Skip to content
DE
ShortlistSign in
List a propertyFind a property
Shortlist

Sources for the video

What was inside Vienna’s gasometers?

The four brick buildings in Simmering were never the gasometers themselves: inside, an iron bell floated in water and rose with the gas. The video tells their story from 1896 to today, on the City of Vienna’s aerial photos and in Google’s 3D. These are the sources, statement by statement.

Also onInstagramTikTokYouTube

Video · 1:33 · with sound, in German

What the video shows

The video opens with gasometer A in Google’s 3D and the sentence “Diese Mauern waren nie der Gasometer” (these walls were never the gasometer). The actual gasometer was an iron bell in a water basin. It floated like an upturned glass, and when gas flowed in, it rose. The brick wall was the shell around it: it protected bell and basin from weather and wind and carried the guide rails. Each of the four holders held about 90,000 cubic metres of gas. The cross-section in the video is schematic; no source says how high the bell rose in Simmering.

The four were built from the first sod on 28 December 1896 in the municipal Simmering gasworks, the city’s first and at the time the largest gasworks in Europe. On 31 October 1899 the lamps of the Ringstraße burned with gas from Simmering for the first time. It did not stay at four: in 1909 a fifth, free-standing holder went into operation. On the City of Vienna’s aerial photos it stands in 1956 and 1976, no longer in 1992.

In 1944 and 1945 Jewish women and men from Hungary had to perform forced labour in the works. Among them was Rosa Fischer, a deported Hungarian Jewish woman, who died on 24 August 1944; since 2003 Rosa-Fischer-Gasse has commemorated her, on behalf of many people. The forced labourers were housed at Simoningplatz 2, about 400 metres to the south, in a camp that belonged to the Simmering works. Around 1,200 incendiary bombs fell on the works during the war.

From 1968 the works obtained natural gas from the Soviet Union; in June 1968 Austria had been the first country in Western Europe to sign a gas contract with it. In December 1968 a sixth holder went into operation, a spiral-guided holder. With natural gas the holders became superfluous: the fifth was demolished in 1980 to 1982, the sixth dismantled in 1987, the four were shut down in the 1980s. On the 1992 aerial photo only the four remain.

Empty, the gasometers became a backdrop: for Falco’s music video for “Coming Home (Jeanny Part II)”, the sequel to “Jeanny”, for the 1987 James Bond film “The Living Daylights” and in the 1990s for raves known as “Gazometer”. From 1999 to 2001 one architect each converted one of the four: Jean Nouvel (A), Coop Himmelb(l)au (B), Manfred Wehdorn (C) and Wilhelm Holzbauer (D). Of the old holders only the brick wall and the roof structure remained. Since 2001 people have lived in them, in about 600 flats, and gasometer D, Guglgasse 14, houses the Vienna City and Provincial Archives.

At the end the video asks: “Warst du in den 90ern bei einem Rave im Gasometer?” (Were you at a rave in the gasometer in the 90s?) The video was requested by renatepreisinger, Maxl_is_Back, iarkaniz1994, insomniapenzing1897 and miss_el0rb. Real in the video are the City of Vienna’s aerial photos (1956, 1976, 1992 and today’s orthophoto, warped to match, CC BY 4.0) and Google’s 3D of today. The cross-section is our own schematic drawing. No picture is painted with AI; voice, music and the click at the cuts are AI-generated.

Sources and image credits

Data

For the film we cropped, converted and redrew the data.

Google 3D

The gasometers today: at the beginning gasometer A from the south-west with the film’s title, then all four at an angle, until the camera tilts into the top-down view and passes into the aerial photos; at the end the flight to gasometer D with the label “Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv” (Vienna City and Provincial Archives): Google’s photorealistic 3D. In the film the credit stays in the picture for as long as Google’s image is visible: Heute in 3D: Google Maps

Pictures

The film shows no third-party photo and no third-party drawing: the City of Vienna’s aerial photos and Google’s 3D are listed above, the cross-section of the gasometer is our own schematic drawing.

