Hotel Schiff

It was here in 1895 that the first public demonstration of the gramophone was given and in September 1896 the first cinematic performance occurred following Roithner's variety show.

In 1920, the hotel, restaurant and cinema became the property of the Upper Austrian Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (SDAPÖ).

The existing facilities were now augmented with the offices of the Linz SDP party secretariat, a library and reading room.

Until the suppression of the SDP by the Austro-fascists, the Hotel Schiff was an important meeting place and of the SDAPÖ and their paramilitary arm, the Schutzbund.

The armed conflict soon spread to nearby areas of Linz, and within a few hours later there were violent confrontations between Schutzbund on the one hand and the right-wing Heimwehr, police and army on the other.