Municipal Housing in . History, facts & figures DID YOU KNOW?

A great achievement The Karl-Marx-Hof extends over 1,100 metres along Heiligenstädter Straße, making it the longest contiguous residential building in the world. The complex covers an area of more than 150,000 m2, of which only just under 20 per cent are built up; the remainder is taken up by green spaces, footpaths and children’s playgrounds.

A slight difference Anyone who has ever been baffled by the in- scription on the façade of a municipal housing complex on Obkirchergasse in Döbling can put their mind at rest: “Karl-Mark-Hof” is not a spelling mistake. The complex, built in 1924/25, may be in the same of Vienna as its considerably larger and better-known brother, the Karl-Marx-Hof, but it is named after the Social Democrat politician Karl Mark (1900–91), Member of Parliament and president of the adult education association Wiener Volksbildungswerk.

A proud record 1900: Vienna has over 2 million inhabitants, 300,000 of whom have no home of their own. 1934: One in ten Viennese citizens lives in municipal housing. 2016: One in four Viennese citizens lives in municipal housing.

Karl-Marx-Hof, 19th district PREFACE

Dear reader, giving people access to “light, fresh air and sunshine”, while also providing them with nurseries, schools, just like the giant lending libraries and communal facilities such as Ferris wheel or laundry rooms. St. Stephen’s Between the ground-breaking ceremony for Vienna’s Cathedral, the first municipal housing complex, the Metzleinstaler Karl-Marx-Hof Hof, in 1919 and the ongoing SMART flats programme, has long since together with its commitment to start constructing become a new municipal housing from 2015 onwards, the City of Viennese land- Vienna has built 220,000 municipal dwellings for half a mark. And that million tenants and overseen the building of a further is no coincidence, because not only is it impressive from 200,000 subsidised flats. A successful model that is an architectural point of view; it also symbolises the recognised as such both at home and internationally, long history of social housing in Vienna. For almost the City of Vienna’s municipal housing programme con- a century now, this singular housing policy has been tinues to make a decisive contribution to the excellent helping to shape our city. housing standards and quality of life in our city. The roots of these extraordinarily innovative urban planning activities lie in the interwar “” period, when thousands of municipal dwellings were built. The aim was to provide affordable homes of good quality for broad sectors of the population, but Dr. Michael Häupl Dr. in practice much more was achieved. The housing Mayor of Vienna Executive City Councillor for scheme created complexes which met the criteria of Housing and Urban Renewal

Municipal Housing in Vienna 3 Karl-Marx-Hof As well as providing 1,382 flats for some 5,000 tenants, the Karl-Marx-Hof in the 19th district, built in 1927–30, also boasted an array of com- munal facilities including nurseries, an advice centre for mothers, a youth centre, a lending library, a dental clinic, a health insurance office with an integrated outpatients’ clinic, a chemist, a post office, doctors’ surgeries, cafés, shops and meeting rooms for political organisations. Although all of the flats had running water from the outset, bathrooms did not yet come as standard in those days, so the complex also incorporated two bath-houses with a total of 20 baths and 30 showers, plus two communal laundries with 62 sink units.

4 Municipal Housing in Vienna HISTORY AIMING HIGH The century of radical change: how Vienna’s municipal housing programme transformed people’s lives.

home of one’s own, or at least a poorer sections of which lived in Republic of , the Social Demo- Aroom … for many Viennese at the appalling conditions: so-called bed cratic Workers’ Party took power at dawn of the 20th century this was a lodgers who couldn’t even afford the Vienna City Hall. Jakob Reumann dream that was never likely to be re- rent for a room but merely had the use became the city’s first Social Demo- alised. The disastrous housing short- of a bed for a few hours a day. Or sub- crat mayor, heralding in the so-called age was to some extent attributable tenants who had a tiny room to call “Red Vienna” period. The housing to the huge influx of people flocking their own – but in an overcrowded situation having been further ex- to the imperial capital from all cor- tenement flat with no running water, acerbated by galloping inflation, a ners of the Habsburg Empire. How- no toilet, no daylight and poor ven- post-War influx of refugees and po- ever, it was also partly due to the fact tilation, where disease was rife and litical instability, the City of Vienna that most housing was owned by pri- spread quickly. responded by launching a large-scale vate landlords who let their property programme of housing construction. with an eye to maximising their own The interwar period: profits. At the outbreak of the First “Red Vienna” The intention behind the building World War in 1914 Vienna already Following the end of the First World of municipal housing was not only had a population of two million, the War and the proclamation of the to provide living space, but also

