Praterstern & the Tegetthoff Column
Why is it significant?
Here the streets of Leopoldstadt all run into one huge roundabout, and in the middle a tall column rises out of the traffic, studded with the bronze prows of warships. On top stands a man in a naval coat, gazing out over a city that has no sea. He is Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff.
Key Facts
| Place | Praterstern & the Tegetthoff Column |
|---|---|
| Address | Praterstern, 1020 Wien, Austria |
| Geo Coordinates | 48.21800, 16.39060 |
| Part of Walk | The Island Across the Canal: Vienna's Leopoldstadt, Augarten and Prater |
| Generated | Generated |
Here the streets of Leopoldstadt all run into one huge roundabout, and in the middle a tall column rises out of the traffic, studded with the bronze prows of warships. On top stands a man in a naval coat, gazing out over a city that has no sea.
He is Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff. In July 1866, off the Adriatic island of Lissa, today's Vis in Croatia, he led the Austrian fleet against a larger and more modern Italian one. He ordered his flagship to ram the Italian flagship, the Re d'Italia, which sank within minutes. Austria won the battle. And here is the paradox: it lost the war anyway, beaten by Prussia on land, and had to give up Venice regardless.
Tegetthoff became a national hero, and when he died young in 1871, Vienna gave him this column, unveiled in 1886. Count the prows if you like. They recall the ancient Roman habit of decorating monuments with the bows of captured ships. An admiral in the middle of Vienna, a city far from any coast, makes sense only when you remember that the empire stretched down to Trieste and the Adriatic.
The roundabout has another story. This was the site of the Nordbahnhof, the terminus of the Kaiser Ferdinands-Nordbahn, Austria's first steam railway, which opened in 1837. Its lines ran north to Moravia, Galicia and beyond, and for decades every newcomer from those lands stepped off the train here. That is why so many of them settled right next door in Leopoldstadt. The grand old station has long gone; a modern one stands in its place.
Now look east, over the roofs and trees. You can already see a great wheel turning slowly against the sky. Cross towards the Prater, past the first stalls and lights, and walk to its foot.