Ernst-Kirchweger-Haus

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The Ernst-Kirchweger-Haus in September 2005. The large banner on the first floor reads, "kein tag ohne autonomes zentrum" ("Not a single day without an autonomous centre").

The Ernst-Kirchweger-Haus (EKH) is a building in Vienna's 10th district, Favoriten.

Since June 23, 1990, it has been a squatted social centre, which hosts migrants and refugees, community activities, and political groups.

The squatters, who describe the EKH as an "international, multi-cultural, anti-fascist centre", named the building after Ernst Kirchweger; a former concentration camp inmate and member of the anti-fascist resistance, who was killed in 1965 by a right-wing protester during a demonstration against Taras Borodajkewycz, a former member of the NSDAP.

In 2003, the owner of the house - the Communist Party of Austria - sold the EKH to a real estate company, and the residents were threatened with eviction (see the summary of protests and actions at Indymedia). After a long struggle, a company with close contacts to the municipality of Vienna bought the building in July 2005, and the threat of eviction seems to have passed.