(Vienna, 15 October 2025) – The Corona Memorial of Hope, previously a central eye-catcher on the forecourt of University Hospital Vienna, has found a new home. It has been moved to the lobby of MedUni Vienna's newly built Centre for Translational Medicine, thus building a bridge between memory, art and scientific future.
The Corona Memorial, a 5.5-meter-high wooden sculpture with a ceramic piece embedded in the center, stood for over a year on Vienna's Heldenplatz near the pavilions of the Austrian Parliament and was donated to the Medical University by collectors Martin and Gerda Essl. In 2023, it was erected on the main square of University Hospital Vienna as a sign of gratitude for medical services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it is being given a new setting at the center of university research and teaching.
The decision to relocate it was a conscious one: the lobby of the Centre for Translational Medicine is a high-traffic area where students, researchers, patients and visitors meet. Here, the monument is not only intended to serve as a reminder, but also to become part of the daily dialogue about health, medicine and social resilience.
Memory and future united
In its new setting, the monument becomes a link between the past and the future: it reminds us of the challenging times of the pandemic, urges us to remain vigilant and, at the same time, opens up space for hope, innovation and interdisciplinary cooperation.
The curved shape of the sculpture is based on the horizontal figure eight (lemniscate) and stands for continuity and change, for the ups and downs of human life. In the centre are the words Include – Sustain – Love. The artwork was designed by the artist couple Emmerich Weissenberger and Nora Ruzsics.
The relocation was carried out in close coordination with the centre's planners, the building and monument conservation authorities, and the artists who created the monument. The sculpture was carefully dismantled, transported and reassembled with consideration for its materials and form. Careful measures ensured that its symbolism and aesthetic qualities were preserved.
Outlook
The Corona Memorial of Hope will be seen by many people in the future – students, researchers, patients and guests – and will serve as a living reminder, but also as a catalyst for dialogue and reflection.