Tall Stories 488: The bunker in Schönbornpark, Vienna

Summary

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The Urbanist: Tall Stories 488

The Bunker in Schönbornpark, Vienna

Date: December 8, 2025
Host: Andrew Tuck | Reporter: Alexey Korolyov
Theme: Rethinking WWII Relics: Vienna’s Wartime Bunker as a Space for Memory, Warning, and Art

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Episode Overview

This episode of Tall Stories explores the transformation of a dormant WWII air-raid bunker in Vienna’s Schönbornpark, examining how a once-ignored wartime relic is now being creatively reused. Through immersive reporting and interviews, host Andrew Tuck and reporter Alexey Korolyov reflect on the bunker’s overlooked presence, its fraught history as a Nazi structure, and contemporary efforts to recast it as an artistic venue and a warning against cultural exclusion.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Bunker: Hidden in Plain Sight

• The Schönbornpark bunker stands as a "massive" but "invisible" structure — a persistent reminder from Vienna’s WWII past that most locals know little about.
• Quote:
  • “When you look at the building, you see, okay, it's massive, but you don't know what's inside. And so it's also invisible.”
    — Florian Kmet (01:10)

2. The History of Denial and Reluctant Recognition

• For decades, Austria grappled with its Nazi history by propagating the postwar "victim" narrative, which led to WWII relics like the bunker being ignored or earmarked for destruction.
• A turning point came after 1986’s Chernobyl disaster, when public sentiment shifted toward preserving civil shelters rather than demolishing them.
• Quote:
  • “Austria has long struggled to face up to its Nazi past… structures like this were quietly ignored because they pointed to an uncomfortable truth.”
    — Alexey Korolyov (02:16)
  • “And then they said, we can't destroy civil shelters. That's why it stayed ... There were so many civil movements like peace movement or anti nuclear movement.”
    — Andrew Tuck (02:47)

3. The Bunker’s Unofficial Status

• The bunker wasn't officially recognized as a legal structure until 2025, despite its decades-long presence in the park.
• Quote:
  • “Only this year this building was officially erected. There was no what is called Baulicher Consens. That means it was never officially built.”
    — Andrew Tuck (01:46)

4. Reimagining the Bunker Through Art and Performance

• A collaborative initiative with the Volkskundemuseum has turned the bunker’s individual rooms (“niches”) into installation spaces.
• Notable Installation:
  • Waiting for the Barbarians (2024): Explored "bunker mentality" and xenophobia, using satire and irony to critique Austria’s and Europe’s mechanisms of exclusion. Rooms featured:
    • Shelves of jars with "pure Austrian air."
    • A world map with all countries redrawn as Austria.
    • A room painted in Austria’s flag.
• Quote:
  • “This bunker is of course also a symbol for this bunker mentality, to keep everyone out and to stay very narrow minded... there's one with Austrian air, for instance.”
    — Andrew Tuck (03:58)
  • “It was all satiric and provocative and boot camp against the barbarians, but always in a sarcastic and ironic provocative way.”
    — Andrew Tuck (04:35)

5. Rethinking Memory and Legacy

• The museum’s vision is not to preserve the bunker as a straightforward war relic, but as a site that warns against insularity and historical amnesia.
• Quote:
  • “We want to make this war and violent building and transform it into something. Reuse it… remembering, but always with this: What happens if we have this fortress and we are not open and we don't fight for democracy and civil movements?”
    — Andrew Tuck (05:03)

6. Plans for the Future

• More artistic installations are planned, with hopes of opening the bunker permanently to the public as a space for critical reflection, rather than passive remembrance.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “What do you know about the bunker in the Schonbon park? Nobody knows.”
  — Andrew Tuck (00:47)
• “If you calculate, there should be about eight people, maybe in one. Not so much space. For hours. For hours.”
  — Florian Kmet, on the bunker’s cramped rooms (03:32)
• “This is not the original bunker. It's not as it was, so we can't go back to there. So we take the next step and say we want to make this war end violent building and transform it in something.”
  — Andrew Tuck (05:03)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:57 — Alexey Korolyov describes his personal connection to Schönbornpark and introduces the bunker’s hidden presence.
• 01:36 — The Volkskundemuseum’s team discusses the bunker as a prism of Vienna’s 20th-century history.
• 02:16 — Examination of postwar Austria’s memory politics and the impact of Chernobyl on public attitudes.
• 03:10 — Inside the bunker: Florian Kmet introduces the artistic sound installation and the spaces within.
• 03:48 — Detailing the “Waiting for the Barbarians” installation and its satirical critique of exclusion.
• 05:03 — Andrew Tuck outlines the museum’s ambition to repurpose the bunker as a space for warning and dialogue.

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Conclusion

This episode of Tall Stories provides an insightful look into how Vienna is coming to terms with its complex past by transforming a WWII bunker from a symbol of violence and secrecy into an open site of artistic critique and remembrance. Through installations that provoke reflection on nationalism and exclusion, the bunker now invites the public to remember, question, and engage.

