Donaustadt

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22nd District of Vienna
Coat of Arms	Map

Name:	Donaustadt
Area:	102.34 km²
Population:	136,444 (as of 2001)
Density:	1333.2 people per km²
Postal code:	A-1220
Address of District Office:	Schrödingerplatz 1 A-1229 Wien
Official Website:	www.wien.gv.at/donaustadt/ (German)
E-Mail:	post@b22.magwien.gv.at
Politics
District Director	Renate Winklbauer (SPÖ)
First Deputy	Ernst Nevrivy (SPÖ)
Second Deputy	Karl Baron (FPÖ)
Representation (60 Members)	SPÖ 36, FPÖ 10, ÖVP 8, Green 6

Donaustadt, viewed from the Donauturm

Reichsbrücke, the main bridge connecting Donaustadt to Leopoldstadt and the more central parts of Vienna, with a view of the Kaisermühlen skyline

Donaustadt (literally Danube City) is the 22nd district of Vienna.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Politics
4 Sightseeing
5 See also
6 See also

[edit] History

The former villages of Aspern and Essling are known as the place where Archduke Charles of Austria defeated Napoleon Bonaparte's French army in 1809 at the Battle of Aspern-Essling.

The relatively young district (compared to the others, at least) was formed by a resolution of the Vienna Landtag on June 29, 1946. The resolution was supposed to restore the borders between Vienna and Lower Austria. But, due to the occupation by the Russians, the resolution could not immediately take effect. In 1954 the Russians finally accepted the proposal and the resolution took effect on July 2, 1954.

[edit] Geography

The Donaustadt district is in the northeast part of Vienna and is the largest of the districts in area, occupying about one-quarter of the Vienna city area. The district borders the 2nd district (Leopoldstadt), the 11th district (Simmering), and the 21st district (Floridsdorf) as well as parts of Lower Austria.

The district is made up of eight territories (former villages), whose individual coats of arms make up the coat of arms for the whole district. The eight territories are:

Aspern
Breitenlee
Hirschstetten
Essling
Kagran
Kaisermühlen
Stadlau
Süßenbrunn

In addition to these eight territories, Donaustadt also contains a ninth area, Donau City (officially part of Kaisermühlen), which is between the Alte Donau ("Old Danube") and Neue Donau ("New Danube"). It was constructed recently, consisting of many modern buildings and skyscrapers, of which most are containing offices. In addition, another area of Donaustadt, Lobau, contains a large forest and meadow. Altogether, about 59% of the district is greenery, which is 30% of all the green spaces in all of Vienna. The area went through a dramatic change as a result of the 1870–75 legislation Wiener Donauregulierung. Were the original Danube to branch out into its many arms, it would take up a considerable area. In order to control the danger of the Danube flooding over, a side channel was built parallel to the river, creating the Donauinsel.

[edit] Politics

District Directors from 1945
Mathias Böhm (KPÖ)	1945-1946
Leopold Horacek (SPÖ)	1946-1959
Rudolf Köppl (SPÖ)	1959-1977
Rudolf Huber (SPÖ)	1977-1981
Albert Schultz (SPÖ)	1981-1993
Leopold Wedel (SPÖ)	1993-1997
Franz–Karl Effenberg (SPÖ)	1998-2005
Renate Winklbauer (SPÖ)	2005-

The Soviet occupation installed Communist Mathias Böhm as the first district director. Social democrat Leopold Horacek was the next one. Because the status of the district was ambiguous until 1954, public votes for director were not used. Horacek was confirmed by the first vote of the people in 1954, and until 1991, the SPÖ held about 55% of the popular vote. In 1996, the FPÖ's increasing popularity caused the SPÖ to lose the majority for the first time, when they gathered only 43% of the popular vote. In 2001, they regained the majority, claiming 54.25% of the vote. The FPÖ received 19.83%, the ÖVP had 11.83%, the Greens got 9.44%, and the Liberal Forum had 2.69%.