Action in ex-brothel

Squatters have been active in Salzburg before

The former brothel in the old town is to become a micro-hotel.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

Activists blockaded a former brothel in the old town on Friday to make a statement. Left-wing squatters didn't even stop at Mozart's birthplace in the 1990s...

Last Friday, activists in the city of Salzburg briefly occupied the former brothel "Maison de Plaisir" in Salzburg's Steingasse. But before the police had even arrived, the haunting was already over. The left-wing activists wanted to make a statement. Against unnecessary vacancies, against "misguided and for a different housing policy". Instead of affordable housing, a micro-hotel is soon to be built in the former pleasure house.

Hirscher House and Russian Villa
In recent years, there have been repeated brief actions in unused houses in Salzburg. In May 2022, a house belonging to ski star Marcel Hirscher in Franz-Josef-Straße was occupied. This was followed shortly afterwards by an action in a Russian oligarch's villa on the shores of Lake Attersee in Salzburg.

The former brothel - with entrances from Imbergstraße and Steingasse.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

Mozart's birthplace was occupied
The last significant occupations took place in the early 1990s: in April 1990, there was a long-term occupation in Innsbrucker Bundesstraße. Radicals occupied a building until the fall. The action reached a sad climax when an autonomist poured petrol over himself and set himself alight.

The occupied building was nevertheless demolished. The squatters moved on to Fürbergstraße. In April 1991, the leftists even occupied Mozart's birthplace in Getreidegasse. But it was over after just one hour.