Mexikoplatz

Mexikoplatz (Mexico Square) is a square in the Austrian capital Vienna. It is located in the city's 2nd district, Leopoldstadt, near the banks of the Danube, on the southwestern end of the Reichsbrücke (Empire Bridge), which links Leopoldstadt with Donaustadt, the 22nd district of Vienna.^[1]

Mexikoplatz
Square
Former name(s): Erzherzog-Karl-Platz Volkswehrplatz
St. Francis of Assisi Church and the Mexikoplatz
Features	St Francis of Assisi Church
Opening date	1884
Dedicated to	Mexican protesters of the Anschluss
Location	Leopoldstadt, Vienna, Austria
Mexikoplatz
Coordinates: 48.226570°N 16.404700°E / 48.226570; 16.404700

Overview

The square was named Mexikoplatz in 1956, to honor the support Mexico (led by President Lázaro Cárdenas) gave to Austria in 1938, when it was the only country at the time to protest the Anschluss (annexation) of Austria by Nazi Germany.^[2] Previously it was named "Erzherzog-Karl-Platz", after Archduke Charles of Austria, from 1884 to 1919 and from 1934 to 1956, respectively. From 1919 to 1934, it was called Volkswehrplatz (after the peoples' militias that were formed in Austria after World War I).

A church named St Francis of Assisi Church is located in the southeastern part of the square. It was consecrated in 1898, in celebration of the Golden Crown Jubilee of Emperor Francis Joseph.^[3]