Place of Carinthian Unity

The Place of Carinthian Unity is located at the Klagenfurt Landhaushof, right in front of the seat of the Carinthian provincial government. The monument is encircled by four severed columns, which symbolise the values of “Freedom, Togetherness, Unity and Peace”. At the foot of the monument there is a “Carinthian Cross” with the inscription “Carinthian resistance 1918 to 1920”.

In the first few years after its erection, critics of the monument pointed out that the 10 October celebrations, organised under the involvement of the Carinthian traditional associations, were German-national, and therefore anti-Slovenian, memorial ceremonies.

In 2002, the monument was the focus of an artistic protest by Carinthian cultural creators, after the provincial government had decided that the Carinthian traditional associations should receive their basic subsidies out of the cultural budget. The monument was not damaged but instead complemented with “golden caps”. Nevertheless, the protest was labelled an act of “anti-homeland provocation”, and a cameraman was attacked by an infuriated politician. The protest was not directed against the monument itself, but at the province’s cultural politics.

In 2018, the monument was daubed with dark paint.