The portrait sculpture of Franz Joseph I was created by Josef Václav Pekárek (1873-1930). The sculptor based his work on an official photograph of the emperor taken in 1908 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the government, on which his head is slightly bent. However, instead of a uniform, he was dressed into the ornate of the Order of the Golden Fleece, complemented by the order medal on a golden chain. The statue was unveiled on 25 September 2004, attended by the emperor’s grandson, Otto von Hapsburg.
