Red Vienna – Publications 1924-34
⭆ Collecting | Publications by the City of Vienna between 1924 and 1934
In the 1920s, Vienna was the internationally acclaimed centre of the large-scale and highly successful political experiment of the so called Austro-Marxism whose achievements still radiate today and have given the city a lasting character. Especially the building projects of this time are a strong and widely visible urban planning signal – but they are also a symbol of a strong socio-political will that I personally still consider valid today. The fact that Vienna has now been voted the most liveable city in the world for several years owes much to this unique historical development. It is remarkable that this spirit survived despite the brutal oppression of Austro-Fascism, National Socialism and Neo-Liberalism and still guides the city's destiny today. On this page I present some examples from my private book collection. The vast majority of these publications are available in the city's holdings and are digitised – this also allows unrestricted access to the content, which I'm happy to provide in form of direct links. As a private collector I'm able to constantly improve my collection, so it sometimes happens that I own books in much better condition than they are available in the public libraries. In case you need hi-res illustrations for your own publication or books as a loan for exhibitions on the topic of Red Vienna, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Das Wiener Jugendhilfswerk. Franz Breulich. Vienna: Jugendamt der Statd Wien, 1924
Frohe Ostern! Postcard promoting the 'Children's Rescue Week'. Vienna: Wiener Jugendhilfswerk, n.d.
Kinderübernahmestelle der Gemeinde Wien. Julius Tandler. Vienna: Wiener Magistrat, 1925 [PDF]
The idea of children's vacations originated in the years after the First World War as a initiative for Viennese children. In 1922, under Julius Tandler, the Vienna Youth Welfare Service was established to organize recuperative care. The 'Children's Rescue Week,' held annually since 1923 for health-impaired, tuberculosis-endangered children, also received public support. The initiative was primarily funded by public means. Between 1924 and 1937, an annual yearbook was published, describing the various activities of the Youth Welfare Service and illustrated with numerous pictures. In 1938, the Vienna Youth Welfare Service was dissolved.
Between 1923 and 1925, the City Councillor for Welfare, Julius Tandler, had the first child adoption centre in Europe built at Lustkandlgasse 50 in the 9th district as part of the welfare programme. The opening took place on 18 June 1925. The so called Kinderübernahmsstelle was the central hub for children in need, mostly orphaned or neglected, who had to be taken into community care for a shorter or longer period of time. It took care of their medical care and, if necessary, transferred them to foster and educational institutions (e.g. the Wilhelminenberg children's home) or placed them with foster parents.
Elektrisierung der Wiener Stadtbahn – Mai 1925 (1925) [PDF]
Internationale Städtebau-Ausstellung Wien 1926. Exhibition Catalogue. Vienna: Künstlerhaus (1926)
Die Wohnungspolitik der Gemeinde Wien (1926 and 1929) [PDF] [PDF]
The first housing programme adopted on 21 September 1923, which envisaged the construction of 25,000 new flats by 1928, was already realised in 1926. As a result of the general interest in municipal building activity in Vienna, an international housing congress also met in the city that year. And in 1927, the Vienna City Council decided on a second housing construction programme for 30,000 more housing units.
Die Tuberkulosefürsorge der Gemeinde Wien. Vienna: Wiener Magistrat, 1927 [PDF]
In the 19th century, tuberculosis was often referred to as the "Viennese disease" because it was particularly widespread in Vienna compared to other European cities. Tuberculosis was considered a typical disease of the working class and was indeed a major epidemic among workers. From 1900 to 1909, the tuberculosis death rate in the 1st district, where the average income was 4,000 crowns, was 11.4 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. In Favoriten, a purely working-class district with catastrophic living conditions and an average income of only 264 crowns, the rate was 63.3 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. Viennese pediatrician Clemens Freiherr von Pirquet played a crucial role in combating this public health crisis. He became world-famous for developing the tuberculin test in 1907, known as the "Pirquet test." This test quickly became routine and revealed that tuberculosis was much more widespread than previously thought.
