The Ernst-Kirchweger-Haus (EKH) is a

self-managed social centre Self-managed social centers, also known as autonomous social centers, are self-organized community centers in which anti-authoritarians put on voluntary activities. These autonomous spaces, often in multi-purpose venues affiliated with anarchi ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

's 10th district,

Favoriten Favoriten (; Central Bavarian: ''Favoritn''), the 10th district of Vienna, Austria (german: 10. Bezirk, Favoriten), is located south of the central districts. It is south of Innere Stadt, Wieden and Margareten. Favoriten is a heavily populat ...

. It was

squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

in 1990 and legalised in 2008. The project is named after

Ernst Kirchweger Ernst Kirchweger (January 12, 1898 – April 2, 1965 in Vienna) was the first person to die as a result of political conflict in Austria's Second Austrian Republic, Second Republic. From 1916 to 1918, Ernst Kirchweger participated in World War I a ...

Occupation

The building was

on 23 June, 1990, and became a

, which hosted migrants and

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s, an infoshop, community activities, and political groups. The squatters, who described the EKH as an "international, multi-cultural, anti-fascist centre," named the building after

. He was a former concentration camp inmate and member of the anti-fascist

resistance Resistance may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm: ** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title ** ''T ...

, who was killed in 1965 by a right-wing protester during a demonstration against

Taras Borodajkewycz Taras (von) Borodajkewycz ( uk, Тарас Бородайкевич; 1 October 1902 in Baden bei Wien, Lower Austria – 3 January 1984 in Vienna) was a former member of the Nazi Party and, after World War II, professor of economic history at t ...

, a former member of the

National Socialist German Workers Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

Negotiations

In 2004, the owner of the house (the Communist Party of Austria) sold the EKH to a

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

company, and the residents were threatened with eviction since the new owner was a former right wing extremist. After a long struggle with many protests and actions, a company with close contacts to the municipality of Vienna bought the building in July 2005. The threat of eviction passed and in 2008, a rental contract was signed.

2020 disturbances

In June 2020, a feminist demonstration protesting the treatment of women in Austria and Turkey, organised by a

Kurdish women Kurdish women ( ku, ژنانی کورد, translit=Jinên Kurd) have traditionally played important roles in Kurdish society and politics. In general, Kurdish women's rights and equality have improved dramatically in the 21st century due to progre ...

’s organisation based at EKH, was attacked by the Turkish

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

group the Grey Wolves. In response,

anti-fascists Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

organised a counter-demonstration the next day and this resulted in 200-300

neo-fascists Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, Nativism (politics), nativism, xenophobia, and an ...

attacking the EKH building, throwing stones, bottles and firebombs. The situation then created a diplomatic war of words between Austria and Turkey, with the Turkish ambassador being invited to the Foreign Ministry.

References

External links

*
Ernst-Kirchweger-Haus
*

{{Authority control 1990 establishments in Austria Autonomism Buildings and structures in Favoriten Communist Party of Austria Infoshops Legalized squats Music venues in Austria Squats

Occupation

Negotiations

2020 disturbances

See also

References

External links