AI, voice and music

No picture in the film is painted or animated with AI: the aerial photos and Google’s 3D are real. The cross-section with the bell in the water basin is our own schematic drawing; the rings around holders 5 and 6, the labels and the wipes between the years are drawn. Voice, music and the click at the cuts are AI-generated: the voice with Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS (“Charon”), the music with Google Lyria 3 Pro, both via OpenRouter, the click with ElevenLabs. Underneath lies computed noise as room tone. There is no music under forced labour and bombs.

Each statement in the film and its sources

  1. “Diese Mauern waren nie der Gasometer.” (These walls were never the gasometer.) On screen: gasometer A today in Google’s 3D, above it “Was war hier? · 3 · Diese Mauern waren nie der Gasometer · Wien-Simmering, gebaut ab 1896” (What was here? · 3 · These walls were never the gasometer · Vienna-Simmering, built from 1896).

    The actual gasometer was the iron bell in the water basin; the brick wall is the shell around it. It protected bell and basin from weather and wind and carried the guide rails on which the bell ran. Nothing is left of the bell: in the conversion only the brick wall and the roof structure remained.

  2. “Drinnen schwamm eine Eisenglocke im Wasser, wie ein umgedrehtes Glas. Strömte Gas hinein, hob sie sich.” (Inside, an iron bell floated in water, like an upturned glass. When gas flowed in, it rose.) On screen: a cross-section, “Gasometer im Schnitt · schematisch · je 90.000 m³ Gas” (gasometer in section · schematic · 90,000 m³ of gas each), the bell rises in the water basin; with “Schema: Wien Geschichte Wiki ‚Gasometer‘; Wikipedia ‚Gasbehälter‘” (diagram sources).

    The diagram shows the type of construction, not the dimensions: no source says how high the bell rose in Simmering, which is why the video gives no figure. According to both sources, each of the four holders held 90,000 cubic metres.

  3. “Vier davon baute Wien ab 1896, im damals größten Gaswerk Europas. Ab 1899 brannten mit ihrem Gas die Laternen der Ringstraße.” (Vienna built four of them from 1896, in what was then the largest gasworks in Europe. From 1899 the lamps of the Ringstraße burned with their gas.) On screen: all four gasometers in Google’s 3D, “Gaswerk Simmering · gebaut 1896 bis 1899” (Simmering gasworks · built 1896 to 1899).

    The first sod was turned on 28 December 1896, the first gas for the Ringstraße came on 31 October 1899. “Vienna built”: it was the first municipal gasworks, built when the city’s contracts with the gas company ICGA ran out (Wikipedia).

  4. “Aber es blieben nicht vier. 1909 kam ein fünfter dazu, frei stehend.” (But it did not stay at four. In 1909 a fifth was added, free-standing.) On screen: the 1956 aerial photo, a ring around the fifth holder, label “Nr. 5 · 1909, frei stehend” (no. 5 · 1909, free-standing); with “Fünfter Behälter 1909: Wien Geschichte Wiki; Wikipedia” (fifth holder 1909).

    The fifth was a telescopic gas holder without a brick wall. On the City of Vienna’s aerial photos it stands in 1956 and 1976, no longer in 1992: demolished 1980 to 1982 (Wien Geschichte Wiki; Wikipedia gives 1981).

  5. “1944 und 1945 mussten hier Jüdinnen und Juden aus Ungarn Zwangsarbeit leisten.” (In 1944 and 1945 Jewish women and men from Hungary had to perform forced labour here.) On screen: the 1956 aerial photo, with “Zwangsarbeit: Wien Geschichte Wiki; Exenberger 2009” (forced labour).

    “Here” means: in the works, where the work was done. The people were housed in the camp at Simoningplatz 2, about 400 metres to the south, which belonged to the Simmering works. Among them was Rosa Fischer, a deported Hungarian Jewish woman, who died on 24 August 1944. Two independent sources support the sentence: the Wien Geschichte Wiki and Herbert Exenberger (Mandelbaum 2009).

  6. “Rund 1.200 Brandbomben fielen auf das Werk.” (Around 1,200 incendiary bombs fell on the works.) On screen: the 1956 aerial photo, with “Brandbomben: Wien Geschichte Wiki; Rathauskorr. 1949” (incendiary bombs; city hall press service 1949).

