The authorities of Vienna do not want a monument to Jan III Sobieski, it would raise “Islamophobic and anti-Turkish sentiments”

Placing a monument to Jan III Sobieski on Kahlenberg Hill would create circumstances for “xenophobic agitation or Islamophobic or anti-Turkish resentment,” said Viennese cultural councilor Veronica Kaup-Hasler from the Social Democratic Party Austria (SPOe). – Today, the Sobieski monument must be a sign of peace and international understanding that rejects the rhetoric of victory – she added.

In 2013, a plinth was erected on Kahlenberg, which five years later was marked with the date of the Relief of Vienna, September 12, 1683, and the inscription “peace and international understanding” in German, Polish and English. In 2018, the sculpture itself was ready, but it could not be placed in the designated place.

The Vienna City Hall informed then that the eight-meter-high and three-tonne statue could become “the object of controversial activities.” Councilors were afraid that the place would be used to organize marches by right-wing extremists on the anniversary of the Relief of Vienna.

Since then, the Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe) and several organizations have campaigned for the erection of the monument over the years. Recently, councilors from the Christian Democrat OeVP and the liberal NEOS have joined the activities of the far right.

When banning the erection of the monument to Jan III Sobieski on Kahlenberg, Viennese councilors cited the objections of a group of Austrian and Polish experts. The equestrian monument of Jan III Sobieski by Czesław Dźwigaj was temporarily erected in Krakow and was also presented in various places in Poland.

The support of the Polish monarch contributed significantly to the victory over Turkish troops in the Battle of Vienna on September 12, 1683. The victory also ended the siege of the Austrian capital and put an end to the expansion of the Ottoman Empire in Europe.