The housing projects of the socialist council of
Vienna are located throughout the urban Area. The city of Vienna is a separate
(city) state within the country of Austria and is by far the largest city. his
has been the case for centuries. The state of Vienna not only compromises of
built-up areas but also includes large parks, many allotment complexes, floodplain
along the Danube and forests. The planners tasked with creating the large-scale
housing projects took most of their inspiration from Garden City Movement principles
of multinuclear development along railroads and other lines of public
transport. As such all the housing projects of the Rotes Wien encircle the old
city and are located in the outer districts that often were (semi-)rural still
in the 1920s.
One of the most famous examples of the Gemeindebauten
of the Rotes Wien is the Karl-Marx-Hof. It is situated in Heiligenstadt, one of
the Orte in the 19th District, along a railway next to the local commuter
station. On the other side a tramline runs along the 1.100 metres long housing complex.
This makes Karl-Marx-Hof the longest single residential building in the world.
No fewer than 4 tram stops are available along its full length.
As the name "Hof" suggest the complex isn't
a single monolithic structure but rather a complex of apartment buildings
linked into one large structure that wraps around green communal gardens. The
German Hof translates as "garden"
or "courtyard". The housing complex was built between 1927 and 1930
after designs by Karl Ehn on land that had previously belonged to the crown,
first as pasture on the floodplain and later as gardens. These gardens were
removed to make way for the complex by the local council dominated by the
Austrian Social Democratic Party. As an emblem of communal social housing the
housing complex was named for Karl Marx, best known for his 1848 pamphlet The
Communist Manifesto which he wrote with Friedrich Engels. The latter also had
one of the housing complexes named after him (it is located in Simmering,
District 11).
The Karl-Marx-Hof originally held 1.382 apartment of
30-60 m2 within several linked superblocks. Only 18,5 % of the site was built
up. The rest of the 156.000 m2 site was planted as gardens and developed for
playgrounds and allotments along the train track. Essentially a vertical garden
village the complex was designed to house some 5000 people in varying ages. In the
design many amenities were included: laundries, public bathhouse,
kindergartens, a school, a library, doctors offices, dental practice, midwife
office, business offices, coffeehouses, and communal rooms for clubs to meet (and
for workers to unite and organize themselves).
The Karl-Marx-Hof stretches along the railway tracks
next to the Heiligenstadt Station (S). Along the railway (R) allotment gardens (A)
were built for the tenants. At the heart of the complex is a large garden
square that once looked out over fields; this space (F) was renamed 12 Februar
Platz in 1950. The apartment complex is a super block that wraps around
communal gardens (G) making it a Gartenhof. In these communal gardens are
located: a bathhouse with pool (1), a primary school (2), a community hall (3)
and a kindergarten (4). All other amenities were incorporated into the building
complex.
The residents famously protested the Anschluss of
Austria with Nazi-Germany. A monument still remembers this act of defiance on
February 12 1938. Located near an indsutrial estate and two railway stations
the complex suffered severe war damage and was restored in 1950. The building
was refurbished between 1989 and 1992, enlarging the accommodation by merging
apartments. The Karl-Marx-Hof is now a monument and an important landmark
beyond central Vienna. The public gardens are still in use and the apartments
are rented at affordable rates by the city of Vienna.
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