Municipal Housing in Vienna 5 Reumannhof, 5th district Hugo-Breitner-Hof, 14th district

to generally furnish people with a and landscaped areas; communal gramme’s success was the housing better basis for a “normal” healthy facilities like bath-houses and tax initiated specifically for this life. The aims were ambitious: the nurseries were provided to make purpose by city treasurer Hugo Breit- dismal, grimy holes in which many everyday life easier and help raise ner, which – together with other resided were to be replaced by living standards. newly introduced levies – allowed bright flats flooded with daylight the ambitious projects to be real- and equipped with a living room, The dream comes true ised. As a result, in the interwar pe- kitchen, hall and even their own Even today it remains a wonder that riod over 61,000 flats were built in toilet and running water; instead they managed to achieve all this, 348 municipal housing complexes of peering into filthy air wells given the dire economic situation and over 5,000 dwellings erected people would look out over gardens at the time. A key factor in the pro- on 42 estates of terraced houses.

6 Municipal Housing in Vienna Per-Albin-Hansson Estate, 10th district Schmelz Estate, 15th district

Among them were the City of Vien- (1924–28), the largest of its time ers entrenched themselves inside it na’s first large-scale housing estate with over 1,500 flats; and the Karl- against the attacking forces of the on the area known as the Schmelz Marx-Hof (1927–30), an outstand- Corporative State. (1919–24), comprising 150 houses ing example of the accomplished and allotment gardens where peo- architecture and urban planning Soon after, with the proclamation of ple could grow their own food; the of the period that still enjoys inter- the Ständestaat, housing construc- Metzleinstaler-Hof (1916–25), the national renown today. Like many tion ceased almost completely, which first “proper” municipal housing of the city’s other large municipal not surprisingly continued to be the complex, equipped with a bath- housing complexes it became a bat- case under the subsequent National house, lending library, laundry and tleground in February 1934, when Socialist dictatorship and through- nursery; the Sandleiten complex Social Democrat resistance fight- out the Second World War.

Municipal Housing in Vienna 7 HISTORY

A new start primarily devoted itself to urban Once the War was over, the recon- renewal and housing refurbish- struction effort began, and in 1947 ment schemes. Then, in the 1990s, the City of Vienna resumed its hous- the demand for housing began to ing programme with the building of rise again, driven by the growth the Per-Albin-Hansson Estate (the in single-person households, a concrete for which was made from new wave of immigration and recycled brick rubble). It was swift- ever-increasing expectations in ly followed by a multitude of small- terms of living standards; in re- er complexes, and subsequently sponse, a new housing offensive in the 1960s by the pre-fabricated was launched. The last municipal high-rise developments typical of housing complex for which Vienna this period like the Großfeld Estate, City Council acted as building the aim being to construct as much contractor, at Rößlergasse no. 15, affordable housing as possible in was completed in 2004. That year, as short a time as possible. 1969 the city’s entire subsidised hous- witnessed the completion of the ing construction programme was 100,000th flat since the end of World outsourced to non-profit housing War Two. associations and cooperatives. Today, one in four Viennese citi- In the 1970s and 1980s, the im- zens lives in one of the city’s 1,800 mediate housing shortage having or more municipal housing com- Hasenleitenhof, 11th district been alleviated, the City of Vienna plexes.