In 1919, the newly elected, social-democratic dominated Vienna City Council decided to establish five new tuberculosis care centers and increase the number of tuberculosis beds to 500. This initiative by the city of Vienna enabled earlier detection, isolation, and public care for tuberculosis patients.During the 1924 budget negotiations, there was a heated debate in the National Council. The government aimed to cut tuberculosis subsidies to 812 million crowns as part of its currency stabilization and austerity policies. The social-democratic opposition, led by Amalie Seidel, sharply criticized this move. Seidel pointed out that while the state allocated only 800 million crowns to fight tuberculosis, it spent 18,000 million crowns on horse breeding, federal stud farms, and the Spanish Riding School. She emphasized that ensuring people did not die of tuberculosis was far more critical.
In 1929/30, the city of Vienna built a modern tuberculosis pavilion at the Lainz Hospital. Through early detection, targeted light and air treatments (such as those at the Alland Sanatorium near Vienna), better living and working conditions, improved nutrition, and hygiene, the tuberculosis death rate dropped from 35% in 1884 to 13.4% in 1923 and 9.3% in 1932. The city of Vienna's proactive measures and significant investments in healthcare infrastructure were instrumental in reducing the impact of tuberculosis and improving public health outcomes for its citizens.
Die Gaswerke der Stadt Wien und die Österreichische Volkswirtschaft im Jahre 1927. Folded and double-sided advertising leaflet by the Vienna Gasworks, 1928
Das Österreichische Bauwesen. Bundesministerium für Handel und Verkehr (Ed). Vienna: Wirtschafts-Zeitungs-Verlags-Ges., 1928 [PDF]
Booklets Wohnhausanlage der Gemeinde Wien published between 1924 and 1930
For a look inside click on the cover image.
Die Wohnhausanlage der Gemeinde Wien "Am Fuchsenfeld" im XII. Bezirk (1926) [PDF]
The Fuchsenfeldhof was built between 1922 and 1925 according to plans by Heinrich Schmid and Hermann Aichinger as the first building to be funded by the housing tax, and the official opening took place on 29 October 1924. Its planning already goes back to the time of the First World War. Together with the Metzleinstaler Hof in the 5th district, the Fuchsenfeldhof is thus one of the first housing estates in the municipality of Vienna.
Wohnhausbauten der Gemeinde Wien. Vienna: Gemeinde Wien (undated)
Booklet with 18 detachable postcards of the "Fuchsenfeld" housing project. The captions are in three languages. Photographs by Martin Gerlach.
Das neue Wien. Andenken an die Arbeiter-Olympiade. Vienna: August Löwenstein (1931)
A leporello with 10 postcards showcasing social housing projects by the city of Vienna, produced as a souvenir for the Workers' Olympic Games, which took place in Vienna in June 1931.
Das Bäderwesen der Gemeinde Wien (1928) [PDF]
Das Amalienbad der Gemeinde Wien im X. Bezirk (1926) [PDF]
In 1919, the Vienna City Council decided on a major programme to build 20 municipal baths. The "Baths Programme" actually turned Vienna into a "bathing city" within a decade. The programme was under the sign of a preventive health policy. Since only a few Viennese flats had their own bathrooms and even the municipal housing buildings had no indoor showers or baths, great importance was attached to the propagation of bathing for personal hygiene and physical fitness. The showpiece of the bathing programme was the construction of the multifunctional Amalienbad. In addition to its importance for health policy, it was to set accents in the cityscape and be understood as a monument of workers' culture in "Red Vienna". The Amalienbad was the first in Red Vienna and became a trend-setter for European pool construction, attracting international attention. The 14-metre-high swimming hall has a sports pool with diving tower, stands and a children's pool (the movable glass roof could be opened); tub and shower baths, cold water pools and air bathing sections on the flat roofs completed the complex, which offered bathing facilities for around 1300 visitors at a time. 
