendants. Nearby, the French Embassy stands as a masterpiece of Art Nouveau. But if you look behind the fountain, toward the south, you will see a very different kind of soldier. There stands the Soviet War Memorial, a semi-circular colonnade built in 1945 to honor the Red Army soldiers who fell during the battle for Vienna. It is a striking sight—the nineteenth-century Imperial prince on his horse at one end, and the twentieth-century Russian soldier with his shield at the other.
This place is where the old Empire meets the modern world, and where military glory is remembered in different languages and styles. It is a busy thoroughfare, yet it retains a certain ceremonial hush.
Before you continue your walk toward the Opera or the palaces, take a moment to look at the fountain, the Hochstrahlbrunnen. It was built in 1873 to celebrate the completion of Vienna’s first modern water pipeline. If you look closely at the edge of the basin, you will see three hundred and sixty-five small fountains surrounding the large central jet—one for every day of the year. Try to count a few as you pass by, and listen for the way the water masks the sound of the city.