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Sources for the video

Since when has Vienna had a U-Bahn?

There are four correct answers to the question. The Short shows them in two minutes; the long video “130 Jahre bis zur U-Bahn” (130 years to the U-Bahn) tells why it took so long. These are the sources of both films.

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Video · 2:02 · with sound, in German

What the video shows

On 9 May 1898 Emperor Franz Joseph opens the Stadtbahn. Otto Wagner designed it, the stations, the bridges, the viaducts. It runs on steam, around the city centre. In 1924 the city leases the lines from the state, and on 3 June 1925 the Wiener Elektrische Stadtbahn starts running. On 8 May 1976 the first passengers ride the U4 between Heiligenstadt and Friedensbrücke; at the time the city calls it regular service, later it is mostly called a trial run. On 25 February 1978 at 10.33 the U1 sets off from Karlsplatz. That is the day Wiener Linien celebrate.

Plans for a railway beneath the city go back a long way: in 1844 Heinrich Sichrowsky applies for an atmospheric railway from Lobkowitzplatz to Hütteldorf, and by 1873 at least 25 plans follow. In 1881 Bunten and Fogerty present the thirtieth; in 1883 Siemens & Halske want to build an electric U-Bahn beneath the Inner City, and Karl Lueger, later mayor, calls the project a toy. Around 1910 the AEG of Berlin draws an underground railway right across the Inner City (that is how the Wienbibliothek dates the plan). None of it is built. Lueger’s attempt fails over the costs, in 1914 the First World War begins, in 1927 a motion by the Christian Socials finds no majority, and the Second World War ends the Nazis’ plans for a Greater Vienna.

After 1945 “U-Bahn” becomes a contested word. The ÖVP campaigns for it; the SPÖ, which has the majority in Vienna, wants to build housing first. Instead, the tram goes underground: in 1959 beneath Südtiroler Platz, in 1966 beneath the Zweierlinie, in 1969 along the Gürtel. On 17 November 1966 the city council approves the concept of a U-Bahn, and on 26 January 1968 it decides, unanimously, to build the U1, U2 and U4. Since 1970 Vienna’s employers have paid the employer levy for it, today 2 euros per employee and week.

In November 1969 the excavators arrive at Karlsplatz; the aerial image of May 1971 shows the construction pit in front of the Karlskirche. In August 1973 a crane lifts the first Silberpfeil from Simmering into the pit. On the first weekend after the opening in 1978 more than 300,000 people ride along, about a fifth of the Viennese; the police have to close entrances at times.

Since then the network has grown line by line. In 1982 the basic network of 30 kilometres is complete, in 1989 the Stadtbahn’s Gürtel line becomes the U6, in 1991 the U3 arrives. Today there are five lines and about 83 kilometres. And building goes on: the U2 is to reach Matzleinsdorfer Platz by 2030, the U5 is to run from Karlsplatz to Frankhplatz from 2030. And the U4 still runs on the line built for Otto Wagner’s steam railway more than 120 years ago.

The network map in both films is our own drawing from the City of Vienna’s open data. Each of the 105 sections from station to station appears on the day it opened as U-Bahn, and every one of these dates is confirmed by two sources. The map shows the U2 and U5 as planned by the city as of 20 November 2025.

