The Monument of Hope is a five-and-a-half-meter high and nearly three-by-three-meter wide bronze sculpture by the artist couple Emmerich Weissenberger and Nora Ruzsics. It will tour the world as a global symbol of peace.
Artists Emmerich Weissenberger and Nora Ruzsics were commissioned to create an artwork as a symbol for a new beginning during the global pandemic by the renowned Austrian art collector Martin Essl, whose family founded the Essl Museum in 1999. The Essl Collection has been held by the ALBERTINA Museum since 2017 and now forms the backbone of the museum’s modern and contemporary art holdings. The Essl Collection was exhibited for the first time at the ALBERTINA Modern in Vienna in 2021. The artists Weissenberger and Ruzsics first created a wooden lemniscate as a symbol of new beginnings, a renaissance that we are experiencing after two years in which COVID-19 has changed our lives entirely.
Based on a unanimous decision of the Austrian Parliament, the monument was placed on Vienna’s Heldenplatz between the two temporary pavilions of the Parliament, seat of the Austrian Federal Government, for more than a year. It is a symbolic place, directly in front of the Imperial Hofburg Palace, for centuries the seat of the Austrian emperors. Martin Essl donated the wooden lemniscate to the Medical University of Vienna in 2023; it now stands in front of the university hospital in Vienna, the city's General Hospital (AKH).
During its creation, the artists made the decision to create a second lemniscate of the same dimensions, this time made of bronze, to represent the hope for peace and freedom in our world. They called it THE MONUMENT OF HOPE.
The Monument of Hope will go on tour and inspire people all over the world. It is conceived as a symbol of peace and freedom and of a dialogue that transcends borders: how we can learn from the past to become ready for the future to create together a livable, peaceful world.
The artists Emmerich Weissenberger and Nora Ruzsics, together with scientist Alfred Strigl, developed the barrier-free Monument of Hope. It symbolizes the ups and downs of human life, the struggle of existence. The center of the sculpture is an open heart space, a space for the soul.
In its first version, the work of art was made of wood. By decision of the Austrian Parliament, it could be seen for more than a year at Vienna’s Heldenplatz in the center of the Austrian capital and served as a place of gathering, for exchanging opinions and ideas, and for reflecting on the good life and a better future. Now it is placed in front of the main entrance of Vienna’s General Hospital (AKH) / Medical University Vienna.
Artist Emmerich Weissenberger with the wooden lemniscate. Based on a unanimous decision of the Austrian Parliament, the monument was placed on Vienna's Heldenplatz between the two temporary pavilions of the Parliament, temporary seat of the Austrian Federal Government. It is a symbolic place, directly in front of the Imperial Hofburg Palace, for centuries the seat of the Austrian emperors.
Unveiling of the Lemniskate on the forecourt of Vienna General Hospital / Medical University Vienna. As a symbol of gratitude for their extraordinary achievements, Martin and Gerda Essl donated the ensemble of objects to MedUni Vienna. From left to right: Herwig Wetzlinger, Markus Müller, Gerda Essl, Martin Essl, Nora Ruzsics, Emmerich Weissenberger and Barbara Essl.
