Ernst-Kirchweger-Haus or EKH is a social center and former squat (between 1990 and 2008) in Vienna, Austria.
History
The building had been constructed in 1931 as a school for the children of Czech and Slovak immigrants to Vienna, becoming property of the Communist Party of Austria in 1945. It was eventually unused and neglected, and became occupied by squatters in 1990 who named it after the communist and anti-fascist martyr Ernst Kirchweger, who was murdered during a protest of a Nazi public speaker in 1965.
In 2004, the Communist Party of Austria attempted to sell the building to a real estate company who's managing director who had been accused of links to local far-right and neo-nazis groups in the area, such as the Neue Rechte. This sparked massive protests by the squatters and their supporters which prevented the sale of the building, eventually allowing them to become paying tenants in 2008.
In 2013, 30 Neo-Nazis from the 'Immortal Vienna' stormed the house and beat a local communist, leading to a fight in the house. In 2016, far-right Turkish Nationalists stormed the house to disrupt the celebration of a Serbian society, believing it was a Kurdish event, lighting fires and tearing up posters before being kicked out.[1]
Functions
The squat mainly serves as a space of shelter for refugees and anti-fascists, reading groups, discussion spaces and occasional parties, but other functions include:
- Library holding leftist and anarchist literature
- Bicycle workshop
- Computer lab
- Advice for illegal immigrants
- Concert room
- Emergency shelter for refugees
- Meeting spaces for anti-fascists, refugee activists, feminists, environmentalists and anarcho-syndicalists
- Printing workshop
- Free legal advice for illegal immigrants and ethnic minorities
Contact
The website of the squat can be found here (In German)