{"id":39856,"date":"2022-01-03T04:45:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-03T03:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=39856"},"modified":"2026-01-06T13:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T12:11:12","slug":"goethe-monument","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/goethe-monument\/","title":{"rendered":"The Goethe Monument"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/goethesmall.jpg\" alt=\"Part of the Goethe inscription\" class=\"wp-image-39857\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/goethesmall.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/goethesmall-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Vienna&#8217;s literary staring competition has lasted decades. On one side we have the German playwright and poet Friedrich Schiller. About 180m away, staring back, sits his counterpart: a far more languid Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Located (appropriately) on Goethegasse<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Monument unveiled in 1900<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Features a bronze figure of a seated Goethe<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Book a two-hour <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/en\/vienna-walking-tours-l205287\/?partner=visitingvienna&amp;tq_campaign=LG_WalkingTours\" rel=\"sponsored\">walking tour<\/a>* for Vienna<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/literature-museum\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"21648\">The Literature Museum<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/ring\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"1546\">Along the Ring<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A bronze Goethe<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/goethemonument.jpg\" alt=\"The Goethe monument\" class=\"wp-image-49241\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/goethemonument.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/goethemonument-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Johann seems pretty relaxed up there)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vienna honours the memory of the greatest figure in German literature with, for example, a road named after him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One end of Goethegasse sits just below the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/albertina\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"2995\">Albertina art museum<\/a> in the old town. And the other end features a seated bronze Goethe  (1749-1832) as he might have looked in his 50s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to newspaper reports of the time, Emperor Franz Joseph unveiled this Goethe monument on December 15th, 1900. Busy days for the monarch, since he did the same for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/gutenberg-monument\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"33777\">Gutenberg monument<\/a> just two days later.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/goethewagner.jpg\" alt=\"Otto Wagner's design for a Goethe monument in Vienna\" class=\"wp-image-55490\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/goethewagner.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/goethewagner-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Otto Wagner&#8217;s 1889 sketch imagining an alternative location and design for the Goethe monument in Vienna; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 96285\/10; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As well as a who&#8217;s who of court society, thousands of bystanders apparently followed proceedings eagerly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The unveiling followed a long (20+ year) fundraising effort led by the Vienna Goethe Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Franz Joseph himself contributed to the fund, as did other members of the Imperial family. The court theatre even chipped in with money earned from performances of Goethe&#8217;s works.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/goethemonument1.jpg\" alt=\"Statue of a sitting Goethe\" class=\"wp-image-78966\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/goethemonument1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/goethemonument1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(A penny for your thoughts, Johann?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The monument&#8217;s sculptor, Edmund Helmer, is better known for the famous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/strauss-monument\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"3271\">Strauss memorial<\/a> in Vienna&#8217;s Stadtpark. He deliberately refrained from excessive ornamentation on his Goethe design to ensure a focus on the figure alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The emperor actually praised the simplicity of the approach when addressing Helmer at the unveiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Helmer is said to have based his depiction of Goethe&#8217;s head on life masks taken in the early 1800s by Carl Gottlob Wei\u00dfer and Johann Gottfried Schadow. However, the latter&#8217;s version may simply have been a copy of the former&#8217;s efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><em>Ad:<\/em><br><\/div><div data-tiqets-widget=\"discovery\" data-cards-layout=\"horizontal\" data-content-type=\"product\" data-content-ids=\"1008299,1029872\" data-partner=\"visitingvienna\" data-tq-campaign=\"DA_Concerts1\"><\/div><script defer=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/widgets.tiqets.com\/loader.js\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The rear of the monument contains a relief intended to express that &#8220;the family, the people, and humanity revere Goethe&#8217;s genius&#8221;. The inscription simply says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Erected by the Vienna Goethe Association in the year 1900<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Commentators of the time praised the artistic merit of the monument, but seemed less happy with the somewhat isolated, bare location. The intervening years have at least given Goethe a green backdrop thanks to the trees planted behind the statue.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/goethegasse.jpg\" alt=\"Goethegasse 3; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 78079\/610\/2\" class=\"wp-image-39858\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/goethegasse.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/goethegasse-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(View of Goethegasse, Palais Schey, and the future location of the Goethe monument on the left, as pictured by the Michael Frankenstein &amp; Comp. photo studio around 1880; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 78079\/610\/2; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Equally, those same commentators conceded that the view across to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/the-schiller-monument\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"39850\">Schiller monument<\/a> in the distance felt apt given the friendly relationship between the two literary greats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Goethe also guards an entrance to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/winter-palace\/burggarten\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"2746\">Burggarten<\/a>, a nice patch of green that sits behind the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/winter-palace\/neue-burg\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"1493\">Neue Burg wing<\/a> of the Hofburg palace complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Go inside the park to find further statues, including ones of Emperor Franz Joseph and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/mozart-monument-burggarten\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"5870\">Mozart<\/a>. The location also has small outdoor paddocks occasionally used by the stallions of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/spanishridingschool\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"278\">Spanish Riding School<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/goethe1820.jpg\" alt=\"Engraving of Goethe\" class=\"wp-image-87923\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/goethe1820.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/goethe1820-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Engraving of Goethe from 1820. Excerpt from an image kindly made available by the Finnish Heritage Agency, Finland under the terms of the <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY 4.0 licence<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take a quick look at Goethe&#8217;s nearest neighbour, too. Palais Schey dates back to the early 1860s: the dog&#8217;s head reliefs in the entrance doors carry bones in their jaws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to get to Goethe<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You might pass Goethe as you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/transport\/walking-tour\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"50322\">wander the main central sightseeing areas<\/a>, especially if you walk along the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/ring\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"1546\">Ring boulevard<\/a> taking in all the monumental buildings put up in the 19th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Subway: a short walk across from Karlsplatz station (U1, U2 and U4).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tram\/bus: Goethe sits halfway between two tram stops on the Ring. Burgring and Oper\/Karlsplatz are both served by the 1, 2, D and 71 lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address: Goethegasse 3, 1010 Wien<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=1asmHlbVpicbQLt1557vf6l4l0zQ\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vienna&#8217;s literary staring competition has lasted decades. On one side we have the German playwright and poet Friedrich Schiller. About 180m away, staring back, sits his counterpart: a far more languid Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. A bronze Goethe (Johann seems pretty relaxed up there) Vienna honours the memory of the greatest figure in German literature [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39857,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-39856","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sights","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39856"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87924,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39856\/revisions\/87924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}