Tuesday 6 March 2012

The “Hochstrahlbrunnen” fountains and Red Army Soviet War Memorial

Looking forward to the spring and summer, it is always nice to cool down at a beautiful fountain. In Vienna at the end of the Rennweg on Schwarzenbergplatz there is an huge fountain called Hochstrahlbrunnen. It shoots water high in the air and with a bit of wind, you can enjoy the cool spray which has a reach of several tens of metres. On evenings rainbow colours are projected on the water.

Just in front of the fountain, there is a memorial of the Red Army of the Soviet Union. It was built to remember more than 17.000 Soviet soldiers who died in Vienna in 1945. It is surprising to see this memorial here because Austria and the Soviet Union were fighting each other during World War II and Vienna was occupied by the Soviets after the war. The memorial is not popular with the Viennese population.

Vooruitblikkend op de lente en zomer, is het altijd leuk een plaatsje te vinden om af te koelen bij een mooie fontein. In Wenen aan het einde van de Rennweg op de Schwarzenbergplatz staat er een enorme fontein Hochstrahlbrunnen genaamd. Deze spuit water hoog de lucht in en met wat wind, kan je genieten van waterspray die tientallen meters ver vliegt. Van zodra het donker wordt, kleurt het water door lichtprojectie zich afwisselend in alle kleuren van de regenboog.

Juist voor de fontein is er een gedenk monument voor het Rode Leger van de Sovjet Unie. Het werd gebouwd voor de dood van 17.000 Sovjet soldaten te herdenken die hier in Wenen zijn gestorven gedurende de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Het is verrassend dit monument hier te zien daar de Sovjet Unie en Oostenrijk vijanden van elkaar waren en dat Wenen nog bezet is geweest door het Sovjet leger. Het monument blijft echter onpopulair bij de Weense bevolking..

Hochstrahlbrunnen
Hochstrahlbrunnen
Hochstrahlbrunnen
Soviet Memorial
Soviet Memorial
Soviet Memorial
Soviet Memorial
Hochstrahlbrunnen
Previous Vienna article: Kärtnerstrasse, Austrian shopping street in the old city of Vienna

Previous War Memorial article: Vittorio Emanuele II, the first King of Italy and his monument in Rome

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20 comments:

  1. i like it...
    has historic importance...

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  2. Great pictures! The images with the fountain are spectacular.

    Greetings, Carmen

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  3. Wow, gigantischer Hochstrahlbrunnen.
    Great pictures!

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  4. Wat mooi al die opspuitende fonteinen.
    Groetjes, Mirthe

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  5. No war is never a good thing, and for some it leaves many scars....but the beauty of this fountain is splendid! You take very nice photographs every where you go! It's always quite a treat to stand back and look at them!

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  6. My wording came out wrong! War is never good, it should have said! Anyway your photographs are beautiful!

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  7. I love the chaps looking eagerly into the sun! Great photo!

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  8. I can imagine it not being popular. I wonder why it hasn't been removed.

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  9. The misty shots are exceptional.

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  10. I'm surprised the Viennese allowed it to be built. Perhaps the pain has lessened with the passing of time.

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  11. looks a bit like the WWII memorial in Washington DC



    Aloha from Honolulu
    Comfort Spiral

    >< } } ( ° >

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  12. It's always sobering to think of the number of unnecessary deaths in war - on any side. When you think of the number of lives affected, it's a tragedy.

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  13. Beautiful shots, love the third!
    Mette

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  14. I'm taking my notes here, thanks for this wonderful posts.I've never visited Vienna, your pictures are beautiful!

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  15. Great images Filip! I love the one of the 2 crouching soldiers. I love coming to your blog. It's like a world wide travel brochure only better!
    Thanks for sharing. Sorry I don't visit enough. Your posts are alwasy so informative.
    Have a great week :)

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  16. Coucou!!! superbe les photos avec la fontaine!!! j'aime beaucoup cet effet de filé!! et c'est un superbe article où vous mettez à l'honneur ceux qui se sont battus pour notre liberté!!! @+++

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  17. we have a lot of those sowjet-monuments in Sofia too...I know the place, is close to EPO Vienna right?:-)))

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  18. Prachtige monumenten, de fontein is wel heel apart en de twee soldaten vind ik ook schitterend.

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  19. *Jaw dropping* is that real gold?

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