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Recommended for city mayors, urban planners, architects, and all listeners interested in urban memory, historical reckoning, and adaptive reuse of the built environment.

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Transcript

[Andrew Tuck]

Foreign.

[Narrator]

The challenge of what to do with World War II relics in our built environment is one that still faces European cities 80 years after the conflict ended. And in a beautiful neighborhood park in Vienna, an air raid bunker that has lain empty for decades is solving that challenge as it's brought back to life through artistic performances. You're listening to Tall Stories, a monocle production brought to you by the team behind the Urbanist. I'm Andrew Tuck. In this episode, Alexey Korolyov visits the bunker in Schoenbourne Park.

[Andrew Tuck]

The funny thing, or not so funny thing, is that there are so many people. And when asked, what do you know about the bunker in the Schonbon park? Nobody knows.

[Alexey Korolyov]

I've been coming to Schonborn park for years. It's one of the few green spaces in the 8th district where I live. I'd heard there was a wartime bunker here, but I'd never been sure. Even though it sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb.

[Florian Kmet]

When you look at the building, you see, okay, it's massive, but you don't know what's inside. And so it's also invisible.

[Alexey Korolyov]

Magdalena Purchberger and Maria Reid are part of the research and curatorial team at the Volkskundermuseum, the Austrian Museum of Folklife and Folk Art. The museum is also here in the park. The bunker is quite literally in its own back garden. Magdalene Burchberger.

[Andrew Tuck]

You can tell so much about what's going on here in the 8th district or what was going on in Vienna or in Austria or in Central Europe the last 80 years.

[Alexey Korolyov]

Just through this building.

[Andrew Tuck]

Just through this building. What is so interesting that right now, in 2025, in the big remembrance year, only this year this building was officially erected. There was no what is called Baulicher Consens. That means it was never officially built.

[Alexey Korolyov]

Or recognized as built from the city.

[Andrew Tuck]

Of Vienna or from the Republic of Austria, because it was a war and the Nazi building.

[Alexey Korolyov]

Austria has long struggled to face up to its Nazi past. For decades after the Second World War, the official line was that it had been a victim, not a willing collaborator. That meant structures like this were quietly ignored because they pointed to an uncomfortable truth. In the mid-1980s, there were plans to incorporate the bunker into a large museum complex, but they fell through. The authorities said it would be cheaper to simply knock it down. But then in April 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster struck and attitudes suddenly changed.

[Andrew Tuck]

And then they said, we can't destroy civil shelters. That's why it stayed so, you know, the 80s, where there were so many civil movements like peace movement or anti atom nuclear movement. And also then came Chernobyl. And there were all these movements that took place just around this part.

[Florian Kmet]

All right, so welcome to the bunker.

[Andrew Tuck]

There's a sound insulation.

[Florian Kmet]

It's from the musician Florian Kmet. And it's about getting another vibe into the building.

[Andrew Tuck]

As you can see, there are 44 niches.

[Alexey Korolyov]

Separate rooms, basically.

[Andrew Tuck]

Yeah, you can see.

[Alexey Korolyov]

So this, this would be a typical.

[Florian Kmet]

This is a typical choir. There were beds inside and places to.

[Andrew Tuck]

If you calculate, there should be about eight people, maybe in one. Not so much space. For hours. For hours.

[Alexey Korolyov]

Last year, some of these rooms were turned into a performative installation called Waiting for the Barbarians. It explored what happens when a nation takes itself a bit too seriously.

[Andrew Tuck]

And it was about that. This bunker is of course also a symbol for this bunker mentality, to keep everyone out and to stay very narrow minded. And so we also had this performance here to think about Austria and Europe and the mechanisms of exclusion. And they built in most of these niches. There's one with Austrian air, for instance.

[Alexey Korolyov]

That'S still Austrian air. One room has shelves of jars filled with what's supposed to be pure Austrian air. Another has a world map in it where all major countries have been redrawn in the shape of Austria.

[Andrew Tuck]

Yeah, it was all satiric and provocative and boot camp against the barbarians, but always in a sarcastic and ironic provocative way.

[Alexey Korolyov]

This is a room painted in the colors of the Austrian flag.

[Andrew Tuck]

I don't remember what was inside.

[Alexey Korolyov]

More installations are planned and the museum hopes to open the bunker permanently, though not as a war relic, but as a warning.

[Andrew Tuck]

This is not the original bunker. It's not as it was, so we can't go back to there. So we take the next step and say we want to make this war end violent building and transform it in something. Reuse it, reuse it. And remembering, but always with this. What happens if we have this fortress and we are not open and we don't fight for democracy and civil movements or something like that? That's our ide.

[Narrator]

Tall Stories is a monocle production from the team behind the Urbanist. This episode was written and edited by Alexei Korolev and produced by David Stevens. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to receive new episodes every week. I'm Andrew Tuck. Goodbye. Thank you for listening, city lovers.