Das neue Wien. 4 Volumes (1926-28)
A series of four information-rich volumes that give an account of the administrative activities of the municipality of Vienna in the years 1926-28. All areas of municipal infarcture and administration are presented in a deatilised manner, thus painting a picture of the late 1920s in Vienna that is underpinned with countless facts. One of the most important resources for any historical research on this period. Band I (1926) [PDF]
I. Abschnitt: Die Mitglieder des Gemeinderates, Landtages und Stadtsenates
II. Abschnitt: Die Verfassung (Dr. Karl Hartl)
III. Abschnitt: Personalangelegenheiten und Verwaltungsreform (Paul Speiser)
IV. Abschnitt: Die Finanzen (Hugo Breitner)
V. Abschnitt: Sozialpolitik und Wohnungswesen (Anton Weber)
VI. Abschnitt: Deutschösterreichischer Städtebund (Karl Honay)Band II (1927) [PDF]
VII. Abschnitt: Ernährungs- und Wirtschaftsangelegenheiten (Quirin Kokrda)
VIII. Abschnitt: Allgemeine Verwaltungsangelegenheiten (Karl Richter)
IX. Abschnitt: Gemeinde und Schule (Otto Glöckel)
X. Abschnitt: Die Fürsorgeaufgaben der Gemeinde Wien (Univ.-Prof. Dr. Julius Tandler)Band III (1927) [ PDF]
XI. Abschnitt: Die technischen Aufgaben der Gemeinde (Franz Siegel)
Band IV (1928) [PDF]
IX. Abschnitt: Die Unternehmungen der Gemeinde
Strassenreinigung, Kehrichtabfuhr, Lastkraftwagen- u. Sanitätsbetrieb der Gemeinde Wien. Vienna: Direktor des städtischen Fuhrwerksbetriebes, 1930
Zehn Jahre Republik. Josef Luitpold Stern (Ed). Vienna: Vorwärts, 1928
Large-format publication on the tenth anniversary of the Republic in 1928 with contributions by Karl Renner, Otto Bauer, Otto Glöckl, Adelheid Popp, Robert Danneberg and other architects of the new Austro-Marxist state. The cover design and the very powerful typography are the work of Otto Rudolf Schatz, who graduated from the Vienna School of Applied Arts under Oskar Strnad and Anton von Kenne. Josef Luitpold Stern, the editor of the publication, was an Austrian poet and educational official of the workers' movement. Interestingly, this booklet is not available in the collection of the City of Vienna (at least online).
Hoch die Republik. Zur zehnten Wiederkehr des 12. November 1918. Käthe Neumann. Vienna: Jugend und Volk, 1928
This is my personal favourite book from the time of Red Vienna. It was distributed to Viennese schoolchildren in 1928 on the occasion of the republic's tenth anniversary and gives a vivid testimony of the spirit of optimism of those days. Apart from the artful endpapers, which consist of a sample of Viennese municipal buildings, the beautiful illustrations by Otto Schubert are particularly noteworthy. The community building on the front page is the so called 'Fuchsenfeld-Hof', one of the first completed social housing projects in Vienna. Of film historical interest is a featured story about the Battleship Potemkin, the famous film by Sergei Eisenstein, which was shown in Vienna in 1928. The "Little Screw", which is the main hero of the story, very clearly refers to the 1927 Russian animated film 'Wintik-schpintik' (Little Screw) by Wladislav Tvardovski that was screened as a supporting film. 
