Nestroy Monument

The bronze Nestroy Monument in honor of Johann Nestroy in the 2nd district was created by Viennese sculptor Oskar Thiede and originally unveiled at the nearby Nestroyplatz in 1929. After being placed in the Max Reinhardt Seminar for over 30 years, it returned near its original location in 1983.

The playwright, comedian, theater director and opera singer, born in Vienna in 1801, is shown here in the role of the main character „Blasius Rohr“ from the satirical farce „Glück, Missbrauch und Rückkehr“ (Happiness, Abuse and Return), who comes into wealth as a poor clerk, but loses everything through his pomposity and in the end is allowed to marry his beloved Babett.

Even during his lifetime, Nestroy was regarded as the central protagonist of the high point of the old Viennese folk theater in the first half of the 19th century, an Austrian form of theater which, due to its Viennese dialect, musical interludes and closeness to the realities of life, still enjoys a high degree of popularity among all sections of the population today.