Fortress of the Working Class: Karl-Marx-Hof

About a year ago I published a series about famous Viennese communal apartment blocks called “Gemeindebau”. The last time around I photographed the “Rabenhof”, i.e. raven court, in the 3rd district. Today I want to introduce to you one of the most famous “Gemeindebauten”; the Karl-Marx-Hof in the north of Vienna, named after the father of communism himself. The large building complex was constructed in the 1930s when Vienna was known as a red city, due to the leftwing government in the town hall. The Karl-Marx-Hof was designed and built by a student of the famous Austrian architect Otto Wagner, Karl Ehn, and stretches over a length of more than 1 km. Along the way there are four tramway stations. The building has a kindergarten, parks and community centres. In the short civil war in 1934 many socialists barricaded themselves in the large fortress-like building and fought against the right wing troops. Luckily there were no deaths. Today life is rather quite here and the Karl-Marx-Hof is a peaceful fortress of the working class.