Sources and image credits

Data

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

Pictures

  1. Emil Winkler, Stadtbahnprojekt Emil Winkler (plan “Wiener Tunnelbahn” (Vienna tunnel railway)), around 1873. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: cropped, slow pan (long video).
  2. Otto Wagner (architect), Projekt zur Verlegung des Wienflusses und zum Bau einer Wiener Stadtbahn, 1873. Wien Museum, inv. no. 139673. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: without colour charts, slow pan (long video).
  3. unknown, Gürtelbahn Bunten-Fogerty (plan by James Clarke Bunten and Joseph Fogerty for a Vienna city railway, printed in the Schweizerische Bauzeitung of 28 January 1882), August 1881. German-language Wikipedia (the file is not on Commons). Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: slow pan (long video); Wikipedia lists the plan as probably in the public domain, being over 100 years old with an unknown author.
  4. anonymous, Stadtbahnprojekt Siemens und Halske (project for a network of electric city railways for Vienna by Siemens & Halske), 1883. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: cropped, slow pan (long video).
  5. Otto Wagner (architect), "Einige Skizzen, Projecte und ausgeführte Bauwerke", Band II, Blatt 29, "Type für eine Haltestelle der Untergrundbahn Wienthallinie", Grundriss, Schnitte, 1897. Wien Museum, inv. no. 157283/29. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: without sheet edge and colour chart, framed next to Wagner’s portrait (long video).
  6. Otto Wagner (architect), "Einige Skizzen, Projecte und ausgeführte Bauwerke", Band II, Blatt 30, "Type einer Haltestelle der Untergrundbahn / Hauptfacade", Teilaufriss und Schnitt, 1897. Wien Museum, inv. no. 157283/30. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: without sheet edge and colour chart, framed, finally darkened (long video).
  7. Verlag bzw. k. u. k. Universitätsbuchhandlung R. Lechner (Wilh. Müller) (photographer, publisher), Eröffnung der Wiener Stadtbahn am 9. Mai 1898 (Währinger Gürtel, Station Michelbeuern), 1898. Wien Museum, inv. no. 18033/1/1. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: without mount and colour chart, cropped, slow pan (Short).
  8. Verlag bzw. k. u. k. Universitätsbuchhandlung R. Lechner (Wilh. Müller) (photographer, publisher), Eröffnung der Wiener Stadtbahn am 9. Mai 1898 (Währinger Gürtel, Station Michelbeuern), 1898. Wien Museum, inv. no. 18033/2/1. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: without mount and colour chart, cropped, slow pan (long video).
  9. Verlag bzw. k. u. k. Universitätsbuchhandlung R. Lechner (Wilh. Müller) (photographer, publisher), Eröffnung der Wiener Stadtbahn am 9. Mai 1898 (Währinger Gürtel, Station Michelbeuern), 1898. Wien Museum, inv. no. 18033/8/1. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: without mount and colour chart, cropped, slow pan (long video).
  10. Verlag bzw. k. u. k. Universitätsbuchhandlung R. Lechner (Wilh. Müller) (photographer, publisher), Eröffnung der Wiener Stadtbahn am 9. Mai 1898 (Währinger Gürtel, Station Michelbeuern), 1898. Wien Museum, inv. no. 42474. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: without mount, colour chart and the bleached sky, slow pan (long video).
  11. Friedrich Strauß (photographer), Wienflussregulierung und Stadtbahnbau von der früheren Brücke gegen die Stadt gesehen (Haltestelle Margaretengürtel), 10 July 1898. Wien Museum, inv. no. 94600/367/1. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: without mount and colour chart, cropped to the area it shares with the 1899 picture, framed, cross-faded (long video).
  12. Friedrich Strauß (photographer), Wienflussregulierung und Stadtbahnbau von der früheren Brücke gegen die Stadt gesehen (Haltestelle Margaretengürtel), 23 April 1899. Wien Museum, inv. no. 94600/368/1. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: without mount and colour chart, aligned to the 1898 picture, framed, cross-faded (long video).
  13. Friedrich Strauß (photographer), 4., Karlsplatz, allg. - Stadtbahnstation in Bau - Otto Wagner Pavillon (Pavillon West), 23 April 1899. Wien Museum, inv. no. 94600/411/2. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: without mount and colour chart, cropped, slow pan (both videos).
