HLMW9 Michelbeuern

The HLMW9 Michelbeuern stands in the Alsergrund district of Vienna, a school specialising in fashion and business studies. Its main building in Michelbeuerngasse was once a factory making electric lamps, built in 1890 by architects Helmer and Fellner for an Anglo-American company. The thick floors and massive boiler foundations in the cellar still show how heavily the building was used. The school began in 1908 as the Wiener Schneiderakademie, founded to raise the standard of clothing making at a time when hand craftsmanship was in decline. Directors such as Wilhelm Exner helped secure state support, and by the 1920s the school had moved here and grown to serve more than 1,300 students. It now offers programmes for hearing-impaired pupils alongside its regular courses. Inside, visitors find classrooms and workshops where students create prototypes and organise fashion shows. The building’s high ceilings and sturdy structure still reflect its industrial past. Outside, the surrounding streets show the area’s late-19th-century transformation from suburban estates into a busy part of the city.