Austria

2018

Commemorative coin

100 years of the Austrian Republic

Official Journal of the European Union

The design depicts the statue of Pallas Athena in front of the Greek-style building of the Austrian Parliament in Vienna. The goddess of wisdom serves as a symbol of the Austrian parliamentarism and stands for knowledge, reason and strategic talent. At the left side is the year ‘2018’ and underneath the text ‘100 JAHRE’ (100 YEARS). The text ‘REPUBLIK ÖSTERREICH’ (AUSTRIAN REPUBLIC) is inscribed at the bottom right in semi-circle. The coin’s outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag.

Additional information

The coin depicts the statue of the Pallas Athene Fountain in front of the Austrian Parliament building in Vienna, designed by Carl Kundmann on the model of Athena Farnese, made of Lasa marble and completed in 1902. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, serves as a symbol of Austrian parliamentarianism and stands for knowledge, reason and strategic abilities - she is supposed to symbolize the timeless validity of democracy. Initially an allegorical depiction of Austria was planned, but out of consideration for the strong national currents in the Habsburg Monarchy, the politically more neutral Athena was ultimately chosen. She wears an Attic helmet with sphinx, flanked by winged horses as helmet bush holders. The parliament building, designed by Theophil von Hansen in the neo-classical style and completed in 1883, has a central gable with a sculpture of Emperor Franz Joseph I (1830-1916) as Roman Emperor, created by Edmund von Hellmer in 1879. On the ramp, historians are depicted as admonishers of politics, symbolically reminding the Members of Parliament before entering the Parliament building that their activities must endure before the judgment of history and future generations: on the right, the statue of Sallust (86-35 B.C.) designed by Wilhelm Seib in 1896, on the left the statue of Titus Livius (59 B.C. - 17 A.D.) created by Josef Lax in 1900 - he was also the motif of an Italian 2-Euro commemorative coin in 2017 on the occasion of the 2000th anniversary of his death.

Edge lettering

Designer