Memorial to the victims of National Socialism from the Roma and Sinti communities

Since the amendment to the National Fund Law in 2024, the National Fund has been entrusted with the planning, construction and future maintenance of a memorial to the victims of National Socialism from the Roma and Sinti communities.

A memorial to the victims of National Socialism from the Roma and Sinti communities is far more than a construction project. It stands for the responsibility to remember the Nazi genocide and to pay tribute to its victims in a fitting manner.

A central memorial in the Austrian capital will help raise public awareness of a victim group that has hitherto been largely overlooked and anchor the Nazi genocide against the Roma and Sinti in Austrian remembrance culture.

It is a key priority for the National Fund to involve the members of this ethnic community and the Roma Ethnic Group Advisory Board in the entire planning and construction process. The process has been conceived to be dialogue-oriented and will draw on the expertise of specialists in the relevant fields, ensuring that both historical and technical requirements, as well as the concerns of the Roma and Sinti community, are taken into account.

The location of the memorial

The memorial will be erected in Weghuberpark in front of the Ministry of Justice in Vienna’s 7^th District.

The location was determined as part of a broad-based consultation process coordinated by the National Fund, involving representatives of the ethnic group and in consultation with the relevant specialist departments of the City of Vienna. Different perspectives and requirements were brought together and now form the basis for the next steps in the implementation process.

Weghuberpark meets the necessary requirements and conditions for the construction of a memorial. The relevant departments of the City of Vienna have confirmed that the project is feasible at this location.

The district, which backs Weghuberpark as a location for the memorial, has reaffirmed its support and expressly advocates for the construction of the memorial on this site.

A meeting was held in Parliament on 17 April 2026 to reach a final decision on the location, during which a number of unresolved issues and key questions regarding the site were discussed. The Ethnic Group Advisory Board and representatives of the community unanimously were unanimously in favour of Weghuberpark as the site for the memorial.

Artistic competition for the design of the memorial

Now that the location has been decided upon, the project is entering its next phase: preparations for the artistic competition to design the memorial are ongoing.

A significant foundation in terms of content was laid on 27 February 2026. During a joint workshop in Parliament, community representatives engaged intensively with the fundamentals of the memorial. The focus was on what message the memorial should convey, how this could be expressed in a public space and what impact it could have.

Building on this, work will now continue on laying the conceptual and artistic foundations, with the ethnic group remaining closely involved and due consideration being given to the legal and technical framework.

The artistic competition is a two-stage Europe-wide process. The call for entries will be launched in autumn 2026.

Completion of the memorial is planned for 2029.

As at 23 April 2026