Donaustadt

Donaustadt, Vienna´s 22^nd district, area 102.34 km², pop. 106,589 (1991), Vienna´s largest district, formerly most sparsely populated district of Vienna; increasing urbanisation over the past decades has led to soaring population figures (1961: 57,268). Since 1954 Donaustadt has been made up of areas handed over by Floridsdorf in 1938 (Stadlau, Kagran, Hirschstetten, Aspern and Lobau), of the former Lower Austrian municipalities of Süßenbrunn, Breitenlee and Eßling and of Kaisermühlen (formerly part of the 2^nd district) with the Old Danube. The 22^nd district was formed in 1938 as the district of Groß-Enzersdorf and comprised 15 municipalities of the Marchfeld region; in 1954 its borders with the 21^st district and Lower Austria were re-defined and it was given its current name.

The district formerly displayed a very rural character (except for Stadlau), the former village centres are still evident today. Some parts are still used for horticultural and agricultural purposes; suburban housing estates and large blocks of council flats (Aspern, Hirschstetten, Kagran and Kaisermühlen - Goethehof, 1930; Marschallhof, 1959). The centre of activity in Donaustadt is Kagran. The more modern part of Donaustadt is the location of the Vienna International Centre (1979), the Austria Center (1987), the Donaupark with the Donauturm tower (252 m high, built 1964 on the occasion of the International Horticultural Show in Vienna), the Sozialmedizinisches Zentrum Ost hospital, the international school centre (1984), the Donauzentrum (1975, Vienna´s largest shopping centre), the OMV petroleum blending plant and Lobau tank farm, Opel Austria Ges. m. b. H. (on the premises of the former Aspern airfield), a sewage pumping station, the Freudenau Danube power station the Donaustadt steam power plant and a municipal reserve garden. The district acquired a totally new atmosphere and image with the construction of a superstructure over the A 22 motorway (Donauuferautobahn) and the construction of office and residential blocks (e.g. the Andromeda-Tower and the Wohnpark Alte Donau residential building in 1998 and the Internationales Zentrum Donaustadt in 1999). Along with the swimming area on the Old Danube (Gänsehäufel), the New Danube (which covers an area of 700 hectares including the Donauinsel has become a popular recreation area for the Viennese. Since 1977 Donau-Auen nature reserve (Lobau), since 1996 national park.