8 Municipal Housing in Vienna Metzleinstaler-Hof The Metzleinstaler-Hof on Margaretengürtel was the city’s first “proper” municipal housing complex. Planned during the First World War, it was completed in several phases ending in 1925. With its bright, comfortable (though by today’s standards tiny) flats it stood for the dawn of a new era and the transition from profiteering private landlords to social housing. Balconies, loggias and bay windows combine with pleated window frontages, towers and irregular rooflines to lend the buildings an almost grandiose flair. Elaborate, colourful majolica decorations in the newer part of the complex, which contains over 250 flats, act as a foil to the building’s austere aspect, as does the peaceful inner courtyard accessed via open gateways which belies its location close to one of Vienna’s busiest roads. Der Wiener Gemeindebau 9 The Friedrich-Engels-Platz complex Containing 1,400 flats, this municipal housing project (1930–33) at the western end of Bridge was the second largest of the “Red Vienna” period after the Sandleitenhof in . From outside it resembles a mighty fortress, with tower-like projections topped with high flagpoles flanking the imposing entrance. In the tradition of Otto Wagner, the facades around the inner courtyard are also strongly geometric in style; variegated balcony railings and entrance gates soften the austere impression and create eye-catching splashes of colour. On the easternmost edge the imposing chimney of the on-site communal laundry pierces the sky – celebrated as a “new Viennese landmark” at the opening ceremony in 1933, it remains an impressive sight today with its monumental clock visible from far and wide. TODAY & TOMORROW NUMBER ONE IN SOCIAL HOUSING Since the launch of Vienna’s first ever social housing programme, people’s expectations and requirements of their living space have changed a lot.

ienna’s first municipal housing same time, the number of single- Living area in Vienna in m2 per capita

Vcomplexes brought a quantum person households continues to 50 leap in living standards for their grow: according to figures from tenants. The upward trend contin- Statistik Austria, the percentage 40 38 38 33 ued uninterrupted from then has shot up from 22 to 45 per cent 31 on – though obviously not always since 2000. In other words, we are 30 25 in quite such a spectacular fashion. witnessing decisive changes in the 22 As the graph on the right shows, the demographic structure which are 20 average living area per capita driving demand for smaller and expanded from 22 m² to 38 m² above all more affordable flats. 10 between 1961 and 2001. In 2016, Here too the City of Vienna has average flat size remains constant come up with a contemporary 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011 at around 36 m² per person. At the solution: SMART flats are compact, Source: Statistical Yearbook of the City of Vienna

Municipal Housing in Vienna 11 Europan complex, 22th district

low-cost dwelling units with slid- tendency: rents are rising faster Vienna maintains a mixed system ing partition walls which allow than incomes, and the percentage of demand-side and supply-side the layout to be changed according of household income that has to subsidy. People on low incomes in to the tenants’ individual wishes. be spent on housing is constantly Vienna receive direct assistance, Ranging in size between 40 and 70 increasing. Add to that a large just as they do elsewhere. In m² (one to three rooms), they are al- number of people looking for flats, addition, however, Vienna also located on the basis of one room per which is set to rise still further due invests in new housing and the person. SMART flats are integrated to future demographic trends (see refurbishment of existing older into subsidised housing projects in graph on p. 13). Vienna’s housing stock, so Viennese citizens benefit order to help achieve a good social subsidy scheme will continue to from the advantages of both sys- mix from the socio-political point play an essential role in ensuring tems. Leading by example, Vienna of view. an adequate supply of affordable is the clear international number housing in the future, just as it has one in social housing, with some Effective subsidy done to date. Because unlike the 10,000 dwelling units per annum A look at the trends on the hous- majority of major European cities, built with public funding. A further ing market shows that Vienna who only provide direct personal 4,000 new municipal flats will needs to counteract the general subsidies to tenants, the City of be built over the next five years.

12 Municipal Housing in Vienna TODAY & TOMORROW

Vienna also leads the international Property ownership in Vienna As of: 31 December 2012 field with the multitude of climate 1.6 % 4.1 % and environmental protection n 6.5 % Tenants 726,720 measures the city implements as part n Flat owners 115,200 of its municipal housing refurbish- 12.0 % n House owners 62,400 ment programme. And it manages n Other 39,360 all this while never losing sight of its n Subtenants 15,360 goal of providing affordable, good 75.7 % quality housing for as many people Total number of dwellings: 959,040 as possible. Source: Census 2011 / microcensus 2012

* Vienna is growing Population Standard of municipal dwellings As of: 31 December 2015 0.2 % 2 m n Category A 135,651 17 % Min. 30 m floor space, kitchen(ette), toilet, modern bathroom; central or single-storey heating

2.110.212 system or equivalent fixed heating installation 2,043,411 1,952,394 n 1 m 1,774,829 Category B 35,263 Bed/living room, kitchen(ette), toilet, modern bathroom 65 % 18 % n Category C 37,943 Running water and toilet inside flat n Category D 440 2014 2024 2034 2044 No running water and/or no toilet inside flat Source: MA 23 (2014 population forecast for Vienna), as cited in „Statistik Journal “ 1/2014 * Dwellings managed by the City of Vienna Source: Wiener Wohnen

