Meldemannstraße dormitory
The men's dormitory at Meldemannstraße 27 was from 1905 to 2003, a homeless shelter in Vienna in the 20th district Brigittenau. It became famous because had lived there from 1910 to 1913 Adolf Hitler.
The men's hostel in 1910
End of September 1904 was granted the official building permit for the construction of Männerlogierhauses and started the foundation work. The lodging-house, which should provide over four floors in 24 rooms 544 men against cheap pay a pattern -like homestead was carried out according to the system of the London Rowton Houses: separate sleeping compartments, common rooms daily. The new award-winning designs of Austrian architect Leopold Ramsauer (1874-1916) and Otto Richter (1875-1919) were used.
The six -story men home belonged to his made without festivities on October 15, 1905 opening of the most modern in Europe. It was financed by the Emperor Franz Joseph I. Anniversary Foundation for Public Houses and welfare facilities [note 1], a body supported by private donations fund. Emperor Franz Joseph I visited the institution, by then the second largest of the Foundation, on November 7, 1905 a visit. [Note The house was 2] Maintained by the City of Vienna, the management was in the hands of an administrator, who lived in the house itself [note 3].
A first aim of the new men 's home was to reduce the number of lodgers. In 1910, Vienna had 80,000 Bettgeher.
It had gas lighting and additional electrical and special comfort bulbs. Was heated with a modern low-pressure steam heating.
On the ground floor the dining room, a reading room with newspapers and a smoking and Non smoking department and from October 1, 1910 were usable library. In the basement there was a clothes and shoe room, a luggage room, a bicycle storage room, and a shoemaker and tailor's workshop. There was a hospital room with a family doctor and a disinfection chamber for delousing the newcomers. In addition to washrooms and Rasierzimmer the residents a swimming complex with 16 showers and 4 sinks were offered.
For self catering there was kitchenettes with gas stove and dishes.
The sleeping area was in the top four floors. He was open in the evenings by 20 clock and had about 9 clock in the morning again to be evacuated. The home had taken a mass dormitory single cabins for each of the 544 guests. The individual sleeping compartments were 1.4 meters wide and 2.17 meters long. It contained a bed, a table, a coat rack and a mirror. Each bunk had a lockable door and a light bulb as a luxury.
The weekly rent was 2.50 crowns and was based on the average rent, which had to pay a Bettgeher in Vienna at this time for a place to sleep. For a single laborers or journeymen with an annual income of 1000 crowns the men home was thus an extremely convenient place to stay. In the press there was accordingly a " tale of a heavenly accommodation on earth" and hailed as a " wonder of elegance and fairness ".
Adolf Hitler in the men's dorm
Adolf Hitler lived three years in this hostel for men, according to polizeilichem census from February 9, 1910 to May 24, 1913. Then he moved to Munich.
In the morning he read regularly in the Non smoking section of the reading room the newspapers. He also painted his pictures, discussed with the residents political issues and made speeches.
Several residents of the men's dormitory written later memories of their time with Hitler, especially the tramp and casual workers Reinhold Hanisch, whose report was published posthumously in 1939 by the American newspaper The New Republican, a man named Karl Honisch in 1938 a report for the Party Archive of the NSDAP in Munich, wrote down the casual workers Josef Greiner, who presented in 1938 and 1947 thin memory books and a research mostly as " Brno Anonymous" designated unknown, whose memories appeared in the 1930s in a Czech newspaper. Other residents of the men's dormitory, to which Hitler has been shown to at least temporarily, was during his stay in closer relationship that Jews Josef Löffner and Eduard Neumann, with whom Hitler was a friend, the chemist Rudolf Häusler, together he emigrated to the 1913 Germany, and were painter Karl Leidenroth which Hitler saw as his rivals and enemies.
Closure
In the late 1990s the Vienna city government decided to close the home because of the outdated building design and to build a new home in the Siemens road in the 21st district of Vienna.
On 28 November 2003, the shelter was closed, after which there was a squat. On 5 March 2004 the new home was officially opened in the Siemens road.
Theater scene
The men's dorm Meldemannstraße was prior to its closure from the premiere on 24 September 2002 venue for the theater production of George Tabori 's Mein Kampf with Alexander Waechter - Schlomo Herzl, Nicola Filippelli - Lobkowitz, Michael Smulik - Hitler; Directed by Tina Leisch and Hubert Kramar. Due to the great success of the song was recorded in January once again in the Schedule and listed twice weekly to 19 April 2003 2003. In the same year the production was awarded the Nestroy Theatre Award for Best Off- production.
Conversion to a nursing home
The former homeless shelter was rebuilt from 2007 to a nursing home with nearly 200 rooms. The reopening of the building with the new name " Seniorenschlössl Brigittenau " took place in September 2009. The entrance was moved to the Winarskystraße.