1983: Occupation of the Hainburger Au

Protests started to take shape following a decision in December 1983 to build a power plant on the Danube near Hainburg. Nonetheless, construction began just under a year later. A march organised by the Austrian Students’ Union (ÖH) resulted in several hundred people remaining behind in the Au wetlands. The forest clearings were initially suspended, but on December 19, 1984, clashes developed between the 4,000 demonstrators and 2,000 police who were present at the area planned for clearing. In the end, the government ordered the clearing work to be stopped; the final construction moratorium followed in 1986. The tenth and largest planned power plant on the Danube was never built. Additionally, in early 1985, the “Konrad Lorenz Referendum” received 350,000 signatures in favour of a ban on large-scale power plants, and support for the construction of a national park near Hainburg.

The Au-occupation became a key event which transformed Hainburg into a place of memory for Austrian environmental awareness. The occupation of the Au is considered as one of the most significant democratic and environmental policy events of the Second Republic.