Town hall guard

Entrance to the guard town hall in Vienna's Lichtenfelsgasse

The Rathauswache or Wache Rathaus (WR) is subordinate to the Vienna fire brigade , but does not belong to any of the nine fire protection sections. The security service was originally founded in 1927 as an armed task force based on a decision by the Vienna City Council. Even today, in addition to fire protection tasks, the town hall guard is responsible for protecting people and property in the town hall and in all of the municipal offices in Vienna.

tasks

In addition to its guard and protective functions, the Rathauswache operates the Vienna disaster control center. This is one of the nine Austrian state warning centers . The transmission antennas for the warning and alarm system and receiving antennas for wireless communication in the event of a disaster are housed in the town hall tower. The town hall guard is responsible for summoning the necessary staff in crisis situations.

Another area of responsibility is the issuing of "emergency passports", ie passports that are required at short notice during the night or on weekends and public holidays.

As part of property protection, there are direct alarm transmission routes from the city coffers in the official buildings to the town hall guard.

The training of the town hall guard team today corresponds to that of the other professional fire brigade members. The members of the town hall guard initially complete their training at a fire station until they become pragmatized as fire service officers. Additional courses are then required.

In 2008, 95 rescue workers were on duty at this station.

history

The history of the Rathauswache is to be seen completely separately from the development of the Viennese professional fire brigade. The town hall guard is a much younger and not always obviously part of the fire department.

There were also predecessors to the town hall guard that exists today. So there were so-called town hall guards as early as 1870 . These three men had to make their tours of the town hall. In 1880 a small fire station of the professional fire brigade was stationed in the town hall. However, this was abandoned in 1922 as part of a restructuring that also fell victim to other fire stations.

1927-1934

The security service, as it was originally called, was decided by the Vienna City Council under Mayor Karl Seitz as a result of the Vienna Justice Palace fire in July 1927 . Organizationally, he was immediately subordinate to the Vienna Fire Director, but must be seen in a political context. It was set up to protect the fire brigade during future operations, should they be hindered by others in the extinguishing work. Already on July 17th, the day after the fire, the team with a strength of 900 men was set up. This guard service was also armed with light weapons such as a pistol, saber or just rubber truncheons. In the next few days, the security service was increased even further, until finally the inter-allied military council raised an objection, since the number of crews could not exceed that of 1913, i.e. before the First World War . This decision had to be corrected and the powers adjusted so that the activities did not overlap with those of the police. Thus, the security service was purely a company watch over facilities of the municipality of Vienna, such as the Wiener Stadtwerke , baths or Vienna water supply . There were similar institutions in other cities, such as Villach , Wiener Neustadt or Leoben . The security service was housed in a barracks at Mollardgasse 1, where the general health insurance fund was previously located. The security service was accepted positively by the majority of the Social Democratic population. The fact that the security service was also used in the normal fire protection service is proven by an entry by the professional fire brigade on August 26, 1927 about a roof fire in the new office building in Ebendorferstrasse , which reads as follows: “... the newly created community guard was very busy with the clean-up work and other ancillary work involved in the strength of approx. 200 men. "

In 1930, when the new cinema law and event law were passed, powers were again drastically reduced. The security service for the electricity and gas works was also greatly reduced, so that the number of crews was also greatly reduced. In February 1932 there were only 209 guards left.

After the Schutzbund was banned in 1933 , the guard duty was reinforced with seasonal workers who were on duty in the town hall. After the mayor lost all security skills in February 1934, the security service was terminated in this form. The members of the security service were politically persecuted both during the time of the corporate state and during the time of National Socialism.

Corporate state

But in 1934 a new town hall guard was set up, which consisted of former soldiers. She was purely a building guard, responsible for both the town hall and the surrounding official buildings of the federal city of Vienna . A total of three trains with about a hundred men were stationed. The town hall guard was also armed. The armament consisted of either Mauser pistols or carbines . The conditions of employment were also interesting. Members of the town hall guard were not allowed to be married. The establishment of a marriage partnership without marriage was also a reason for dismissal. The fire protection agendas, however, remained in the hands of the fire brigade, which among other things also had to conduct daily patrols to see whether the town hall guard was familiar with the handling of the extinguishing devices.

Before the Anschluss , the Rathauswache was one of the last units in Vienna to give up the resistance. While the swastika flag had been waving at the police headquarters since 10:31 p.m. on March 12, the town hall guard surrendered at 11:30 p.m. at the same time as the mayor of Vienna Richard Schmitz was arrested.

1938-1945

In 1938, after the Anschluss, the Rathauswache was completely re-staffed and renamed SA-Rathauswache . It consisted of about 80 to 100 men.

Second republic

Immediately after the Second World War , it was reinstalled as a fire station for the professional fire department under Mayor Theodor Körner . Since the professional fire brigade also held police agendas as fire police during the war years, the town hall guard could be argued more easily under the command of the fire brigade. The former fire fighter Leopold David played a key role in the reorganization . The members of the new town hall guard were mainly recruited from former members of the guard service. The area of responsibility of the town hall guard also consisted of guarding vacant apartments from uncontrolled influx after the war. Since they did not have uniforms at the time, the mayor provided them with ID. This should protect them from attacks by the occupation soldiers in the four- zone city . In 1946 the town hall guards received permission from the Allies to carry handguns. These weapons were made available by the occupiers. In this way, food stored in the town hall could also be guarded.

Organizationally, it was immediately subordinated to the fire brigade under the then fire director and later police chief Josef Holaubek . The significantly improved relationship between the police and the fire brigade is also reflected in the use of the ranks of the police until 1970. Only then were the old ranks of the fire brigade used again.

The town hall guards hit the headlines in 1969 when they carried out the local councilor Franz Olah , who had previously moved into the local council with his own party, the DFP , from the meeting room, as he had to serve a one-year prison sentence. The Constitutional Court subsequently condemned this action, ordered by Mayor Marek , as unlawful.

The agendas of the town hall guard can be seen from a simple service regulation from 1947:

Protection of communal property
Maintaining peace and order in the duty stations assigned to the town hall guard
Monitoring of the applicable regulations in terms of security police and fire safety
Intervene in the event of natural forces

The team strength of around 80 men after the war could be reduced to about 60 men and later to 50 men according to the state treaty , since the community buildings no longer had to be guarded.

Under fire director Sanytr, the area of responsibility of the fire brigade of the city of Vienna - Wake Rathaus , as it was now officially called, was significantly expanded. For example, the town hall guard was given the task of protecting the municipal museums and memorials in particular. To do this, they were equipped with new alarm systems and new equipment. Training specifically in personal protection has also been significantly improved. In 1989, the premises of the Rathauswache within the town hall were renovated and renewed.

Under fire director Perner, the town hall guard was equipped with a first fire engine for defensive fire protection. In 1994, for the first time since the war, a fire fighting group could be installed. In 2018, after several knife attacks in Austria, all members of the town hall guard, as well as the officers of the federal police , were equipped with stab protection vests.