Tegetthoff Monument

The Tegetthoff Monument at the Praterstern in the 2nd district from 1886 by Carl Kundmann and Carl von Hasenauer with the 3.5m high figure of Wilhelm von Tegetthoff on a 16m high “honorary column” made of marble on a 5m high pedestal commemorates the victories of the vice-admiral and commander of the Austrian navy in the naval battles of Lissa and off Helgoland.

The three hulls with the goddess of victory Nike as a figurehead and horse-drawn combat vehicles on the base, later disparaged as the “clothes rack”, are references to the admiral, who had already entered the naval cadet school in 1840 at the age of 13 and was destined for a stellar career as a naval officer, particularly as a result of the 1848 revolution. Tegetthoff became a naval hero when he defeated the Italian fleet at Lissa in 1866.

In addition to his innovations and reforms – often in the face of resistance from the general staff – he also became famous and honored for bringing Emperor Maximilian home after his execution in Mexico with the legendary Novara. Tegetthoff died of pneumonia at the age of 43 and is now buried in Graz-St. Leonhard.