When a hiker escapes the noise of Vienna and descends into the cool shade of the Vienna Woods (Wienerwald), moving along paths near Hadersdorf-Mauerbach, they encounter an unexpected sight: embedded in a natural stone wall among the trees are inscribed plaques bearing Arabic script and an Ottoman tugra (imperial seal). The surroundings are a typical Central European forest — beech trees, birdsong, Vienna's skyline in the distance — but what stands before them seems to come from Belgrade, an Ottoman gate, and a pasha's tomb. This point, marked "Türkensteine" (Turkish Stones) on Google Maps, lies on the Stadtwanderweg 8 hiking trail, a relatively little-known but historically significant stop.

A Discovery in the Forest: Where Is Türkensteine

Türkensteine is located in Vienna's 14th district, near Hadersdorf-Mauerbach, within the Vienna Woods. To reach it, one must leave the hustle and bustle of the city center and follow the hiking trail marked as Stadtwanderweg 8. For a hiker who expects no signposts or tourist information along the way, this stone wall appearing suddenly in the middle of the forest creates a genuine sense of surprise. The silence and natural setting around it create a strange contrast with the weight of history the stones carry: here, kilometers away from the city, stands a tangible trace of two empires' — Habsburg and Ottoman — encounter at the end of the 18th century.

In the late 19th century, to prevent erosion and damage from weather conditions, the stones were mounted onto a specially constructed natural-stone wall, and explanatory plaques were added beside them. What is visible today is this arrangement: a memorial wall integrated into the forest's natural fabric, yet immediately striking due to the inscriptions upon it.

Laudon and the 1789 Siege of Belgrade

At the center of the story of how these stones came to the Vienna Woods stands the Austrian Field Marshal Gideon Ernst Freiherr von Laudon (also written as Loudon). Laudon was one of the most successful Austrian commanders of his time and directed the capture of Belgrade in 1789 during the Austro-Ottoman War. When Belgrade fell from Ottoman control to Austrian hands on October 8, 1789, Laudon decided to bring back a tangible souvenir of his victory.

The stones he brought from Belgrade to his own estate in Hadersdorf were not merely souvenirs. Laudon had a bigger plan in mind: he intended to use these pieces for his own tomb monument in the future. In other words, the original purpose for bringing the stones here was rooted in personal and military glory — Laudon imagined building a monument that would immortalize his status as the commander who captured Belgrade.

However, this plan never materialized. Laudon died approximately nine months after Belgrade's fall, on July 14, 1790. His widow, Clara, rejected the idea of a "Turkish-style" tomb for her husband; consequently, Laudon's actual monument — a neoclassical structure designed by sculptor Franz Anton Zauner in 1791 — was erected at a different location along the Hadersdorf-Mauerbach road, separate from the Turkish stones. Thus, the stones from Belgrade remained on their own as a separate group in the Vienna Woods.

What Exactly Are the Stones: A Gate and a Tomb

The pieces that make up Türkensteine are not random or symbolic stones, but identifiable Ottoman structures. They consist of six pieces in total, coming from two different sources:

  • Two large marble plaques — These belong to the Istanbul Gate (Istanbul Kapısı) of Belgrade Fortress, inscribed with imperial seals and inscriptions placed during the reign of Sultan Mahmud I (1730-1754). These plaques carry official records of the gate's construction or renovation and bear the official marks of the period's sultan.
  • Four smaller plaques — Decorated with botanical motifs, these pieces come from the tomb or shrine of Ibrahim Pasha, the Belgrade garrison commander. Ibrahim Pasha died in 1708, making these tomb pieces from an earlier period than the Istanbul Gate plaques.

This distinction is important, as the two groups of artifacts have different origins: one is an official administrative inscription belonging to a gate structure, the other is an artistic embellishment from a person's tomb. Both are concrete evidence of Belgrade's Ottoman period and were transported together to Vienna during Laudon's 1789 campaign.

Respect or War Trophy? Correcting a Common Misconception

Two different, but equally incorrect narratives about Türkensteine circulate on the internet and social media.

The first narrative claims that the stones were brought here "out of respect," as a gesture by the Austrians toward Ottoman culture — as if a tomb of an Ottoman pasha living in Belgrade had been carefully transported to commemorate him. This narrative is romantic but historically inaccurate. According to documented facts, the stones were brought as spoils of war (Siegeszeichen) — to celebrate Laudon's own military achievement and for future use in his tomb monument. In other words, there is no gesture of respect here; instead, there is the common practice of collecting war trophies that was standard in the warfare culture of the era.

The second narrative emerged as a reaction and contains an opposite error: some sources claim "the tugra does not belong to Sultan Mahmud" and completely reject the plaques' identity. This is also incorrect — the large marble plaques genuinely belong to the reign of Sultan Mahmud I (1730-1754) and are official inscriptions placed on the Istanbul Gate. The confusion likely arises from the stones coming from two different sources: the Istanbul Gate plaques are from Mahmud I's time, while the small tomb pieces belong to Ibrahim Pasha, who died in 1708. Confusing the two or rejecting both misrepresents the historical record.

The correct picture is this: Türkensteine consists of genuine and verifiable Ottoman structures — gate plaques from Mahmud I's reign and tomb pieces of Ibrahim Pasha, who died in 1708 — and these were transported to Vienna as war spoils by Field Marshal Laudon during the 1789 capture of Belgrade. They are preserved today on a wall in the Vienna Woods. Meanwhile, claims circulating in some accounts such as "there are 94 stones" are unfounded; the documented number of pieces is six.

How It Looks Today: How to Reach Hadersdorf

For a visitor wishing to see Türkensteine, the most practical route is to reach the Hadersdorf-Mauerbach area in Vienna's 14th district and follow the Stadtwanderweg 8 hiking trail. This trail offers a day-trip walking route that can be combined with other natural and historical points in the Vienna Woods. Because the site is not a major tourist destination, a visit is usually quiet and carries a sense of discovery — much like a hiker's initial surprise upon encountering these stones for the first time.

The explanatory plaques located at the site summarize the origin of the stones and Laudon's story; however, visiting with the historical context detailed above makes the experience far more meaningful. Türkensteine is not merely an interesting stone wall, but a small but dense piece of history where an empire's personal ambition, two empires' late 18th-century encounter, and the evolution of narratives over time are interwoven. Encountering a door inscription from Belgrade and a pasha's tomb stones on the quiet paths of the Vienna Woods is a rare experience that reminds one how closely the European and Ottoman worlds once touched.