Favoriten (; ), the 10th

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

(), is located south of the central districts. It is south of

Innere Stadt The Innere Stadt (; ; "Inner City") is the 1st municipal Districts of Vienna, district of Vienna () located in the center of the Austrian capital. The Innere Stadt is the old town of Vienna. Until the city boundaries were expanded in 1850, the I ...

Wieden Wieden (; ) is the 4th municipal district of Vienna, Austria (). It is near the centre of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but its borders were changed later. Wieden is a small region near the city centre. Wien.gv.at webpage (s ...

and

Margareten Margareten (; ) is the fifth district of Vienna (). It is near the old town of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but borders changed later. Wien-Vienna.at webpage (see below: References). Wien.gv.at webpage (see below: References). The name comes from ''Favorita'', a semi-

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

palace complex that once served as a hunting castle but today is the

Theresianum Theresianum (or Theresian Academy; ) is a private Boarding school, boarding and day school governed by the laws for public schools in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1746 by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. History Early history (1614–1 ...

a Gymnasium (middle and high school) in the 4th district (

). The customs facilities at the original southern border of Vienna were known as the ''Favoriten-Linie'' (Favoriten Line) while nearby houses were known as the ''Siedlung vor der Favoriten-Linie'' (Settlement in front of the Favoriten Line).

District sections

The Favoriten District includes 6 sections: Katastralgemeinden Favoriten, Inzersdorf-Stadt, Rothneusiedl, Unterlaa, Oberlaa-Stadt and Oberlaa-Land, as well as small parts of the 2 sections Katastralgemeinden Kaiserebersdorf and Simmering. Favoriten bezirksteile

The northern part of the district is the historical Favoriten (Workers District), a grid-patterned residential area with many houses over 100 years old, plus intermediate industries (such as the complex of Ankerbrot AG). On the western edge of the district are two contrasting developments, opposite each other: during the inter-war period, George Washington Court was built (as a stylish Gemeindebau); and during 1990-2000, Business Park Vienna was built, including Vienna Twin Towers (skyscrapers), bounded on the south, by the forty-years-older Philipshaus on Trieste Street, in the architecture of classical Modernism.

Geography

The district is bordered by the districts

Meidling Meidling () is the 12th district of Vienna (). It is located just southwest of the central districts, south of the River Wien, west of the Gürtel belt, and east and southeast of Schönbrunn Palace. Meidling is a heavily populated urban area w ...

to the west,

Liesing Liesing () is the 23rd district of Vienna. It is on the southwest edge of Vienna, Austria. It was formed after Austria's ''Anschluss'' with Germany, when Vienna expanded from 21 districts to 26. Fifteen Lower Austrian districts, especially the o ...

to the southwest,

Margareten Margareten (; ) is the fifth district of Vienna (). It is near the old town of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but borders changed later.Wieden Wieden (; ) is the 4th municipal district of Vienna, Austria (). It is near the centre of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but its borders were changed later. Wieden is a small region near the city centre. Wien.gv.at webpage (s ...

to the north, and

Simmering Simmering is a food preparation technique by which foods are cooked in hot liquids kept just below the boiling point of water (lower than ) and above poaching temperature (higher than ). To create a steady simmer, a liquid is brought to a boil, ...

to the east. The '' Südbahn'' serves Favoriten in the north and Vienna Main Station, which lies in the northeast of the district. The rail line forms the northern border of the district running by the foot of the ''Wienerberg'' (Vienna Mountain) before turning southwards past '' Laaer Berg'' (Laa Mountain) to ''Liesingtal'' (Liesing Valley), where the

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

n towns of Hennersdorf,

Leopoldsdorf Leopoldsdorf is a municipality in the district of Bruck an der Leitha in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It belonged to Wien-Umgebung District Bezirk Wien-Umgebung was a Districts of Austria, district of the States of Austria, state of Lowe ...

and

Schwechat Schwechat () is a city southeast of Vienna known for the Vienna International Airport and Schwechater beer. The city is home to the Oil refinery, refineries of the Austrian national oil company OMV. Geography Schwechat is named after the river S ...

are.

History

In 1874, the former settlement of Favoriten was annexed by Vienna as the 10th district. The first district director was the well-known Johann Steudel, who ran a tavern in the former settlement. The district expanded its borders quickly as industries and the associated housing grew in the area. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Vienna was divided into quarters and split among the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

, and Favoriten belonged to the Soviet-occupied sector. Favoriten was last expanded in 1954, when the former villages of Rothneusiedl, Oberlaa and Unterlaa were annexed to the district. In the Oberlaa/Rothneusiedl area there are several constructions named after well-known Swedish people, such as the Per-Albin-Hansson-Siedlung, the Olof Palme-Hof, and the Selma-Lagerlöf-Gasse. This is to honour the Swedish support after the war.

