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From a Tobacco factory to an Intellectual workshop

The Danube University Krems building was originally a tobacco factory, constructed at the beginning of the 20th century. The industrial building was planned by the architect Paul Hoppe, a student of Otto Wagner. Eight-hundred laborers rolled Virginia cigars here for nearly 70 years. In 1995 the tobacco factory was adapted and converted into a university for advanced education. In 2005 it will be expanded into the Campus Krems and will receive a modern counterpart made from glass, steel and aluminum.
Photo: Art Cult Tabakmuseum ZOOM
The old tobacco factory

The cigar factory was established in Stein, in the district of Krems, because of its favorable traffic situation on the banks of the Danube and because of its proximity to Vienna. The old tobacco factory building which is separated from the "new" building by the Stein prison, houses the Kunst.Halle.Krems (Art Hall of Krems) today. This house was originally a restaurant, purchased by the Ministry of Finance in 1850 by official order. The production of cigars was started here just three months later. In 1865 about 600 laborers were producing more than 41 million cigars. The Virginia, a 20-centimeter-long, thin, slightly curved cigar made from strong Virginia and Kentucky tobacco, with a straw in its core (see picture above right), became a specialty of the Tobacco Monopoly’s range of products and one of the most popular cigars among the population of Vienna. Therefore, despite numerous financial difficulties the authorities decided to build a new Virginia factory in 1918.

Annual production of more than 75 million cigars
Photo: Zajc ZOOM
"New factory" from 1922

The three-storied ferroconcrete skeleton structure in the form of a "third baroque" building which houses Danube University Krems today was constructed between 1919 and 1922. The new factory was inaugurated on 16 June 1922 by Dr. Karl Dorrek, who was the Executive Director of the Tobacco Factories at the time. The street adjoining the building was named after him later on. The Austria Tabakwerke (Austrian Tobacco Factories), previously known as the Austrian Tobacco Monopoly was a "social model" among Austria’s industrial institutions. It created a large number of charitable facilities like invalid and health insurances, treatment rooms for the company doctor, a company canteen and a public bath for laborers, children’s homes and – by the standards of those times – large apartments for laborers.

For a few decades, about 800 laborers produced Virginia cigars manually in the new factory. In 1931 the factory achieved its highest production standard – it was producing 75 million cigars. On account of the drop in the consumption of cigars, the production had to be reduced from the 1980’s. In 1991 it was fully stopped. Thus, the Virginia factory in Stein – along with a shoe factory in the Krems valley – was the largest and most important employer for the female population of Stein and its environs for a period of more than 100 years.

Sensitively re-designed according to Manfred Wehdorn’s plan
This building – after being transformed from a tobacco factory to a university of advanced education – is again playing an important role in this region today. It is the work-place of more than 200 individuals, a pulse generator in terms of science, and a cultural meeting point. In 1987, when it was decided to establish the Academy of Science in the Province of Lower Austria, the architect Manfred Wehdorn was asked to re-design the historical building in the tradition of the "hometown style". The reconstruction was planned with due regard to preserving and protecting the historical building, and also in accordance with economical criteria. The historical height of the rooms was not altered so that the charm of the industrial building could be retained. In 1995 Danube University Krems moved into the newly adapted rooms. The middle tract of the building was renovated and extended from 2002 to 2003. Simultaneously, the construction of the new Krems Campus was started. It will be completed in 2005. A modern building made from steel, glass and aluminum will be erected opposite to the existing building. It will be harmoniously integrated into the historical landscape.
Information on the new construction of the Campus Krems