  14. Friedrich Strauß (photographer), Stadtbahn, Wientallinie, Station Stadtpark in Bau, 11 May 1899. Wien Museum, inv. no. 94600/419/1. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: without mount, colour chart and scale, cropped, slow pan, at the end the first picture of a sequence through time (both videos).
  15. Leopold Wittmann (photographer), Stadtbahnbau & Wienflussregulierung - Überwölbung bei der Kettenbrücke, 1899. Wien Museum, inv. no. 17579/8. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: photo area only, without decorative mount and caption, slow pan (long video).
  16. Carl Gottlieb Röder (Druckerei), Ernst Wasmuth Verlag (Verlag), 13., Schönbrunner Schloßstraße - Hofpavillon Hietzing (Aufnahmsgebäude der Wiener Dampfstadtbahn für Kaiser Franz Joseph I.), 1900. Photo: unbekannt. Wien Museum, inv. no. 93075/6. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: picture area only, without mount, lettering and colour chart, slow pan (long video).
  17. Friedrich Strauß (photographer), 4., Karlsplatz, allg. - Stadtbahnstation - Otto Wagner Pavillon (Pavillon Ost), 24 April 1900. Wien Museum, inv. no. 94600/169/1. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: without mount and colour chart, first picture of the Karlsplatz sequence 1900, 1970, 2014 (long video).
  18. Unbekannt (photographer), 3., Gigergasse 1 - Stadtbahnstation Hauptzollamt, around 1900. Wien Museum, inv. no. 93080/156. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: without border and colour chart, framed upright (long video).
  19. Deutsch's Postkartenverlag (manufacturer), Stadtbahn - Meidling - Wientalbrücke der Stadtbahn, Ansichtskarte (a steam train of the Stadtbahn near Meidling), around 1900. Wien Museum, inv. no. 47337/20. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: photo only, without the printed text, cropped, slow pan (Short).
  20. Brüder Kohn KG (B. K. W. I.) (publisher), Karl Lueger (1844-1910), Politiker, Wiener Bürgermeister von 1897-1910, in Frack mit Orden und Bürgermeisterkette, around 1905. Photo: Charles Scolik. Wien Museum, inv. no. 59998/17. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: without colour chart and card edge, framed upright (long video).
  21. Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG), Berlin, Wiener Untergrundbahn: Project der Allgemeinen Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft in Berlin für den successiven Ausbau der elektrischen Radiallinien, [c. 1910] (dated by the library, estimated). Wienbibliothek im Rathaus (Vienna City Library), map collection. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: black scan border removed, in the long video also a detail of the Inner City, slow pan, partly darkened (both videos).
  22. Wenzl Weis (photographer), Porträtfotografie Otto Wagner, 1911. Wien Museum, inv. no. 208807. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: without sheet edge and colour chart, framed next to Wagner’s design (long video).
  23. unknown press photographer (Arbeiter-Zeitung, 4.6.1925), Bürgermeister Seitz eröffnet den Betrieb der elektrischen Stadtbahn, 3 June 1925. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: cropped, framed (both videos).
  24. unknown press photographer (Das interessante Blatt, 11.6.1925), Der erste elektrische Zug (the opening train at the Hütteldorf terminus), 3 June 1925. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: cropped, framed, in the long video also darkened (both videos).
  25. Bruno Reiffenstein (photographer), 9., Hernalser Gürtel - Stadtbahnstation Alser Straße, before 1928. Wien Museum, inv. no. 48206. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: without colour chart and border, slow pan, finally darkened (long video).
  26. Bruno Reiffenstein (photographer), 1., Karlsplatz, allg. - Karlskirche, Technische Universität und Stadtbahnstation Karlsplatz, 23 July 1941. Wien Museum, inv. no. 79000/7442. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: without mount and colour chart, darkened behind the timeline (long video).
  27. US Army Signal Corps, SCENES IN VIENNA, AUSTRIA (Vienna in the summer of 1945: rubble, a street with overhead wires, a street with tracks), 30 July 1945. National Archives, 111-ADC-5199, NAID 18998. Licence: National Archives: Restricted - Possibly. Change: three excerpts (2:35–2:45, 6:41–6:52, 7:27–7:41), converted to square pixels, without sound (long video).