Municipal Housing in Vienna 13 FACTS & FIGURES HOUSING IN FIGURES Vienna’s municipal housing 500,000 complexes are full of surprises. A look people live in Vienna’s municipal housing. That’s equivalent to the at the statistics reveals some amazing populations of the Austrian cities of Graz, Innsbruck, Bregenz and Klagenfurt all put together (total inhabitants 509,450; facts and figures. Statistik Austria: 1 Jan. 2012). One in four Viennese citizens lives 610 in one of the city’s 1,800 or more municipal housing complexes. hectares of green space 5,500 are maintained by Wiener Wohnen. That’s tumble-dryers an area equivalent to 854 can be found in Vienna’s (FIFA standard) football municipal housing com- pitches or the Viennese plexes. Lined up side by districts of , side (approx. 15 cm apart) , and they would reach all the all put way around Vienna’s together. Ringstraße.

14 Municipal Housing in Vienna 1,800,000 shrubs grow on Wiener Wohnen property. That’s 7, 600 equivalent to the number of trees and lifts shrubs that were used to plant Vienna’s 1,300 Island. can be found in Vienna’s playgrounds municipal housing com- can be found in Vienna’s municipal housing plexes. Placed one on top complexes, which is three times as many as all of the other, they would make the playgrounds in the Austrian cities of Graz, a tower twice as high as the Salzburg, , Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Eisen- Himalayas. stadt and Bregenz put together. 52 percent of Vienna’s playgrounds are managed by Wiener Wohnen. 5,129 retail units 13,441,914 are administered by Wiener 2,992 Wohnen – some 15 times as square metres of floor space many as in Vienna’s major are let and managed by Wiener Wohnen. caretakers shopping malls Shopping That’s equivalent to the surface area of mean that the team of people in charge of keeping Vienna’s City Süd and Shopping a four-metre-wide road from Madrid to municipal housing complexes clean and tidy is bigger than Center Nord. Stockholm. the population of St. Anton am Arlberg.

Municipal Housing in Vienna 15 Rabenhof The Rabenhof complex (1925–28) in Vienna’s 3rd district contains over 1,000 flats. Due to the irregular topography of the site, the complex is a colourful potpourri of buildings with non-uniform facades, interspersed with gardens and courtyards of different shapes, sizes and levels. Romantic landscaped areas with an organic, natural look, playful façade details and little flights of steps linking the different levels create a feeling of restrained dynamism. The complex also has a turbulent history. Originally named “Austerlitz- Hof” after Friedrich Austerlitz, the late editor-in-chief of the Socialist newspaper “Arbeiter-Zeitung”, in the civil war of February 1934 it was the scene of a fierce gun battle during which it was occupied by the federal army. In the wake of these bloody events the complex was unceremoni- ously renamed Rabenhof after the nearby street Rabengasse. CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES “THAT TYPICAL LOOK” The outward appearance of Vienna’s municipal housing complexes has evolved over the decades, yet the basic underlying concept still endures.

atives of Vienna can recognise where people can meet and interact, Na municipal housing complex at be it the children’s playground or a glance. All of them have a “certain the communal laundry room. Or something“ in common – although it perhaps it’s the architecture, which is often difficult to say exactly what. has managed to evolve and keep Perhaps it’s the fact that they create pace with the trends of the various a small enclosed world in the middle eras and people’s changing needs of the city with almost village-like whilst still proudly retaining a structures: trees, grass and places special character of its own. Rabenhof, 3rd district

Municipal Housing in Vienna 17 Sandleitenhof, 16th district Complex at Leystraße no. 23, 20th district

