Arbeiterheim Favoriten

The Arbeiterheim Favoriten stands in Vienna’s 10th district, a red-brick building designed by Hubert Gessner between Laxenburger Strasse 8 and 10. It opened in 1902 as the first purpose-built workers’ centre in the city, combining meeting rooms, a large hall, a cinema, a branch of the consumer co-op and offices for the health insurance fund. The architect’s first major public work, it quickly became a hub for social democrats and local clubs. The building embodied the hopes of the early 20th-century labour movement, hosting party congresses, education courses and cultural events. In 1927 Gessner converted the gymnasium into the Amalien-Kino, one of thirty Viennese cinemas equipped for sound films. After the February 1934 ban on the Social Democrats, the house passed to Austro-fascists, then to the Nazis in 1938 and finally to the Soviet command in 1945. Visitors today find a three-storey corner block whose upper floors once housed a small hotel run by Ruefa. The original 1902 main hall was demolished in the 1980s, but the ground floor still shows traces of its former function. Plans are under way for the SPÖ to return in 2026 with its regional headquarters, restoring some of the building’s historic role.