Emperor Franz Joseph I, Lasa (Laas)

Within the Raiffeisenplatz (Raiffeisen Bank’s square & parking lot), opposite the parish church of Lasa (Laaa), a bust of Emperor Franz Joseph I. is set on a Lasa marble pedestal as a monument. The bust and the base were created in the spring of 1911 as one of the last works of the "k.k. Fachschule für Steinbearbeitung" (Imperial & Royal Technical School for Stone Processing), shortly before they were moved to Bolzano (Bozen) in the same year. For more than 70 years, the monument eked out its existence inconspicuously and almost forgotten in a shed of the old Lechnerische Marmorwerkstatt (Lechner Marble Workshop). In 1987 the municipality of Lasa (Laas) acquired the monument and had it erected at its present location.

The monument represents the heyday of Lasa marble under the Habsburg Empire, the wealth of natural stones in the municipality of Lasa (Laas) and the special skill of the craftsmen, mosaic masters, stonemasons and sculptors who worked in Lasa (Laas) at the "I&R Technical School for Stone Processing" in Lasa (Laas).

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