Per Albin Hansson Per Albin Hansson (28 October 1885 – 6 October 1946) was a Swedish politician, chairman of the Swedish Social Democratic Party, Social Democrats from 1925 and two-time Prime Minister of Sweden, Prime Minister in four Government of Sweden, gov ...

, the Swedish social-democratic politician, for instance lent a lot of support to Vienna after

Population

In 1869, the current area covered by the Favoriten District included only 22,340 inhabitants. Due to the huge influx of workers in the district area up to the beginning of the First World War, the district population increased 7-fold up to 1910 as 159,241 inhabitants. Thereafter, the district's population declined until the 30s, fell during the Second World War, but for the next 40 years gradually increased. Unlike many downtown districts, the population numbers grew in the 50s and 60s again, as the district had sufficient land area for new buildings, which expanded due to the housing demand. From the '70s, the population began to stagnate; however, since 2001, the number of inhabitants has increased significantly and, at the beginning of 2007, amounted to 169,578 people.

Population structure

The age of the population in Favoriten from 2001 is average for Vienna. The number of children under 15 years was 14.6%, against the Vienna area average of 14.7%. The proportion of the population 15 to 59 years was 62.6% (Vienna: 63.6%), only slightly below average. This showed particularly in the younger population deficits, while the number of people aged 60 or more years with 22.8%, was above the value of Vienna (21.7%). The gender distribution in the district area was 47.7% men and 52.8% women, the number of Favoriten marriages had a share of 42.9% compared to 41.2%, above the average of Vienna.

Origin and language

The proportion of foreign-district residents in 2016 was 32,8 % (Vienna-citywide 27,4 %), an increase over 2001 (16.5%) as in the entire State, as a rising trend. The highest proportion of foreigners, in 2005, was represented with a 5.5% share of the district population, as nationals from

Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

. Another 3.9% were Turkish,

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

n 1.6%,

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

1.3%,

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n 2% and 0.6% German citizens. In total, for 2001, 23.7% of the population of Favoriten were not born in Austria. Nearly 6.8% expressed as a colloquial language

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

, but Turkish 7.4% and 2.6% Croatian. There is also a large

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

and

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

population particularly after the Europe migrant Crisis in 2015.

Religious preferences

The religion of the population in the Favoriten District, in the 2001 census, had a proportion of Muslim population higher than the average of Vienna. In 2001, 47.0% of the inhabitants had membership to the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

(Vienna citywide: 49.2%). There were 15 Roman Catholic parishes, the City Deanery had 10 images. Nearly 11.2% of residents were

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic faith (Vienna citywide: 7.8%), 6.4% belonged to the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

, and 4.1% were

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. Nearly 26.5% of the district population, however, belonged to no religious group, and 4.9% had no religion or other preference given.

Infrastructure

Favoriten is the most populous of the districts of Vienna. Most of Favoriten's residential area is composed of a variety of houses, that are over 100 years old, as well as community housing developments (such as the Hansson-Siedlung). The district also has numerous industries. There are recreational areas in the southern part of the district, such as the ''Kurpark Laaer Berg'' (Treatment Park of Laa Mountain), which, in 1974, joined the ''Kurzentrum Oberlaa'' (Treatment Centre of Upper Laa), a sulphur springs, and the recreational centre at Wienerberg. On the north side of Laaer Berg, a small theme park, the Bohemian Prater, was built in 1882. Furthermore, the Ernst Kirchweger Haus (EKH), a squatted social centre, is situated in Favoriten.

Wien Hauptbahnhof Wien Hauptbahnhof, Vienna Central Station or Vienna Main Station is the main railway station in Vienna, Austria, located in the Favoriten district. It became fully operational in December 2015, linking major railway lines from the North railway ...

, the main railway station of Vienna, is also located in Favoriten.

Landmarks

# Spinnerin am Kreuz - Gothic stone tower built in 1375 # Wasserturm - Water tower (

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

)

Sports

Favoriten is home to the stadium of one of the most successful

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

teams

FK Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (), known in English as Austria Vienna, and Austria Wien in German language in Europe, German-speaking countries, is an Football in Austria, Austrian professional association football club from the capital city of Vi ...

, who play at the

Generali Arena Generali may refer to: People Generali is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Pietro Generali (basketball), Italian basketball player *Pietro Generali, Italian composer Other uses *Assicurazioni Generali and Generali I ...

