Occupied!
The Struggle for Free Spaces since the 1970s

The summer of 1976 was a scorching one...
The occupation of the former foreign abattoir in St. Marx, the ‘Arena’, by squatters marks the beginning of a “100 Day Happening”, which arouses Vienna from its slumber. For the first time, new political and counter cultural movements are noticed by a wider public.

Here, now, and for everyone!
“Squatting in the Arena was our 1968”, a squatter remembers, “an anarchic space that released energies and fantasies”. The demand they make is for an autonomous self-governed cultural centre, “Here, now, and for everyone!” It’s a fundamental clash; the political situation is radically questioned.

Who does the city belong to? What is culture? For over three months, grassroots democracy and the concept of an open society are tried out in St. Marx until the experiment is halted and the area demolished.

Even before the events in the “Arena” there was conflict with the town planning authorities that equated progress with the demolition ball and concrete. In the run-down quarters of the Spittelberg in Vienna’s 7th district, architects and intellectuals as well as youngsters from the subculture stood up against demolition and fancy renovations. They squatted in the “Amerlinghaus” which after tough negotiations became Vienna’s first self-governed cultural centre in 1978.

Access to Lawns and Squatting
Around 1980 the protests intensify. In the Burggarten they rallied for “access to the lawns”, with squatting in buildings following. Influenced by the “youth riots” in Zurich the authorities react. They grant permission for a “new” Arena on the grounds of the former local abattoir; also a new cultural centre develops in the 9th district on the plot of a former school, called the WUK (artisan workshops and cultural centre), and in Gassergasse an autonomous cultural and communications centre emerges with studios, rehearsal rooms and an alternative school. The latter is vacated by force only two years later due to complaints from neighbours and alleged drug abuse. Some of the activists then moved to the 6th district to live in alternative communities in Aegidigasse/Spalowskygasse. These are also ended by force by the authorities. In 1990 squatters occupy the Ernst-Kirchweger-House in Favoriten, the 21st district where the demand for self-autonomy has found expression to this day.

The exhibition examines the political visions and successes of the various generations of squatters and their quest for a different city. It questions the relevance of their demands today, and also the problems that arise in fulfilling them, the different tactics of the opposing parties as well as the role played by the media.