Der Entsatz von Wien 1683

The Relief of Vienna in 1683 is a pivotal event in European history and remains one of the most contested sites of memory in Central Europe. For almost 350 years, the historical facts have been overlaid by period-specific religious, nationalist, islamophobic and antisemitic interpretations. The political sensitivity of this multi-layered memory is as evident today as it was in the past, as demonstrated by the ultimately abandoned plan to erect a Sobieski monument on the Kahlenberg in Vienna in 2018. This book traces the history of the relief of Vienna and its commemoration from 1683 to the present day, from both Austrian and Polish perspectives. Drawing on eyewitness accounts, it analyses how the Church, politics, national associations, historical scholarship and the media have repeatedly reinterpreted Vienna's liberation from the Ottoman siege and mobilized it for identity politics.