Classic and distinctive so-called “staircases”. Reviled by medieval castles, notably the Karl- As unmistakable landmarks of the critics of the time as “fortifications” Marx-Hof (1927–30) with its mighty “Red Vienna” era, it is above all the because of their self-contained walls, huge arched portals, impos- “classic” municipal housing com- character, or derided as “proletar- ing gateways and flagpoles; but plexes of the interwar period that ian ” for the opulent design also the Rabenhof (1925–28), which still dominate the cityscape in many of their gateways, today they form comprises a series of courtyards parts of Vienna today. The housing quiet green oases in the middle of and gardens enclosed by housing blocks are grouped around a central the bustling city. blocks with highly varied facades. communal courtyard, entered via Similar yet distinctive in its own one or more imposing gateways, Some of the more extensive com- way is the Metzleinstaler-Hof which provides access to the indi- plexes with their characteristic in- (1916–25), planned at an early stage vidual sections of the building, the ner courtyards do indeed resemble before the end of the First World

18 Municipal Housing in Vienna Friedrich-Engels-Platz complex, 20th district Complex at Wallgasse no. 13, 6th district

War and featuring a large, rec- through the use of colour. Various triumphantly emblazoned in bright tangular central courtyard whose works of art can also be found on red letters on the façade of many shape is reminiscent of courtyards and inside a great many municipal complexes as a tribute to Vienna’s of the Baroque and Regency peri- housing developments: ceramic re- successful financing model. ods. liefs, bronze statues, mosaics, foun- tains and stone sculptures not only More than just a place to live Balconies, loggias, bay windows or grace the more famous complexes, Having a roof over one’s head, little turrets are often used to lend but are dotted around the facades somewhere to call home, is certain- structure to the facades, and the and courtyards of less spectacular ly a good start. But life has many different sections of a complex or ones as well. A masterpiece of an- facets, and to reflect this fact an the various elements of individual other kind is the inscription “Fund- array of communal facilities was buildings are often accentuated ed by the Housing Tax” which is integrated into the municipal hous-

Municipal Housing in Vienna 19 George-Washington-Hof, 10th and 12th district Freiheitssiedlung complex, 17th district

ing complexes right from the plan- Great names, proudly borne August Strindberg, ning stage. After all, everyday life Likewise, just as in rural areas every and Friedensreich Hundertwasser. is so much easier when everything farmstead has its own appellation, Famous Socialists like Karl Marx, from the mothers’ advice centre many municipal housing complexes and Jean Jaurès are of to the nursery, the bath-house to also have names, though poetic- course represented, as are scientists the communal laundry, the outpa- sounding ones like Rabenhof (“Ra- such as Sigmund Freud and Albert tients’ clinic to the dental surgery ven Court”) or Lindenhof (“Linden Einstein. A few housing complexes is just a few minutes’ walk away. Court”) tend to be the exception; field – perhaps unsurprisingly, given Cafés, shops and lending libraries names such as Hasenleitenhof or Am the Austrian fondness for honorif- rounded off the list of amenities, Laaer Berg are more frequent. Mostly, ics – even bear the title of professor and this wide-ranging local infra- however, the names are bestowed in or doctor, e.g. the Professor-Jodl- structure gives the larger complex- remembrance of people who achieved Hof, Dr.-Ellenbogen-Hof. There are es the feel of small villages. great things, including artists like also a small but significant number

20 Municipal Housing in Vienna Freiheitssiedlung complex, 17th district Goethehof, 22nd district

of women among those honoured, What’s in a name? including architect Margarete The buildings thus stand as a Schütte-Lihotzky and actress Rosa monument and memorial to the Albach-Retty. Proof that one does men and women whose names not necessarily have to have Social they bear. At the same time, Democrat leanings in order to be im- though, the familiar monikers mortalised in the name of a housing ensure that the Viennese identify complex is provided by the Maria- incredibly strongly with “their” Restituta-Hof, named in tribute to housing complexes: after all, Sister Maria Restituta, born Helene anybody and everybody can live Kafka, who rebelled against the in Schüttaustraße, but the address Nazi regime and gave her life for her “Goethehof” has a special ring Catholic faith. to it. THE INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE AHEAD OF THE GLOBAL FIELD According to the international Mercer survey, Vienna is the world city with the highest quality of life. The principle of affordable housing for all is a key factor in this achievement.