  28. US Army Signal Corps, PARIS. [No.] 255, REBUILDING OF VIENNA, AUSTRIA (a wrecked bridge and bomb damage at the Danube Canal), 4 September 1945. National Archives, 111-ADC-5348, NAID 19147. Licence: National Archives: Restricted - Possibly. Change: excerpt 4:06–4:16, converted to square pixels, without sound (long video).
  29. Universal Pictures (Universal Newsreel), Universal Newsreel Volume 22, Release 280, 3A: LEND-LEASE TROLLEYS (retired streetcars from New York arrive in Vienna), 2 September 1949. National Archives, NAID 234273294. Licence: National Archives: Restricted - Possibly. Change: the whole item (2:15–2:59), without sound (long video).
  30. unknown, Bau der Stadtbahn (building the stairs to Stadtpark station, from the slide show “Wien 1951”), 1951. WIFAR, Vienna film archive of the labour movement, AT-WFR-PIC-GL1S491-LAT_107_021. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. Change: framed upright; Kulturpool lists the picture as public domain, we give WIFAR’s stricter statement (long video).
  31. United States Information Agency (USIA), President Kennedy in Vienna, 1961, USIA, June 1961. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: views of Vienna from the first 30 seconds, without sound, partly darkened (long video).
  32. photographer unknown; Fortepan / Chuckyeager tumblr (donor), Reichsbrücke (1976-ban leomlott, ma a Johann-Nestroy-Brücke áll a helyén). [Fortepan 175574] (the old Reichsbrücke), 1963. Fortepan. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0. Change: blurred window edge cut off at the top, slow pan (long video).
  33. City of Vienna, press and information service, Rathauskorrespondenz (sheets 3306, 3307 and 3368: the special session of the city council on the U-Bahn, Mayor Bruno Marek, the vote on the concept), 17 November 1966. Wienbibliothek im Rathaus (Vienna City Library), digital.wienbibliothek.at. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: lines cut out of the scan, partly underlined (long video).
  34. City of Vienna, press and information service, Rathauskorrespondenz (sheets 218, 223 and 235: the motion by city councillor Kurt Heller, an FPÖ councillor on “item 63” of the agenda, the unanimous decision), 26 January 1968. Wienbibliothek im Rathaus (Vienna City Library), digital.wienbibliothek.at. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: lines cut out of the scan, partly underlined (both videos).
  35. State of Vienna (law), Wiener Dienstgeberabgabegesetz (entry into force on 1 January 1970; § 5: 2 euros per employee and week; § 9: for building an underground railway), version in force, retrieved 29.10.2026. RIS, the federal legal information system. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: lines cut out of the RIS page, partly underlined; a law is free as an official work (§ 7 Austrian Copyright Act) (long video).
  36. City of Vienna, press and information service, Rathauskorrespondenz (sheet 3093: the “diversion circus” at Karlsplatz from Monday 3 November), 30 October 1969. Wienbibliothek im Rathaus (Vienna City Library), digital.wienbibliothek.at. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: lines cut out of the scan, over the 1970 photo of the construction pit (long video).
  37. Jean-Henri Manara (Flickr: jhm0284), JHM-1970-1066 - Vienne (Wien), tramway WLB (the U-Bahn construction pit at Karlsplatz, the Badner Bahn on a temporary bridge), 1970. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0. Change: cropped, slow pan, in the Short framed over the darkened aerial image (both videos).
  38. Jean-Henri Manara (Flickr: jhm0284), JHM-1970-1069 - Vienne (Wien), Stadtbahn (Karlsplatz Stadtbahn station before the U-Bahn was built), 1970. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0. Change: second picture of the Karlsplatz sequence 1900, 1970, 2014 (long video).
  39. Jean-Henri Manara (Flickr: jhm0284), JHM-1970-1082 - Vienne (Wien), Stadtbahn (line GD in the Wien valley near Margaretengürtel), 1970. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0. Change: second picture of the sequence Stadtpark 1899, Wiental 1970, Friedensbrücke 2013 (long video).
  40. Jean-Henri Manara (Flickr: jhm0284), JHM-1970-1090 - Vienne (Wien), Stadtbahn (bridge of the connecting curve over Heiligenstädter Straße), 1970. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0. Change: cropped, slow pan (long video).
