Vienna advances plans for guest worker memorial near main station

Plans for a memorial to Vienna’s guest workers have taken shape, with the remembrance site planned near the city’s main railway station. ORF reports that the project is expected to be funded almost entirely by donations.

Workers from what was then Yugoslavia and Turkey arrived in Vienna in the 1960s and 1970s. The memorial is planned near the former Südbahnhof, where many arrived. The project also recognises other groups, including Czech brick workers who laboured at Wienerberg in the previous century.

The history of people who lived and worked in Vienna will be researched and presented in an educational space in Favoriten, run by Volkshilfe Wien. The city is providing up to 30,000 euros for the research. Austrian companies including Strabag, Wienerberger and Swietelsky have indicated they will support the historical work.

The memorial is expected to cost no more than 250,000 euros, according to the city. The public art organisation KÖR will oversee its implementation. Organisers say they want the project to help descendants of guest workers feel part of Austria and create a shared history. The memorial is scheduled to be completed in 2030.