Vienna in WWII: History, Sites & Memorials Guide

Vienna’s World War II history is among Europe’s most complex and contested — the city that welcomed the 1938 Anschluss with cheering crowds was also bombed 52 times by the Allies, occupied jointly by the four victorious powers 1945–55, and spent decades resisting full confrontation with its participation in Nazi crimes. This guide covers the major WWII history sites in Vienna today: the six surviving Flaktürme (flak towers), the Memorial against War and Fascism, the Jewish memorial sites (covered separately), the Vienna Resistance Documentation Centre, and the broader landscape of memory across the city. It also addresses how to engage thoughtfully with this difficult heritage as a visitor.

Vienna’s WWII Timeline

Key dates for understanding Vienna’s war years:

• March 12, 1938: The Anschluss. German troops enter Vienna; Hitler addresses 250,000 cheering Austrians at Heldenplatz on March 15.
• November 9–10, 1938: Kristallnacht. 92 of Vienna’s 94 synagogues destroyed; thousands of Jewish properties and businesses attacked.
• October 1941: Mass deportations of Vienna Jews begin to Theresienstadt and the death camps.
• September 1944: First major Allied bombing of Vienna.
• April 1945: Battle of Vienna. Soviet forces take the city in a 9-day battle that destroys much of the historic center, including the Hofburg’s Albertina and Burgtheater.
• April 27, 1945: Austrian independence declared.
• 1945–55: Four-power occupation. Vienna divided into American, British, French, Soviet, and joint zones.
• May 15, 1955: State Treaty signed at the Belvedere. Occupying powers withdraw; Austria becomes independent.
• 1986: Waldheim affair forces Austria to begin confronting its Nazi past.
• 1991: Chancellor Vranitzky’s parliamentary speech acknowledges Austrian co-responsibility for Nazi crimes.
• 2000: Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial unveiled.

The Major WWII Sites in Vienna

1. The Flaktürme (Anti-Aircraft Towers)

Six massive concrete towers, built 1942–44 to defend Vienna against Allied bombers, still stand because they’re literally impossible to demolish — the reinforced concrete walls are up to 3.5 meters thick. They were designed to last forever and they will. Three pairs (a “fire control” tower and a “battle” tower) at:

• Augarten (Leopoldstadt): The most photogenic pair; visible from many parts of central Vienna.
• Esterházypark / Stiftskaserne (Mariahilf): The Esterházypark tower houses the Haus des Meeres (House of the Sea) public aquarium; you can ascend to a rooftop terrace at the top with city views.
• Arenbergpark (Landstraße): The third pair, in a quiet park behind the Belvedere.

The Esterházypark Flakturm with its Haus des Meeres aquarium is the easiest to visit. The aquarium itself (€19 adult) is a major Vienna family attraction; the rooftop access is included. The tower exterior is exposed as a deliberately confronting concrete presence in a residential neighborhood.

2. The Memorial against War and Fascism

Alfred Hrdlicka’s sculptural ensemble on Albertinaplatz, completed 1988, includes:

• The “Gate of Violence”: Two massive granite blocks representing the suffering of Holocaust victims.
• The “Straßenwaschender Jude” (Street-Washing Jew): Bronze figure of a Jewish man forced to scrub the pavement during Nazi-era humiliations — the most controversial element of the ensemble.
• The “Orpheus enters Hades”: Symbol of Vienna’s confrontation with its dark history.
• The “Stone of the Republic”: Inscribed with the text of Austria’s 1945 declaration of independence.

Located at Albertinaplatz, between the Albertina and the State Opera. Free to view; always accessible.

3. The Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DOEW)

The Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance is the central institution for Austrian Nazi-era history. Located at Altes Rathaus (Wipplingerstraße 6–8), the Centre operates a small museum and a vast archive. The museum exhibits cover Austrian resistance to Nazism (a relatively small movement, but documented in detail), the deportation and murder of Austrian Jews, and the broader Austrian Nazi experience. Free entry; allow 90 minutes. Open Monday–Friday 9:00–17:00.

4. The Mauthausen Memorial (Day Trip)

The Mauthausen concentration camp 200 km west of Vienna is the major Austrian Holocaust site. The Memorial Site (Gedenkstätte) is open daily 9:00–17:30. The Mauthausen complex (90,000 prisoners killed) is one of Europe’s most important Holocaust memorials. Day-trip by train (3 hours each way) or by car (2 hours each way). Free entry; allow a full day. Most serious visitors to Vienna WWII history make this pilgrimage.