  41. Robert (R. W.) Rynerson, 1970 Nov-Dec 095 (25937061868) (tram station beneath Südtiroler Platz), December 1970. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY 2.0. Change: unchanged, slow pan (long video).
  42. Robert (R. W.) Rynerson, 1970 Nov-Dec 099 (25937063978) (the tram tunnel on the Gürtel near Matzleinsdorfer Platz), December 1970. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY 2.0. Change: unchanged, slow pan (long video).
  43. Yoichi Okamoto (photographer, US Environmental Protection Agency (DOCUMERICA)), AN UNDERGROUND TROLLEY BENEATH VIENNA’S TOWN HALL (the tram beneath the City Hall, today’s U2 station Rathaus), July 1973. National Archives (NARA 549658), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: slide frame cut off, slow pan (long video).
  44. Yoichi Okamoto (photographer, US Environmental Protection Agency (DOCUMERICA)), IN AN ATTEMPT TO RELIEVE THE CONGESTION OF 350,000 AUTOMOBILES IN THE OLD CITY OF VIENNA, TROLLEY SERVICE HAS BEEN IMPROVED AND SOME OF THE LINES PLACED UNDERGROUND (a tram of line E2 beneath the Zweierlinie), July 1973. National Archives (NARA 549650), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: slide frame cut off, slow pan (long video).
  45. Yoichi Okamoto (photographer, US Environmental Protection Agency (DOCUMERICA)), CONSTRUCTION OF A SUBWAY IS A MAJOR PART OF VIENNA’S PLAN TO REDUCE, BY 95%, SURFACE TRAFFIC IN THE CITY’S CULTURAL... (the construction pit at Karlsplatz), September 1973. National Archives (NARA 551906), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: cropped, slow pan (long video).
  46. Yoichi Okamoto (photographer, US Environmental Protection Agency (DOCUMERICA)), CONSTRUCTION OF A SUBWAY IS A MAJOR PART OF VIENNA’S PLAN TO REDUCE, BY 95%, SURFACE TRAFFIC IN THE CITY’S CULTURAL AND COMMERCIAL CENTER. "TEMPORARY" TROLLEYS RUN THROUGH SUBWAY CONSTRUCTION AREA AROUND KARLSKIRCHE, A CATHEDRAL (trams running through the construction site at Karlsplatz), September 1973. National Archives (NARA 551907), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: slide frame cut off, slightly darkened, slow pan (long video).
  47. Yoichi Okamoto (photographer, US Environmental Protection Agency (DOCUMERICA)), TRAFFIC CONGESTION HAS POLLUTED VIENNA’S AIR AND CLOGGED ITS STREETS. IN AN EFFORT TO RELIEVE THE CONGESTION CAUSED BY 350,000 AUTOMOBILES, THE CITY OF VIENNA IS BUILDING PARKING LOTS, TROLLEY LINES, PEDESTRIAN PASSAGEWAYS AND A SUBWAY--ALL UNDERGROUND (traffic jam in the city centre, location not given), July 1973. National Archives (NARA 549662), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: framed upright (long video).
  48. Yoichi Okamoto (photographer, US Environmental Protection Agency (DOCUMERICA)), SUBWAY CONSTRUCTION CREATES TEMPORARY DISRUPTION AS VIENNA ATTEMPTS TO CONTROL ITS TRAFFIC CONGESTION AND RESTORE THE CHARM OF THE OLD CITY (a U-Bahn construction site, location not given), July 1973. National Archives (NARA 549665), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: framed upright (long video).
  49. City of Vienna, press and information service, Rathauskorrespondenz (sheet 1448: the double railcars from Simmering-Graz-Pauker, the special crane and the shaft of the tunnelling shield), 25 July 1973. Wienbibliothek im Rathaus (Vienna City Library), digital.wienbibliothek.at. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: lines cut out of the scan, over Okamoto’s photo of the construction pit (long video).
  50. City of Vienna, press and information service, Rathauskorrespondenz (sheets 900 and 909: the U4 starts regular service between Heiligenstadt and Friedensbrücke on 8 May; the obituary of director Franz Bade), 3 May 1976. Wienbibliothek im Rathaus (Vienna City Library), digital.wienbibliothek.at. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: lines cut out of the scan, partly underlined (both videos).
  51. Klaus Randig (filming), Paul Randig (editing and publication), Reichsbrücke Wien nach dem Einsturz 1976-pyzchMM92Xo (the collapsed Reichsbrücke, Super 8 film), late summer 1976, published 2013. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY 3.0. Change: excerpt (0:18–0:55), framed small, without sound; the licence was given by Paul Randig, nothing says whether he holds the rights (long video).
