Oberlaa spa gardens

“Schönbrunn of the 20th century” is 50 years old

An urban wilderness in the south of Vienna became the WIG in 1974 (here in a historical photo), and the WIG became today's Kurpark Oberlaa.

(Bild: Wiener Stadtgärten)

Kurpark Oberlaa is celebrating a milestone birthday: 50 years ago, it was in full bloom as the "Vienna International Garden Exhibition 1974", including an elevated railroad, amusement park, other attractions - and conflicts over whether a "Schönbrunn of the 20th century" had been built or nature had been destroyed.

Today, it is impossible to imagine the south of Vienna without the Kurpark Oberlaa as a local recreation area and it has become a matter of course. Fifty years ago, as the second Vienna International Garden Exhibition (WIG), it was only open to paying visitors, sparked heated urban planning and political debates and attracted 2.6 million visitors from its opening on April 18 until its closure on October 14.

Elevated railroad, amusement park and a whole galaxy for children
Visitors got a lot for their money: A single-track elevated railroad ran across the site from the north entrance to the south entrance, an amusement park was set up on the edge, children could enjoy a massive planet playground where they could climb around at lofty heights in enormous spheres - the "sun" was six meters in diameter. Above all, however, there were flowers, plants and gardens in every conceivable form.

Only a few traces of the garden architecture of that time remain in today's Kurpark.

(Bild: Wiener Stadtgärten / Christian Houdek)

The WIG offered changing plant exhibitions, but above all various themed gardens. Only a few traces of this can be found in today's Kurpark. The gardens that have survived in their original form are the garden at Schwanensee, which was dedicated to young people as a party garden including a dance floor, the former paradise garden and today's "love garden" and the Japanese garden, the restoration of which is based on an initiative from Japan and not from Vienna.

A treasure trove for amateur urban archaeologists
People interested in urban archaeology can still discover some traces of the former design: Wherever circular segments can now be found in the park, there were once national gardens, for example. Only traces - hidden in the dense woodland - remain of the foundations of the biggest excitement of the time: the "utopian garden", a typical 1970s extravaganza by two French architects, which consisted mainly of steel and concrete.

Birthday party

The city is dedicating a two-day birthday celebration to the Kurpark on June 1 and 2 with numerous activities and a small exhibition on the history of the Kurpark, where comparisons can be drawn between now and then.

Harsh criticism of the development of a landscape conservation area
In the view of critics, however, there was too much steel and too much concrete not only in the utopian garden, but in the design of the WIG as a whole. Originally 10,000 parking spaces were planned, but in the end 3,500 remained. The redesign of the former landscape conservation area, which was also misused as a wild garbage dump, with paved paths and buildings also attracted criticism.

A deficit of 13 million schillings

remained in the city's coffers in 1974, partly because admission prices were lowered to increase visitor numbers. Deficient attractions such as the elevated railroad, the amusement park and the elaborate planting of the gardens were dismantled during the conversion to a spa park.

Even Kreisky had to come to the defense
In a very contemporary debate, critics complained that it would be better to work on greening the city center instead of spending 600 million schillings on transforming a natural landscape into a park. The mayor of Vienna at the time, Leopold Gratz, countered that the population in the outer districts also had a right to parks and even Federal Chancellor Bruno Kreisky came to the defense of the project, praising it as the "Schönbrunn of the 20th century".

However, the original idea behind the WIG became reality: the creation of the gardens and the corresponding transport links were intended not least to lay the foundations for the expansion of the city to the south. However, the city never again made such grand gestures as the two garden exhibitions - the one in Oberlaa was the second after the one in 1964, which created today's Donaupark - and plans for a WIG in 1984 came to nothing.