5. The Stolpersteine

Vienna has hundreds of small brass “stumbling stones” installed in the pavement outside houses where Jewish residents lived before deportation. Each plaque names the resident, gives their birth date and date of deportation, and indicates their fate. The 9th district’s Servitengasse area has one of the densest concentrations. Walking the streets reveals the scale of the loss in concrete personal terms.

An online map at stolpersteine.at shows all current Vienna Stolpersteine locations. The plaques are designed to be quietly confronting — you literally stumble over them while walking.

6. Various Smaller Memorials

• The Aspangbahnhof memorial: Site of the train station from which most Vienna Jews were deported. Commemorated since 2017.
• The “Steinhof” Memorial: Memorial at the former psychiatric hospital where Nazi euthanasia killings took place.
• The Otto-Wagner-Spital memorial: For victims of the Nazi medical murder program.
• Various district memorials in the city’s outer districts.

The Battle of Vienna (April 1945)

The 9-day Soviet assault on Vienna in April 1945 destroyed approximately 30 percent of central Vienna. Key damage:

• St. Stephen’s Cathedral: Roof and “Pummerin” bell destroyed by retreating SS units who set fire to nearby buildings. Reconstruction took until 1957.
• Burgtheater: Bombed during the final days; reconstructed 1955.
• State Opera: Auditorium destroyed; rebuilt 1955.
• Albertina: Bombed; rebuilt over decades.
• Heldenplatz: Site of Hitler’s 1938 Anschluss speech; the square remains a place of complicated memory.
• 1,000+ buildings totally destroyed; thousands more damaged.

The 1945–55 Four-Power Occupation

For 10 years after the war, Vienna was divided between American, British, French, and Soviet occupation forces, with the 1st district under joint four-power control. The story is preserved in:

• The State Treaty Museum at the Belvedere: The room where the 1955 treaty was signed is preserved with original signatures and artifacts.
• The Third Man Museum (Pressgasse 25): Carol Reed’s 1949 film The Third Man (Orson Welles in occupied Vienna) is the cultural artifact of this period. The museum displays film artifacts plus broader 1945–55 Vienna materials.
• The Russian War Memorial (Schwarzenbergplatz): The Soviet military memorial to fallen soldiers in the Battle of Vienna. Controversial but officially maintained per the State Treaty.
• The Cold War-era buildings: Some of Vienna’s 1950s architecture reflects the unusual occupied-but-rebuilding period.

How to Engage Thoughtfully

Vienna’s WWII heritage is emotionally heavy. Some guidance for visitors:

• Don’t try to do everything in one day. The Documentation Centre, Memorial against War and Fascism, and Holocaust Memorial at Judenplatz each deserve unhurried attention.
• Pair sites with breaks. Build coffee stops and rest periods into your day. The cumulative weight of these sites is significant.
• Consider the Mauthausen day trip if you want to engage seriously with Austrian Holocaust history. This is uniquely affecting and difficult.
• Bring a guide or audio guide for major sites. The historical context is often missing for visitors without background.
• Respect memorial spaces. No selfies, no loud conversation, no eating at memorial sites.
• Read before visiting. Stefan Zweig’s The World of Yesterday, Carl Schorske’s Fin-de-Siècle Vienna, and Hella Pick’s Guilty Victim are standard preparation.

A WWII Vienna Walking Trail

1. Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (Wipplingerstraße). 90 minutes.
2. Walk 8 minutes to Judenplatz for the Holocaust Memorial. 30 minutes.
3. Walk 6 minutes to the Stadttempel (book Jewish Museum tour ahead). 45 minutes.
4. Walk 6 minutes to Heldenplatz (Hitler’s 1938 speech site). 15 minutes for context.
5. Walk 5 minutes to Albertinaplatz for the Memorial against War and Fascism. 20 minutes.
6. Walk 12 minutes south to the Belvedere for the State Treaty Museum. 30 minutes.
7. U-Bahn U4 to Schönbrunner Brücke; tram to Esterházypark for the Flakturm and Haus des Meeres. 90 minutes.