Um Freiheit und Menschenwürde. Ein Lebensbuch deutscher Dichtung. Vienna: Jugend und Volk, 1928
Zehn Jahre neues Wien / Vienna under Socialist Rule. Robert Danneberg, 1929/30 [PDF]
Vienna under Socialist Rule. Robert Danneberg. London: Labour Party, 1928 [PDF]
Robert Danneberg (1882 Vienna – 1942 Auschwitz) was an Austrian-Jewish politician, a member of the Social Democratic Workers Party of Austria (SDAPÖ) and a prominent Austro-Marxist theoretician. He was one of the architects of Red Vienna and was killed in the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1942
Die bunte Welt. Mengenbilder für die Jugend. Otto Neurath, Gerd Arntz. Vienna: Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsmuseum, 1929 [PDF]
Founded in Vienna in 1924 by Otto Neurath, the Society and Economy Museum is today considered a pioneering achievement in social education museum work. In 1926, contacts were made with the graphic artist Gerd Arntz, who then worked as the museum's graphic director from 1929 to 1934. The 'Viennese method' of pictorial representation of statistical facts developed by Neurath and Arntz was educational, and later developed into the ISOTYPE (International System of Typographic Education) method. This booklet was the first attempt to present the new method in a book for school children. The book is very rare and normally only found in heavily used condition. I was lucky enough to acquire an almost mint copy. 
Wohnen und Bauen 1932. Herausgegeben vom internationalen Verband für Wohnungswesen. Jg. IV, No. 5/7. Stuttgart: Julius Hoffman (1932)
A trilingual presentation of social housing in Vienna, in which some projects are highlighted and described. The occasion for the publication obviously was the opening of the Werkbundsiedlung in 1932. It is interesting that facts about social housing are also presented with the help of Otto Neurath's picture statistics (Isoptype). 
Die internationale Werkbundsiedlung Wien 1932. Josef Frank. Vienna. Anton Schroll: 1932 [PDF]
Werkbundsiedlung. Internationale Ausstellung Wien 1932. Vienna: Brüder Rosenbaum, 1932 [PDF]
The Werkbundsiedlung in Vienna is a model housing estate opened in 1932, most of which is still owned by the Vienna City Administration today. Originally 70, now 64 single-family houses were built by 31 modernsit architects from Austria and abroad. When it opened, it was described as the 'largest building exhibition in Europe'. This is the official exhibition catalogue in which every single house is described in detail. The most famous architects of this settlement, besides the coordinator Josef Frank, are Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Gerrit Rietveld, Richard Neutra, Adolf Loos, André Lurçat, Oskar Strnad and Josef Hoffmann. The graphically convincing cover illustration is the work of Elsa Engel-Meinfelden. She studied with Hoffmann and Frank at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna from 1927-1929 and was a member of the Austrian Werkbund.
18 wachsende Häuser. L.W. Rochowanski. Vienna: Emmerich Becsei, 1932
An yet another wonderful cover design by Elsa Engel-Meinfelden for this hard to find publication by L.W. Rochowanski. The booklet is the catalogue for the special exhibition of the same name at the 1932 Vienna Spring Fair. The exhibition presented the results of an architectural competition to develop low-cost housing estates. A total of 18 projects were awarded prizes and erected in the Prater. The idea behind the projects was that there was a "core house" of about 30 square metres that could be extended to in further construction phases – this also explains the title "growing houses". Similar to the Werkbund exhibition, the houses were fully furnished and could be visited during opening hours. The contemporary newspaper articles speak of a large crowd of visitors. 
Das neue Wien (1932)
Softcover architecture guide to modernist Vienna with plan attached at the end of the book. [PDF]
Brauhaus der Stadt Wien (1933) [PDF]
Achtung! Wir rufen Dich! Gruppen der Lehrlingssektion des Österreichischen Metall- und Bergarbeiterverbandes. Vienna: Franz Hein (c 1930)
Her zu uns. Eine Kampfschrift der freigewerkschaftlichen Lehrlingssektionen. Johann Svitanics. Vienna: Verl. d. Lehrlingssektion (1931)
Der Jugendliche Arbeiter. Zeitschrift der sozialistischen und freigewerkschaftlichen Arbeiterjugend Österrreich. Vienna: Vorwärts (1932)
Der Sozialdemokrat. Monatsschrift der Organisation Wien. Vienna: Vorwärts (1934)
Wer regiert uns wirklich? Zeitbilder Nr. 2. Vienna: Vorwärts (1932)