Karl-Marx-Hof

More reporting on our recent activities in Vienna. Leah told me my posts are too long, so I will try to make them more user friendly! I will try to write one or two things at a time with more in different posts.

Rich and I have been very interested in the architecture of Red Vienna, the period after World War I when the city of Vienna was governed by socialists who were trying to create a viable alternative to Bolshevism in Russia. They wanted to show that you could create the new man and new society without eliminating liberal democracy. After the war, the city was in desperate shape-lack of housing and food for people, the end of the monarchy that had ruled forever, and ready for drastic change. The socialists came in wanting to create a country of more equality, but did so in a very paternalistic manner. One of the main ways they decided to improve life for most Viennese was to create a large amount of new housing for the huge homeless population of the city. They tried various different schemes, but ended up building huge numbers of apartments, often in large superblocks, located near the outskirts of the city (where land was cheaper). Through the design of these apartments and the type of life that would be lived there, the goal was to change certain basic qualities of people’s lives. The apartment blocks were designed with communal laundries and kitchens, meeting rooms, kindergartens and play areas, etc. to try to encourage people living there to interact in a positive way. Additionally, they provided medical and dental care, as well as advice for new mothers and other educational opportunities. The elitism and paternalism comes through in several ways. Workers were never asked what they needed or wanted in the design of new housing – how could these illiteratre and uneducated masses, raised under the propaganda of the empire, know what they needed to create a new and better society? Similarly, government workers told them when and how to wash clothes, raise their children, cook their meals, etc.

Rich and I have been going around the city to view some of the many developments from this period. There were large numbers built in the late 1920s, until the socialists lost power in 1934. After WWII, the city continued to build them, although these tended to be less architecturally interesting. One of the most well-known of the early ones is the Karl-Marx-Hof. During the “civil war” of 1934, when the socialists were ousted, many of them held out in this development, and cannon and other heavy artillery were used on it. It is a huge complex, built to house over 1,000 people and it extends for many city blocks, with a series of courtyards surrounded by several styles of buildings, none more than 5 stories high. It is still a very desirable place to live, and as we were walking around the area, we happened on an exhibition of the architecture of this period, sponsored by the current Socialist Party. I am posting several pictures of this building, including an example of how people personalize their balconies. (That shot was courtesy of Rich!) The early developments are pretty interesting, from an architectural point of view, all done by different architects and giving a very different visual effect.