Grillparzer monument, Memorial statue in Volksgarten, Austria.
The Grillparzer Monument in the Volksgarten is a seated figure of Franz Grillparzer carved by Carl Kundmann from Laaser marble, larger than life. Behind it, a half-elliptical wall designed by Carl von Hasenauer carries six reliefs by Rudolf Weyr, framed by a portico of four columns and a pediment inscribed "GRILLPARZER". Curved benches flank the stepped base.
A committee chaired by Johann Adolf II zu Schwarzenberg, under the patronage of Archduke Carl Ludwig, awarded the commission; Carl von Hasenauer designed the architecture and Carl Kundmann carved the figure. Rudolf Weyr's design for a semicircular relief wall won the second competition of 1877. The monument was unveiled on 23 May 1889, seventeen years after Grillparzer's death.
The six reliefs on the half-elliptical wall, carved by Rudolf Weyr, show scenes from Grillparzer's dramas in a fixed order from left to right: Die Ahnfrau, Der Traum ein Leben, König Ottokars Glück und Ende, Sappho, Medea and Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen. Visitors can read the playwright's career across the wall.
The monument stands in the Volksgarten in Vienna's Innere Stadt, set against a semicircular relief wall that visitors can walk along to read the six drama scenes from left to right. The stepped base is flanked by two curved benches, and a bed of white flowers lies directly before the seated figure.
The six reliefs on the half-elliptical wall were all carved by Rudolf Weyr, who had won the second competition for the commission in 1877; his idea of a semicircular wall with reliefs was the design actually built. From left to right they show Die Ahnfrau, Der Traum ein Leben, König Ottokars Glück und Ende, Sappho, Medea and Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen.
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