wo-thirds of Viennese citizens live VIENNA 2010 BERLIN 2010 BRUSSELS 2011 HAMBURG 2009 MUNICH 2010 Tin municipal or publicly subsidised housing, and eight out of ten flats built Resident population 1,698,800 3,429,500 1,071,900 1,772,100 1,634,200 in the city today are financed by Vienna’s Single-person households 396,000 1,051,500 255,800 488,200 398,000 housing subsidy scheme. For many Multi-person households 442,400 919,300 267,400 482,300 343,200 years now, Vienna has been recognised Number of people per household (ø) 2.0 1.7 2.0 1.8 1.8 as an international pioneer in publicly Dwelling units per 1,000 people 490 550 470 500 550 subsidised housing construction, the Owner-occupied 20% 13% 41% 20% 23% policy of providing supply-side build- Tenancy and sub-tenancy 78% 76% 59% 80% 77% ing subsidies allowing more new flats Other legal relationship 2% 11% 1% – – Number of newly built dwelling units 6,340 3,370 2,840 3,670 6,790 to be built than in other major cities. (average over five-year period) The city is even further ahead of the Annual average of newly built dwelling units 3.8 1.0 2.7 2.1 5.0 field when it comes to housing refur- per 1,000 people Annual average of new build as percentage bishment: the City of Vienna subsidises 0.8% 0.2% 0.6% 0.4% 0.9% of existing housing stock the modernisation of some 10,000 flats Social housing has a strong public image yes no no yes no per annum, while in Munich the figure Appreciable volume of municipal supply-side yes yes yes yes yes is only about 1,000. subsidy

22 Municipal Housing in Vienna DID YOU KNOW?

Short work Friedrich Engels, friend of Karl Marx and co-author of the “Communist Manifesto”, is, like Marx, a popular namesake in Social Democrat circles. A total of four housing complexes were built between 1930 and 1970 around the square that bears his name in Vienna’s 20th district, and the Friedrich-Engels-Hof in the 11th district dates back to 1925/26. Under the Austrofascist regime from 1934 onwards the name of a founding father of Commu- nism on the façade of a building was naturally an ideological thorn in the eye of the Ständestaat, VIENNA 2010 BERLIN 2010 BRUSSELS 2011 HAMBURG 2009 MUNICH 2010 and a pragmatic solution was found – just remove the “Friedrich” and a letter “s” and you are Resident population 1,698,800 3,429,500 1,071,900 1,772,100 1,634,200 left with the inoffensive “Engel-Hof” (“Angel Single-person households 396,000 1,051,500 255,800 488,200 398,000 Court”). The square in front suffered a similar Multi-person households 442,400 919,300 267,400 482,300 343,200 fate; from 1934 onwards it was known as Pa- Number of people per household (ø) 2.0 1.7 2.0 1.8 1.8 ter-Abel-Platz after an anti-Semitic Viennese Dwelling units per 1,000 people 490 550 470 500 550 priest. Both the square and the housing com- Owner-occupied 20% 13% 41% 20% 23% plex reverted to their original names in 1946. Tenancy and sub-tenancy 78% 76% 59% 80% 77% Other legal relationship 2% 11% 1% – – Number of newly built dwelling units Vienna’s municipal housing 6,340 3,370 2,840 3,670 6,790 (average over five-year period) on the Web Annual average of newly built dwelling units 3.8 1.0 2.7 2.1 5.0 The history of municipal housing in Vienna: per 1,000 people www.wienerwohnen.at/wiener-gemeindebau/geschichte.html Annual average of new build as percentage 0.8% 0.2% 0.6% 0.4% 0.9% of existing housing stock (German) www.dasrotewien.at/kommunaler-wohnbau.html (German) Social housing has a strong public image yes no no yes no http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemeindebau (German and English) Appreciable volume of municipal supply-side Descriptions of all municipal housing complexes yes yes yes yes yes subsidy belonging to the City of Vienna: www.wienerwohnen.at/wiener-gemeindebau/ Reumannhof, 5th district gemeindebaubeschreibungen.html (German) Owner and publisher: City of Vienna - Wiener Wohnen, Rosa-Fischer-Gasse 2, 1030 Vienna; Editor: Christian Schantl; Production: Domus Verlag, Rahlgasse 1, 1060 Vienna; English translation: Angela Parker; Cover photo: Gerry Frank; Photos: Wiener Wohnen, Dieter Steinbach; Published and produced in Vienna; Printers: Bernsteiner Print Service. Printed on eco-friendly paper from the „Ökokauf Wien“ sample folder. Last amended: May 2016