Full trail: 6–7 hours. Add the Augarten Flaktürme as a separate visit, and Mauthausen as a separate day.

Practical Information

• Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance: Wipplingerstraße 6–8, free, Mon–Fri 9:00–17:00.
• Memorial against War and Fascism: Albertinaplatz, always accessible, free.
• Esterházypark Flakturm with Haus des Meeres: Fritz-Grünbaum-Platz 1, €19 adult, daily 9:00–20:00.
• Third Man Museum: Pressgasse 25, Tue–Sat 10:00–18:00, €15.
• State Treaty Museum (Belvedere): Included with Upper Belvedere ticket.
• Mauthausen Memorial: 200 km west, daily 9:00–17:30, free.

Why the Flaktürme Still Stand

The fact that Vienna’s six Flaktürme still dominate the city skyline 80 years after the war is itself a story worth understanding. The Nazi architect Friedrich Tamms designed them to specifications that emphasized invulnerability: walls up to 3.5 meters thick of reinforced concrete; foundations that extend deep below ground; designs that made standard demolition methods impossible.

After the war, multiple Austrian governments studied demolishing the towers. The conclusion each time was that demolition would cost more and cause more disruption than letting them stand. Controlled implosion would damage surrounding residential buildings. Cutting them up with diamond saws was technically possible but would have taken decades and billions. So they stayed.

What you see today is unintentional but pointed memory: the Nazis built monuments to themselves so enduring that the postwar city couldn’t remove them. They’ve become Vienna’s most permanent reminders of the war, more visible and more unavoidable than any deliberate memorial.

The Vienna State Treaty and the End of Occupation

The 1955 State Treaty (Staatsvertrag) was signed at the Marble Hall of the Upper Belvedere on May 15, 1955 by foreign ministers John Foster Dulles (USA), Vyacheslav Molotov (USSR), Harold Macmillan (UK), and Antoine Pinay (France), along with Austrian Foreign Minister Leopold Figl. The famous photograph of Figl displaying the signed treaty from the Belvedere balcony to the cheering crowd below is one of postwar Europe’s defining images.

The treaty terms required Austrian neutrality (Austria could join neither NATO nor the Warsaw Pact), withdrawal of all four occupying powers within 90 days, payment of war reparations to the Soviet Union, and protection of human rights and democratic government. Implementation was largely complete by October 1955; the last occupation forces left in November.

The Belvedere room where the signing took place is preserved as a museum exhibit. Visitors viewing Klimt’s The Kiss on the upper floor can also see the treaty room and original artifacts on a separate floor.

The “First Victim” Myth and Its Slow Dismantling

For 40+ years after 1945, official Austrian narrative held that Austria had been “Hitler’s first victim” — an unwilling country annexed against its will, whose population deserved sympathy rather than questions about complicity. This narrative ignored the 250,000+ Austrians who cheered Hitler at Heldenplatz in 1938, the 700,000 Austrians who joined the Nazi party (10 percent of the population, a higher rate than Germany), and the disproportionate Austrian role in the Holocaust (Eichmann, Kaltenbrunner, Globocnik, and many other major Nazi figures were Austrian).

The 1986 election of UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim as President of Austria triggered the first major confrontation. Waldheim’s concealed Nazi service as a Wehrmacht intelligence officer was exposed during the campaign; international protests followed; Austria split between those who defended Waldheim and those who demanded fuller historical reckoning. The “Waldheim Affair” forced Austrian public discourse to address Nazi-era questions for the first time.

In 1991, Chancellor Franz Vranitzky’s parliamentary speech finally acknowledged Austrian “co-responsibility” for Nazi crimes. Subsequent decades have seen formal restitution programs (1998), major Holocaust memorials (2000), and serious historical research. Vienna’s WWII memorial landscape today reflects this slow and incomplete confrontation.

Heldenplatz: The Square of Many Memories

No single Vienna site carries more contested WWII memory than Heldenplatz, the great semicircular plaza in front of the Hofburg. On March 15, 1938, Adolf Hitler stood on the Hofburg’s New Burg balcony and addressed 250,000 cheering Austrians, formally announcing the Anschluss. The Heldenplatz crowd’s enthusiastic reception was one of the most iconic moments of Nazi triumphalism and remains the defining counterargument to the “first victim” narrative.

