Gemeindebau

City investigators routinely discovered unsanitary living conditions during inspections, with issues of overcrowding, excessive moisture, and a complete lack of light and air being among the most frequently cited problems.

By 1877, the municipal health authority of the city (the Stadtfysikat) reported 1,113 instances of unfit dwellings, over two-thirds of which were cited for excess moisture.

Overcrowding was also a perennial issue, and one case documented in the municipal health report of 1871 found thatIn a shack which contained hardly enough space for six people, forty were crammed together, two of which were sick with typhoid.

Entry could only be achieved from a crouching position, and each of these hovels only received light and air through the one foot [12.44 inches] wide entrance ...[3]When the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (SDPAÖ) gained control of the municipal administration during Austria's First Republic (1918–1934) (beginning the so called "Red Vienna" period), it began the project of improving living conditions for workers.

Several Gemeindebauten in Vienna, most notably the Karl-Marx-Hof, were sites of fighting during the Austrian Civil War of February 1934, when they were defended as Social Democratic Party strongholds.

Gemeindebauten in Vienna can be recognized by the following text (or similar) which can usually be found in large red letters above the main entrance: Wohnhausanlage der Gemeinde Wien errichtet in den Jahren 1925 bis 1927 aus den Mitteln der Wohnbausteuer (Residential estate of the Municipality of Vienna built from 1925 to 1927 financed from the revenues of the Residential Construction Tax).