. Favoriten is also home to a smaller club which came to prominence in the 80's

Favoritner AC The Favoritner Athletik Club, or FavAC for short, is an Austrian football club from the Viennese Favoriten district and currently plays under the sponsored name ''Cashpoint FavAC'' in the fourth tier, the Viennese City League. The club's popul ...

and another formerly successful smaller club KSV Ankerbrot Montelaa.

Politics

District Government

As a labour district Favoriten is traditional political stamped

Social Democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

so that the Socialists are represented with the District Director since 1946 all the time. Commonly the SPÖ reached the absolute majority, which was only in danger after the rise of the FPÖ at the end of the eighties under

Jörg Haider Jörg Haider (; 26 January 1950 – 11 October 2008) was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Au ...

. 1996 the FPÖ increased 8.6% and the absolute majority of the SPÖ was broken the first time. Through the downfall of the FPÖ the revanche came in 2001 and the Socialists regained the absolute majority. 2010 the SPÖ lost nearly 10% the FPÖ took most advantage of this and also increased by 14%. The

ÖVP The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...

makes no odds here and reached in average not more than 12%. Also

the Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *The Greens – The Green Alternative, Austria *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' * Greens of Andorra * The Greens (Benin) *The Greens (Bulgaria) * Greens of Bosnia and He ...

are under their average percent of voters here. At the district election 2010 all parliament parties lost except for

FPÖ The Freedom Party of Austria (, FPÖ) is a political party in Austria, variously described as far-right, right-wing populist, national-conservative, and Eurosceptic. It has been led by Herbert Kickl since 2021. It is the largest of five par ...

and BZÖ.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of the 10th district is a shield divided into six parts: * In the upper-left corner is the coat of arms of the former village of Favoriten. It shows the

Apostle John John the Apostle (; ; ), also known as Saint John the Beloved and, in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Saint John the Theologian, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he ...

, the patron saint of the Pfarrkirche church at Keplerplatz, wearing a green cape and a blue robe. He is holding a

quill A quill is a writing tool made from a moulted flight feather (preferably a primary wing-feather) of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen/metal-Nib (pen), nibbed pen, the fountain pen, and, event ...

and the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

. An eagle is shown next to him. * In the upper-right, a well made of shell stands against a blue background and symbolises Oberlaa. This reminds us of the healing springs and the treatment centres of the district. * In the lower-left, a red kiln and a flowing stream symbolise Rothneusiedl. It reflects the importance of the brick industry at Wienerberg and Laaerberg. * In the lower-right, Inzersdorf-Stadt is represented by golden wine grapes with spikes from the top, reminiscent of the once economically important vineyards. * The lower part shows a red

Maltese Cross The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. It is a heraldic cross variant which develope ...

on a golden background, and symbolises Unterlaa and the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

that ruled the area until the end of the 13th century. * The centre part symbolises the district as a whole, an attribute not shared by any other district, and displays the Spinnerin am Kreuz, a symbol of Favoriten.

Notable residents

Gerhard Bronner Gerhard Bronner (23 October 1922 in Favoriten, Vienna – 19 January 2007 in Vienna) was an Austrian composer, writer, musician and a cabaret artist, known for his contribution to Austrian culture in the post-World War II period. Life Born to ...

Kabarettist {{CatAutoTOC, numerals=no Words and phrases A word is a basic element of language that carries meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, ...

and writer *

Felix Czeike Felix Czeike (21 August 1926 – 23 April 2006) was an Austrian historian and popular educator. He was an author and partly also editor of numerous publications on the history of Vienna and was the director of the . His main work is the six-volume ...

, author/historian * Daniel Glattauer, writer *

Jakob Reumann Jakob Reumann (31 December 1853 in Vienna – 29 July 1925 in Klagenfurt) was an Austrian Social Democratic politician and the first social democratic List of mayors of Vienna, mayor of Vienna from 1919 to 1923. Biography On the Hainfeld Party ...

, Mayor of Vienna from 1919–1923 *

Matthias Sindelar Matthias Sindelar (, ; 10 February 1903 – 23 January 1939) was an Austrian professional association football, footballer. Regarded as one of the greatest Austrian players of all time, Sindelar notably played for FK Austria Wien, Austria Vienna ...

, footballer & captain of

Wunderteam ''Wunderteam'' (; ''Wonder Team'') was the name given to the Austria national football team of the 1930s. Led by manager Hugo Meisl, the team had an unbeaten streak of 14 games between April 1931 and December 1932. The style of the team focused on ...

* Karl Svoboda, politician * Helmut Zilk, Mayor of Vienna from 1984–1994

References

External links

Wiener Bezirke: Favoriten
(in

) {{Coord, 48, 09, 28, N, 16, 21, 33, E, region:AT-9_type:adm2nd, display=title Districts of Vienna