Harbours in Vienna

Vienna’s old harbours stand along the Danube and its canal, where ships once loaded and unloaded goods. The first landing points were simple stretches of sand or gravel where boats could be dragged ashore. These sites lay near today’s districts of Heiligenstadt, Nußdorf, Roßauer and Brigittenau, and at the Salzgries where salt ships tied up. A long unenclosed river harbour was built after the Danube was regulated in 1875. The Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft controlled most of the berths until the First World War. Upstream, an oil storage area held fifty tanks belonging to companies such as Vacuum, Shell and Fanto AG. The harbour stretched for twelve kilometres but offered no shelter from floods or ice. The Danube Canal was meant to become a protected harbour with locks and flood gates. Wilhelm von Engerth’s floating barrier proved insufficient, so a new flood control structure was built at Nußdorf between 1894 and 1898. Otto Wagner designed the quays with space for a fish market, passenger berths and freight sheds. Farther downstream, the winter harbour at Freudenau opened in 1902 to shelter ships during the cold months.