Vienna · AT
Dark History: Hitler’s Vienna & The Holocaust
A sober examination of the Nazi era, from the Anschluss to the Gestapo.
What's the walk about?
Welcome to a difficult but necessary journey through Vienna's past. On this walk, we will retrace the events leading up to and following the Anschluss of 1938. We begin near the Opera, visit the academy that rejected a young Hitler, stand on the square where the masses cheered the annexation, and pay our respects at the memorials for the 65,000 murdered Viennese Jews and the victims of the Gestapo. Please maintain a respectful demeanor at these sites of remembrance.
What you'll see
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1
Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial
Memorial
A concrete memorial known as the Nameless Library, dedicated to the 65,000 Austrian Jews murdered in the Holocaust. It stands as a silent, sealed archive of lost lives.
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2
Burggarten
Park
A peaceful park that was once the Emperor's private garden. It offers a route to the Hofburg and a moment of quiet before confronting the site of the 1938 Anschluss speech.
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3
Monument Against War and Fascism
Memorial
A powerful sculpture group dedicated to the victims of the Nazi regime. It includes the kneeling street washing figure, a haunting reminder of the public humiliation of Jews in 1938.
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4
Heldenplatz
Square
The historic square where Hitler announced the Anschluss in 1938 to a massive cheering crowd. It is the focal point of the debate regarding Austria's complicity in the Nazi regime.
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5
Federal Chancellery (Ballhausplatz)
Government Building
The seat of government where Chancellor Dollfuss was murdered by Nazis in 1934. It was here that the Austrian government capitulated to Hitler in March 1938.
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6
Vienna State Opera
Opera House
The iconic opera house that was heavily bombed in 1945 and rebuilt as a symbol of peace. It stands as a witness to the cultural purges and the physical destruction of the war.
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7
Stadttempel (City Temple)
Religious Site
The only synagogue in Vienna to survive the 'Night of Broken Glass' in 1938. Hidden behind a residential facade, it escaped the flames that destroyed 93 other synagogues.
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8
Morzinplatz Gestapo Memorial
Memorial
The site of the former Gestapo headquarters in Vienna. A memorial stone honors the victims of political persecution and the resistance fighters who suffered here.
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9
Academy of Fine Arts
University
The art academy where Adolf Hitler was twice rejected as a student. This failure pushed him into a life of poverty and resentment in Vienna, shaping his antisemitic worldview.
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10
Memorial to the Victims of Nazi Military Justice
Memorial
A modern 'X' shaped monument dedicated to the soldiers who refused to fight for Hitler. It honors deserters and conscientious objectors who were executed as traitors.
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