  52. City of Vienna, press and information service, Rathauskorrespondenz (sheets 440 to 442: at 10.33 the first train leaves Karlsplatz, Federal President Rudolf Kirchschläger and the gate, Mayor Leopold Gratz, former mayor Felix Slavik among the guests), 25 February 1978. Wienbibliothek im Rathaus (Vienna City Library), digital.wienbibliothek.at. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: lines cut out of the scan, partly underlined (both videos).
  53. City of Vienna, press and information service, Rathauskorrespondenz (sheets 446 and 447: over 300,000 U-Bahn passengers at the weekend, about a fifth of the Viennese, closed entrances), 27 February 1978. Wienbibliothek im Rathaus (Vienna City Library), digital.wienbibliothek.at. Licence: gemeinfrei (Public Domain). Change: lines cut out of the scan, partly underlined (both videos).
  54. TARS631, 055L01290579 Reichsbrücke, Bau der Reichsbrücke, Blick Richtung Norden, Hohlkästen - innen U Bahntrasse oben Strasse (the new Reichsbrücke under construction, below the U1 track bed), 29 May 1979. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Attribution (Wikimedia Commons). Change: unchanged, slow pan (long video).
  55. Smiley.toerist, Wenen Stadtbahn ombouw (the Stadtbahn near Margaretengürtel being converted into the U4), 1979. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0. Change: third picture of the Margaretengürtel sequence 1898, 1899, 1979 (long video).
  56. IceniCAM, Tramways of Vienna - September 1980 (in the Short the red Stadtbahn train in the walled cutting, in the long video the tram near the Votivkirche and two scenes of the Stadtbahn), September 1980 (Super 8), published 2021. YouTube. Licence: CC BY 3.0. Change: excerpts, black side borders cut off, without sound; on YouTube under “Creative Commons Attribution”, which is CC BY 3.0 (both videos).
  57. Falk2, 03 449 Bf Hietzing, ET (U1) nach Hütteldorf (a Silberpfeil of the U4 at Hietzing, above it the Hofpavillon), September 1990. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. Change: cropped, slow pan (long video).
  58. Albert Sensada, U-Bahn Wien. De Rochusgasse (U3) a Karlsplatz (U4)-xQBjlUK1jHg (a Silberpfeil pulls into the U4 station Karlsplatz), 2013. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY 3.0. Change: excerpt from second 75 to 83 (Short).
  59. Albert Sensada, U-Bahn Wien. De Friedensbrücke a Stadtpark (U4)-q5nMuXp73Tk (the inside of a Silberpfeil, in the Short Stadtpark station, in the long video Friedensbrücke station from outside), 2013. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY 3.0. Change: excerpts, partly slowed down, without sound (both videos).
  60. Albert Sensada, U-Bahn Wien. De Spittelau (U4) a Praterstern (U2)-GOt4Gb1mkrY (a Silberpfeil at the platform), 2013. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY 3.0. Change: excerpt from second 10 to 22, partly slowed down, without sound (long video).
  61. Tokfo, Karlsplatz 2 Pavillons und Teilabschnitt der ehem. Stadtbahn (40752) IMG 5300, 5 September 2014. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: scaled down, third picture of the Karlsplatz sequence 1900, 1970, 2014 (long video).
  62. Tokfo, 3007, Stadtpark (the Silberpfeil, type U, from 1976), 27 June 2014. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: train cut out with OpenCV (GrabCut with a hand-drawn outline, no AI model), drives into the network map (both videos).
  63. Falk2, I09 473 Hp Tscherttegasse, ET 2660 (the T car of the U6, from 1993), 25 May 2012. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC0 1.0. Change: train cut out with OpenCV (GrabCut with a hand-drawn outline, no AI model), drives into the network map (long video).
  64. Tobias b köhler, Wiener Linien X 3711 InnoTrans 2022 (the X car, since 2023), 23 September 2022. Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. Change: train cut out with OpenCV (GrabCut with a hand-drawn outline, no AI model), drives into the network map; the edited picture is again under CC BY-SA 4.0 (both videos).

AI, voice and music

Nothing in either film is painted with AI. The network map is our own drawing from the City of Vienna’s open data. The trains are real photos, cut out with OpenCV, without AI. Voice and music are AI-generated: the voice with Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS (“Charon”), the music with Google Lyria 3 Pro via OpenRouter. The long video adds sound effects made with ElevenLabs; the click at each change of year is synthesised.

Evidence for the statements

How wohnwahn measures