Expensive and closed

Vienna treats itself to toilets for half a million euros

A firecracker attack on New Year's Eve two years ago destroyed the original public toilet at the Hirschstetten bathing pond.(Bild: Mario Urbantschitsch)

Vienna's financial situation is more than just tight, yet the district of Donaustadt has now treated itself to a new toilet facility at the Hirschstetten bathing pond for more than 500,000 euros. Why is it so expensive?

It was New Year's Eve 2023 when a public toilet at the Hirschstetten bathing pond in Donaustadt was blown up by unknown persons using firecrackers. The metal door was blown about 25 meters away from the building by the shock wave. There are no known injuries. But now, two years later, taxpayers are being presented with the painful bill.

Over 177,000 euros for the building work alone
The provisional total costs for the new toilet facility amount to an incredible 544,888.97 euros. But what has cost so much money here? The master builder work alone amounted to over 177,000 euros. The sanitary modules cost 195,585 euros. Quite a large sum, especially now with the city's tight budget.

Not everything that shines in the winter sun is gold - even if it costs almost as much.(Bild: Mario Urbantschitsch)

Almost 47,000 euros were spent on the roof construction. The greening of the façade cost 1300 euros. The demolition of the old facility cost 35,000 euros. In response to an inquiry by Krone, the responsible MA48 department stated that "in consultation with the district, a modern, barrier-free and robust sanitary infrastructure was created with the new building, which meets the requirements of a heavily frequented local recreation area".

"As much as a comfortable detached house"
The new toilet facility consists of two urinals, a disabled cubicle and a unisex toilet. The office of the Donaustadt district leader Ernst Nevrivy (SPÖ) also confirms the sum and emphasizes that there was a proper invitation to tender. The prices were just as high as for road construction.

For "Krone" reader Martin K., however, this is incomprehensible: "How can a 20 square meter toilet cost as much as a comfortable detached house? A master builder with an assumed hourly rate of 250 euros would have worked more than 700 (!) hours on this project!" Incidentally, the new "golden" toilet was closed at the turn of the year 2026.