King Jan Sobieski III statue planned in Vienna

King Jan III Sobieski at Battle of Vienna; painter unknown: czartoryskich.pl

It is a Polish initiative which has won the support of President Bronislaw Komorowski. A three metre-high statue of the monarch - designed by Polish sculptor Czesław Dzwigaj – will be unveiled next year on Kahlenberg.

It was from there that King Sobieski launched his attack on the Turkish forces during the siege of Vienna in 1683.

The Polish victory halted the Ottoman expansion into Europe and the battle was one of the last military successes of Poland before the partitions of the country and the loss of independence.

There is a commemorative plaque on the façade of the Polish church on Vienna’s Kahlenberg. It was dedicated in 1983, the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Vienna. (mk)

Listen to an edition of our cultural magazine Focus, where we look at an exhibition currently on at Wilanow Palace on the outskirts of Warsaw on King Jan Sobieski.