    Both sources give around 1,200 incendiary bombs. Whether they fell on one day (the wiki names 16 July 1944) or over the whole war (the city hall press service of 1949) is open; that is why the video names no day. The sources also differ on the number of hits. The video says what both support: that the bombs fell on the works.

  7. “Ab 1968 floss hier Erdgas aus der Sowjetunion. Im selben Jahr kam ein sechster Behälter dazu.” (From 1968 natural gas from the Soviet Union flowed here. In the same year a sixth holder was added.) On screen: the 1976 aerial photo, a ring around the sixth holder, label “Nr. 6 · seit 1968” (no. 6 · since 1968); with “Erdgas 1968: Wien Geschichte Wiki; ORF; OMV” (natural gas 1968).

    On 1 June 1968 Austria was the first country in Western Europe to sign a gas contract with the Soviet Union; the first gas arrived in September 1968. OMV, which signed the contract, says so itself; ORF confirms the date. The sixth holder was a spiral-guided holder, in operation from 17 December 1968, dismantled in 1987 (Wien Geschichte Wiki). That it stands in 1976 and is missing in 1992 is read off the aerial photo.

  8. “Mit dem Erdgas wurden die Behälter überflüssig. Der fünfte und der sechste verschwanden, die vier wurden in den 1980ern stillgelegt.” (With natural gas the holders became superfluous. The fifth and the sixth disappeared, the four were shut down in the 1980s.) On screen: the 1992 aerial photo, the fifth and the sixth holder are gone.

    The sources differ on when the four were shut down: 1984 (Wikipedia), 1985 and 1986 (Wien Geschichte Wiki). That is why the video says “in the 1980s”. Until then they still stored natural gas; what made them superfluous is that natural gas is stored underground.

  9. “Die leeren Riesen wurden zur Kulisse: für Falcos Fortsetzung von ‚Jeanny‘, für einen James-Bond-Film und in den 1990ern für Raves.” (The empty giants became a backdrop: for Falco’s sequel to “Jeanny”, for a James Bond film and in the 1990s for raves.) On screen: the tiles “Falco ‚Coming Home‘”, “James Bond ‚Der Hauch des Todes‘, 1987” (The Living Daylights) and “Raves 1990er-Jahre” (raves, 1990s); with “Falco, Bond, Raves: Wikipedia; ÖAMTC; gasometer-city”.

    Two sources each. In its article the ÖAMTC mistakenly places the gasometers in the 3rd district; they stand in Simmering, the 11th. The raves were called “Gazometer” after the place.

  10. “Dann baute je ein Stararchitekt einen der vier um, darunter Jean Nouvel.” (Then a star architect each converted one of the four, among them Jean Nouvel.) On screen: today’s orthophoto, “Umbau 1999 bis 2001 · Nouvel, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Wehdorn, Holzbauer” (conversion 1999 to 2001); with “Architekten: Stadt Wien 2004; Falter 2000” (architects).

    “Stadt Wien 2004” on screen refers to the talk and slides by Stürzenbecher, who spoke as chair of the Vienna city council’s housing committee on behalf of the city councillor for housing. One architect per gasometer: A Jean Nouvel, B Coop Himmelb(l)au, C Manfred Wehdorn, D Wilhelm Holzbauer.

  11. “2001 zogen Menschen ein: rund 600 Wohnungen hinter Mauern von 1899.” (In 2001 people moved in: around 600 flats behind walls from 1899.) On screen: the four gasometers today in Google’s 3D.

    The sources differ on the number of flats (615, 605, about 600); hence “around 600”. Of the old building only the brick wall and the roof structure remained; “walls from 1899” refers to the year the works was completed (built 1896 to 1899).

  12. “Und in Gasometer D liegt heute das Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv.” (And gasometer D houses the Vienna City and Provincial Archives today.) On screen: Google’s 3D, the flight to gasometer D, label “Gasometer D · Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv”.

    Since July 2020 the archive also has an outside depot; its seat is still gasometer D, Guglgasse 14.

Literature and sources

How wohnwahn measures