Mayors of Vienna, The # 2020

Mayors of Vienna

Vienna has been named the most liveable capital in the world in recent years and is one of the tourist capitals of Europe. This is not only due to the city politics of the last decades, but also developments that go far back into the history of the city.

The function of mayor has existed in Vienna since the 13th century. This contributed significantly to the rise of the city. Initially appointed by the ruler, later elected, they shaped the face and development of the city.

In the 3-part docuseries “Mayors of Vienna”, we deal with three special mayors of our federal capital in the course of the 2020 Vienna elections and provide an insight into their legacies.

The perspective is based on the political, cultural and social legacies that these mayors left Vienna and that continues to shape the city to this day.

With the regulation of the Danube, the construction of the first Viennese spring water pipeline, the central cemetery and especially the new Vienna City Hall on the Ringstrasse, Cajetan Felder gave the metropolis on the Danube parts of its present-day appearance. The Vienna World Exhibition in 1873 and the associated construction of the rotunda also fell into his tenure. The colorful personality of Felder, however, did not understand how to ccombine the petty-bourgeois and proletarian strata of the population who finally turned to the Christian-Socials or Social Democrats and ushered the end of liberalism.

Karl Lueger is one of the most controversial figures in the history of Vienna's city council and mayor. The power politician and founder of the Christian Social Party is accused of demagoguery and political anti-Semitism. With his "anti-Jewish" battle rhetoric he served existing anti-Semitic currents and was thus able to win over public opinion. As mayor, he shaped the rise of Vienna to a modern metropolis. His services to the expansion of the infrastructure and the municipal utilities are undisputed.