Vienna

== Politics==
===Political history===
[[File:Sitzungssaal des Abgeordnetenhauses, Parlament, Wien.jpg|thumb|The Debating Chamber of the former House of Deputies of Austria in the [[Austrian Parliament Building|Parliament]]]]
In the twenty years before the First World War and until 1918, Viennese politics were shaped by the [[Christian Social Party (Austria)|Christian Social Party]]. In particular, long-term mayor [[Karl Lueger]] was able to not apply the general voting rights for men introduced by and for the parliament of imperial Austria, the ''Reichsrat'', in 1907, thereby excluding most of the working class from taking part in decisions. For [[Adolf Hitler]], who spent some years in Vienna, Lueger was a teacher of how to use [[antisemitism]] in politics.

Vienna is today considered the center of the [[Social Democratic Party of Austria|Social Democratic Party]] (SPÖ). During the period of the [[First Austrian Republic|First Republic]] (1918–1934), the Vienna Social Democrats undertook many social reforms. At that time, Vienna's municipal policy was admired by Socialists throughout Europe, who therefore referred to the city as "[[Red Vienna]]" (''Rotes Wien''). In February 1934 troops of the Austrian federal government under [[Engelbert Dollfuss]], who had closed down the first chamber of the federal parliament, the ''Nationalrat'', in 1933, and paramilitary socialist organizations were engaged in the Austrian Civil War, which led to the ban of the Social Democratic party.

The SPÖ has held the mayor's office and control of the city council/parliament at every free election since 1919. The only break in this SPÖ dominance came between 1934 and 1945, when the Social Democratic Party was illegal, mayors were appointed by the [[Austrofascism|Austrofascist]] and later by the [[Nazi Party|Nazi]] authorities. The current mayor of Vienna is [[Michael Ludwig (politician)|Michael Ludwig]] of the SPÖ.

The city has enacted many social democratic policies. The ''[[Gemeindebau]]ten'' are social housing assets that are well integrated into the city architecture outside the first or "inner" district. The low rents enable comfortable accommodation and good access to the city amenities. Many of the projects were built after the [[Second World War]] on vacant lots that were destroyed by bombing during the war. The city took particular pride in building them to a high standard. The social housing in Vienna provides living for more than 500,000 people.<ref>[https://www.wienerwohnen.at/wiener-gemeindebau/municipal-housing-in-vienna.html City of Vienna]</ref>

===Government===
{{Main|Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna}}
[[File:Rathaus Wien Stiege 2.JPG|thumb|right|Interior of Vienna's historical [[Vienna City Hall|Rathaus]], the seat of the city's mayor]]
Since Vienna obtained [[Federal states of Austria|federal state]] (''Bundesland'') status of its own by the federal constitution of 1920, the city council also functions as the state parliament ([[Landtag]]), and the mayor (except 1934–1945) also doubles as the ''[[Landeshauptmann]]'' (governor/minister-president) of the state of Vienna. The Rathaus accommodates the offices of the mayor (''[[:de:Magistrat der Stadt Wien]]'') and the state government (''Landesregierung''). The city is administered by a multitude of departments (''Magistratsabteilungen''), politically supervised by ''Amtsführende Stadträte'' (members of the city government/parliament leading offices; according to the Vienna constitution opposition parties have the right to designate members of the city government not leading offices).

Under the city constitution of 1920, municipal and state business must be kept separate. Hence, the city council and state parliament hold separate meetings, with separate presiding officers–the chairman of the city council or the president of the state Landtag–even though the two bodies' memberships are identical. When meeting as a city council, the deputies can only deal with the affairs of the city of Vienna; when meeting as a state parliament, they can only deal with the affairs of the state of Vienna.

In the 1996 City Council election, the SPÖ lost its overall majority in the 100-seat chamber, winning 43 seats and 39.15% of the vote. The SPÖ had held an outright majority at every free municipal election since 1919. In 1996 the [[Freedom Party of Austria]] (FPÖ), which won 29 seats (up from 21 in 1991), beat the ÖVP into third place for the second time running. From 1996 to 2001, the SPÖ governed Vienna in a coalition with the ÖVP. In 2001 the SPÖ regained the overall majority with 52 seats and 46.91% of the vote; in October 2005, this majority was increased further to 55 seats (49.09%). In course of the 2010 city council elections the SPÖ lost their overall majority again and consequently forged a coalition with the [[The Greens – The Green Alternative|Green Party]] – the first SPÖ/Green coalition in Austria.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://orf.at/stories/2025548/ |title=Pakt unterzeichnet: Rot-Grün in Wien nun offiziell – news.ORF.at |publisher=Orf.at |date=15 November 2010 |access-date=3 January 2011 |archive-date=18 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101118193210/http://www.orf.at/stories/2025548 |url-status=live }}</ref> This coalition was maintained following the 2015 election. Following the 2020 election, the SPÖ forged a coalition with [[NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum]].<ref>[https://orf.at/stories/3189988/ ''Koalition SPÖ-NEOS in Wien wird präsentiert''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629032831/https://orf.at/stories/3189988/ |date=29 June 2022 }} orf.at (in German). 16 November 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2022.</ref>