This shrine stands in front of the house at Meidlinger Hauptstraße No. 3. In the past, the prisoner’s house and the keeper’s house were located at this address. It is a Tuscan column on a square base that supports a cuboid with two reliefs. One relief shows Saul’s conversion to Paul. The text “Ex Voto” and the year 1687 are engraved beneath this relief. “Ex voto” suggests that a person in an emergency pledged to erect this pillar if he or she is rescued. Since the plague raged in Vienna in 1687, it is probable that the threat came from the plague. And because the name of Paul is the subject of the relief, it is assumed that the founder was a person named Paul.
A “Throne of Mercy” is shown on the back of the column together with the text “RV L.R.” and the year 1756. So probably in 1756 a person with the initials L.R. renovated the shrine.
This votive column is the oldest still existing monument in public space in Meidling.
The orange ribbon is used to support the pillar that threatens to break.
CC AttributionCreative Commons Attribution
Comments