Kirchberg am Wechsel in Lower Austria is best known as a region for nature and recreation. International attention, however, comes from its connection to Ludwig Wittgenstein: since 1976, the renowned International Wittgenstein Symposium has been held here. The event is organised by the Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society, which is headquartered in the town.

The location is not accidental: in the 1920s, Wittgenstein worked as a primary school teacher in several nearby villages and occasionally visited Kirchberg am Wechsel as well.

External link:

• Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society (ALWS)

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In 1922, after having spent two years as a primary school teacher in Trattenbach, Ludwig Wittgenstein briefly took up a teaching post in Hassbach [Haßbach], Lower Austria. A commemorative plaque on the school building, which was later used as a kindergarten, marks this period of his life. He subsequently moved on to Puchberg am Schneeberg.

Source: Monk, R. (1991). Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius. Vintage.

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As part of the exhibition “The Global Power of Love. A Journey Through the Centuries” at the Austrian National Library (March to November 2026), a letter from Ludwig Wittgenstein to his partner Ben Richards was on display. The letter, begun on 25 April 1951, contains a postscript that was apparently added on his birthday, 26 April. Only a few days later, on 29 April, Wittgenstein passed away.

The correspondence between Wittgenstein and Richards, comprising more than 300 surviving letters, was published in German translation in 2023 and appeared in the original English in 2026.

Links:

• The Global Power of Love. A Journey Through the Centuries (Austrian National Library)
• Interview with the editor Alfred Schmidt (Wittgenstein Initiative)
• “I’m thinking of you constantly with love”. Zur Korrespondenz Ludwig Wittgenstein – Ben Richards (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek)

Sources:

• Citron, G., & Schmidt, A. (Eds.) (2026). I Think of You Constantly with Love: The Letters of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Ben Richards. Bloomsbury.
• Schmidt, A. (Ed.) (2023). „I think of you constantly with love …“: Briefwechsel Ludwig Wittgenstein – Ben Richards 1946–1951. Haymon Verlag.
  

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This Palais housed the central office of Karl Wittgenstein (1847–1913), Ludwig Wittgenstein’s father, from which he directed his steel empire.

Source: Janik, A.S., & Veigl, H. (1998). Wittgenstein in Wien. Ein biographischer Streifzug durch die Stadt und ihre Geschichte. Springer.

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In the predecessor building at 27 Beatrixgasse, Ludwig Wittgenstein’s uncle Louis lived from 1880 to 1885. Opposite, at No. 26, the writer and poet Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973) lived from 1946 to 1949; she engaged with Wittgenstein’s work and probably contributed to his becoming better known in the German-speaking world. At No. 18, Adalbert Stifter lived from 1837 to 1839. Stifter, incidentally, founded the Realschule in Steingasse in Linz, which Wittgenstein attended.

Source: Janik, A.S., & Veigl, H. (1998). Wittgenstein in Wien. Ein biographischer Streifzug durch die Stadt und ihre Geschichte. Springer.

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From 1920 to 1926, Ludwig Wittgenstein worked as a primary school teacher in Lower Austria, including in the villages of Trattenbach and Otterthal. His journeys to these remote places took him via the railway station at Gloggnitz. In 1926, Gloggnitz was the site of the court hearing in which Wittgenstein had to answer charges of having mistreated a pupil (the so-called Haidbauer incident). