Vienna, Austria: Pestsaule Statue

It is funny to see the reaction of tourists as they see the Pestsaule Statue. No one is too sure what they are seeing, but they are all reaching for their cameras.

A plague hit Vienna in 1679, and clobbered the population. Somewhere between 75,000 and 150,000 people are said to have died. Even the Emperor, Leopold I, had to flee.

It was quickly decided to put up a memorial to those people. It took a little more than a decade, but this was up in Graben Square in 1693. It checks in at 69 feet tall.

Vienna was not a nice place in 1679. It was overcrowded with no sewage systems and had rodents everywhere. In other words, it was ripe for the bubonic plague.

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