Karl Marx Hof is the symbol of the 398 housing complexes which were built in Vienna between the wars by the social democratic city council (1919-34) and immortalized in a workers' song as the "little red brick to build a new world". There were 64,000 dwellings in total, but mainly in outlying districts and financed by taxes on luxury items such as the employment of servants and cars, and steep graduation of taxes on housing construction.
The tenants, however, paid rents which were well within their means (5-8% of their wages) for the relatively small flats; gas and electricity rates were low and there was no charge for water. The scheme also offered excellent community facilities such as baths, laundries, community rooms, public houses, shops and libraries, nursery schools and paddling pools; but not least there were many green areas which made living in the "Welfare Palaces" more agreeable.
Karl Marx Hof, in its brick red and ochre colors, was built with 25 million bricks between 1927 and 1930 to a design by Karl Ehn and contains some 1,600 flats and communal facilities grouped around several inner courtyard gardens (about 80% of the Karl Marx complex is made up of parks and gardens). In February 1934 Karl Marx Hof was the center of the riots between left-wing workers and right-wing extremists and was stormed by the army to suppress the uprising. Today it ranks as an historic monument.
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