After the war, the New Burg balcony was rarely used. The square hosted occasional public events and served mainly as the broad green space in front of the museums. In 2008, on the 70th anniversary of the Anschluss, a major commemorative ceremony at Heldenplatz finally acknowledged what had happened there.

Today the square retains its physical form but its meaning is changed. The official Austrian Federal Presidency uses the Leopoldine Wing of the Hofburg as its office. Major state ceremonies happen here. And visitors aware of the history experience it as a space of acknowledged historical weight rather than neutral grandeur.

WWII-Era Buildings That Survived

Although much of Vienna’s center was damaged, many WWII-era buildings survive:

• The Reichsbrücke fragments: The original bridge built by the Nazis collapsed in 1976; its replacement carries the same name.
• The “Hochhaus Herrengasse” (Herrengasse 6–8) — Vienna’s first skyscraper, completed 1932 in Bauhaus style; expanded by the Nazis.
• The Vienna Gänsehäufel beach on the Old Danube — popular Nazi-era recreation area, still in use today.
• The Westbahnhof main station — rebuilt in 1950s style after WWII destruction.
• Various Gemeindebauten (council housing) built or damaged during the war. See our Red Vienna guide for the broader context.

Further Reading and Resources

• Tony Judt, Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 — the standard one-volume European postwar history with extensive Austrian coverage.
• Hella Pick, Guilty Victim: Austria from the Holocaust to Haider — the major book on Austria’s postwar memory politics.
• Stefan Zweig, The World of Yesterday — memoir by the Austrian-Jewish novelist who watched his world destroyed.
• Helga Embacher, Reden uber Auschwitz — account of how Austrian Holocaust memory developed.
• The Documentation Centre’s website at doew.at maintains an extensive online research portal.
• Vienna Wiesenthal Institute at vwi.ac.at runs academic conferences and publishes research.

FAQ

What is a Vienna Flakturm?

One of six massive concrete anti-aircraft towers built 1942–44 to defend Vienna against Allied bombers. The reinforced concrete walls are up to 3.5 meters thick, making the towers literally impossible to demolish. They survive in Augarten, Esterházypark, and Arenbergpark.

Can I go inside a Vienna Flakturm?

Only the Esterházypark Flakturm offers public interior access — it houses the Haus des Meeres aquarium with rooftop terrace access. The other four towers are sealed and not open to visitors.

Did Vienna get bombed in WWII?

Yes — Vienna suffered 52 Allied bombing raids between September 1944 and April 1945. The April 1945 Battle of Vienna (Soviet assault) destroyed approximately 30 percent of central Vienna’s historic buildings.

Where can I learn about Vienna’s role in the Holocaust?

The Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (Wipplingerstraße), the Jewish Museum at Dorotheergasse and Judenplatz, the Memorial against War and Fascism at Albertinaplatz, and the Mauthausen Memorial (day trip, 200 km west). See also our Jewish Vienna guide.

What is The Third Man’s connection to Vienna?

Carol Reed’s 1949 film The Third Man (with Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, and Trevor Howard) was shot in occupied Vienna 1948 and depicts the four-power occupation period. The Third Man Museum on Pressgasse 25 displays film artifacts plus broader 1945–55 Vienna materials.

What was the Anschluss?

The 12 March 1938 annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany. Hitler entered Vienna on 14 March and addressed 250,000 cheering Austrians at Heldenplatz on 15 March. The day marks the beginning of Vienna’s Nazi era and the destruction of its Jewish community.

When did Austria become independent again?

15 May 1955 with the signing of the State Treaty at the Belvedere. The four occupying powers (USA, UK, France, Soviet Union) withdrew, Austria became neutral, and full independence was restored. The Belvedere room where the treaty was signed is preserved as a museum.

The most-watched account of occupied Vienna is not a documentary but a thriller: Carol Reed shot The Third Man here in late 1948, in a city still divided four ways and still full of rubble, and the penicillin racket at the centre of the plot was reported rather than invented. Several of the locations survive and one of them — a working sewer — is open to visitors for €14 between May and October. Our guide to the Third Man tour in Vienna covers the tickets, the season and every location you can still stand in.

Related Vienna Guides

• Vienna History & Architecture
• The Habsburg Dynasty in Vienna
• Empress Sisi