Die Rettung des Wittgenstein Hauses in Wien vor dem Abbruch. Saving the Wittgenstein House Vienna from Demolition : Eine Dokumentation. A Documentation 06/1969 – 21/06/1971

“Did you know, Logical Positivists, that the late Ludwig Wittgenstein, the Austrian philosopher who’s very in with art worldings these days, was also a one-shot architect? And that now there’s is one-man movement afoot to save the single house he designed and built in Vienna?

The movement is Bernhard Leitner, a young Austrian architect, over here on a stint with the city’s Office of Midtown Planning and Development.”The New York Times, February 22, 1970In June 1971, the demolition of the Wittgenstein House was resolved by the City of Vienna with the authorisation of the Landmarks Preservation Office.

This demolition was stopped at the last minute. It was the improbable end of a two-year rescue campaign operated from New York.

Bernhard Leitner collected unique photographs as well as facsimiles of documents that illustrate the incredible odyssey that ended in the rescue of this architectural jewel.