Lion Hunt in Vienna

I was walking through Vienna, completely lost in my own thoughts, when I noticed a lion. Not a real one, of course. A stone lion. I kept walking. Another lion. Then another.

I smiled to myself because they reminded me of the lions you often see in front of houses across the Balkans. You know the ones – standing proudly on each side of the entrance gate. I’m not sure if that architectural style has an official name, but I’d confidently call it… kitsch.

Maybe we copied the idea from Vienna. Maybe from Europe in general.

Either way, there I was, walking through Vienna, surrounded by lions.

Bronze lion-head fountain in Vienna’s historic center.

I had travelled all the way to Tanzania hoping to see lions on safari. I had heard of the Atlas lions of North Africa, sadly extinct in the wild, and I knew that a small population of Asiatic lions still survives in India.

But Vienna’s lions?

Those were completely new to me.

Curiosity won. I sat down for a coffee and started looking for answers.

The trail led me much further than I expected.

All the way to ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt

Thousands of years ago, lions lived across parts of ancient Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq, parts of Syria, southeastern Turkey, and western Iran). Throughout the region, they became symbols of power and royal authority.

In the Assyrian Empire, kings commissioned reliefs showing themselves hunting lions—not because they needed food, but because defeating the most feared animal in their world demonstrated that they were powerful enough to protect their kingdom. Some of the most famous examples are the Lion Hunt reliefs from Nineveh (near present-day Mosul, Iraq), created for King Ashurbanipal in the 7th century BC. Today, they are displayed in the British Museum.

Yes… another story that somehow ended up in a European museum.

Further south, in the city of Babylon (near present-day Hillah, Iraq), rows of glazed brick lions lined the Processional Way leading to the famous Ishtar Gate. The lions represented Ishtar, the goddess of love, fertility, and war.

Today, much of the reconstructed Ishtar Gate is displayed in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum, which is currently closed for renovation.

Again… don’t get me started.

In Egyptian mythology, the goddess of war, destruction, and healing, Sekhmet, was depicted with the head of a lioness and the body of a woman, representing the lion’s dual nature—both destructive and nurturing at the same time.

Sphinxes, on the other hand, were statues with a human head and the body of a lion. They combined human intelligence with the strength of a lion and were believed to guard temples, tombs, and other sacred places.

Ancient Greece

In ancient Greece, the lion became part of mythology as well as a symbol of power and courage. The best-known example is the Nemean lion, a fearsome creature with a hide that no weapon could pierce. Heracles defeated it as the first of his Twelve Labors, using his own strength when his arrows proved useless. The story turned the lion into both a powerful opponent and a symbol of extraordinary bravery.

Interestingly, the ancient Greeks did not know lions only through myths. Archaeological remains show that wild lions once lived in Greece and other parts of the Balkans.

Roman Empire

The Romans, as they often did, borrowed many ideas from the Greeks. Historians prefer the word borrowed. I might choose a different one… but I’ll leave that debate to them.

Anyway, back to Rome.

The lion remained a symbol of strength, courage, and authority, but it also became closely associated with imperial power. It appeared on public buildings, tombs, and monuments, spreading this imagery as the Roman Empire expanded across Europe. Wherever it appeared, it reinforced ideas of power, protection, and imperial authority.

Christianity

As Christianity spread across Europe, the lion became a symbol of divine authority, courage, and resurrection. It also came to represent Saint Mark the Evangelist, whose traditional symbol is the winged lion. It appeared in churches and religious art, most famously as the winged Lion of Saint Mark.

Heraldry

By the Middle Ages, the lion had found yet another role.

The rise of heraldry—the system of coats of arms used to identify knights, noble families, and kingdoms—turned the lion into one of Europe’s most popular symbols. It represented courage, honor, nobility, and royal authority, appearing on shields, flags, and family crests.

As wealthy families built castles and palaces, lion motifs also began appearing on gates, entrances, and stone facades, standing guard over homes just as they had once guarded temples and kingdoms.

Finally… Vienna Lions

So, how did all these lions end up in Vienna?

By the second half of the 19th century, the lion had already carried thousands of years of symbolism.

During the Historicist period, architects looked to the past for inspiration, reviving elements from Ancient Greece and Rome, the Renaissance, the Gothic period, and the Baroque. Lions, already established as symbols of strength, protection, authority, and prestige, naturally became part of this architectural language.

Many of Vienna’s stone lions date from this period, appearing on palaces, public buildings, bridges, and grand entrances throughout the city. You’ll find them at places such as Belvedere, Schönbrunn Palace, the Palace of Justice, and many other landmarks.

Stone lion decorations on building facades in Vienna’s 15th district

For me, the most interesting, but probably not the most famous, is the Lion of Saint Mark, the symbol of Venice. For some reason, people don’t seem to notice it.

The sculpture was originally created in 1873 for Vienna’s Südbahnhof (South Railway Station), celebrating the railway connection between Vienna and Venice. It also reflected a time when Venice had been part of the Austrian Empire only a few years earlier. After the old station was demolished, the restored lion found a new home in today’s Hauptbahnhof (Central Railway Station), where it continues to welcome travelers.

They may have arrived here centuries after the lions of Mesopotamia, Greece or Rome, but they still tell the same story. A story about power, protection, identity and the human habit of giving meaning to the animals we admire most.

Lion Hunt in Vienna

If you’d like to spot a few of Vienna´s stone lions yourself, here are some of my favorite places to start. But don’t stop there. The fun is in finding the ones you weren’t expecting. Keep your eyes open—you’ll almost certainly discover a few more of your own.

1. 🦁 Pallas Athena Fountain
   Lions watching over the Austrian Parliament.
2. 🦁 Palace of Justice (Justizpalast)
   The city’s most impressive stone guardians.
3. 🦁 Hercules and the Nemean Lion (Burggarten)
   The perfect place to remember the Greek myth.
4. 🦁 Josefsbrunnen 🦁 Leopoldsbrunnen
   Two almost identical fountains with lion-head water spouts. Between them stands Vienna’s famous Plague Column (Pestsäule).

Happy lion hunting. It’s the only kind of hunting I truly approve of.

Visiting Vienna in summer?
Don’t miss my guide to Vienna Summer for Free, packed with festivals, outdoor events, parks, swimming spots, and other seasonal ideas.

If this article has inspired you to explore more of Vienna, you’ll find plenty of walking tours, museum visits, and day trips here:

• GetYourGuide – Things to Do in Vienna
• Viator – Vienna Tours & Experiences