Wiener Freizeit-Oasen

Stefan Wolner goes on a socio-cultural ‘free-time’ travel, from the beginning of the industrial revolution to the years of the ‘economic miracle’ and into the sixties.

Vienna, often described as a paradise for leisure (‘free time’) activities and a permanent guest in the upper rankings as the most livable city in the world, not least because of its high quality of living and leisure, serves as the scene for this journey. It takes the viewer to places that serve as examples for social development, away from absolutist (a lot of space for the few) and towards democratic (more space for the many) usages.

From the exclusive former hunting and pleasure grounds of nobility in Prater, Augarten or Lainzer Tiergarten, to the discovery and appropriation of the space around the old Danube (the Gänsehäufel baths by leisure pioneer Florian Berndl as well the rowing clubs, founded by English engineers) and finally to completely novel open spaces created on initiative of ‘ordinary people’ in Vienna’s periphery, enjoying a boom, such as the Bohemian Prater, the numerous (mountain) huts, Heurige (wine taverns) and the Strombad Kritzendorf (river bathing).

Director: Stefan Wolner
Script: Gerorg Zalubil, Stefan Wolner
Dop: Jürgen Bauernfeind
Sound: Daniel Röhrens, Christian Raberger
Editor: Red Monster
Producer: Stefan Wolner
Red Monster Film