Graben

Branching off from Stock-im-Eisen-Platz (a small square adjoining Stephansplatz), Graben literally began life as a ditch dug by the Romans to protect Vinodoba. In 1192 Leopold V filled in the ditch and built a defensive city wall that ended in Freyung, using as finance the ransom paid by arch-rival Richard the Lionheart, who at that time was being kept under lock and key in a castle near Dürnstein, on the Danube. Two fascinating landmarks on Graben are the writhing, towering Pestsäule (Plague Column), and Adolf Loos’ public toilets, which are in the Jugendstil design. The Pestsäule commemorates the end of the plague and was erected in 1692. It was designed by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach – don’t miss this, as it is one of the finest in Europe.