The Cocktail of Ottakring

Roderick Martin / Ottakring

I personally chose Ottakring because I live here. I was born and grew up in the far west of Austria, in Vorarlberg. I moved to Vienna more then 10 years ago for my studies and was expecially drawn into the 16th district called Ottakring. I am fascinated by how well the most diverse people live together and coexist on a large scale.

“Ottakring is a fluid place of change, migration, destruction and reconstruction, innovation and tradition. It is above all the people and their stories rather than the places and buildings that make the district so colorful. If Ottakring was a cocktail, then it is made of “wine, beer and raki” reflecting the diversity of people here. That Ottakring became anything it all, couldn’t have been anticipated at all. For centuries, this little corner of the world remained a small village that slipped from one misery to the next. With industrialization came the meteoric rise and the influx of thousands of people from all over. Today, Ottakring feels like “Vienna in a nutshell”. Here you will find bourgeois mansions next to Council Houses of Red Vienna and vibrant markets next to community gardens Come with us on a journey through one of Vienna’s most versatile districts.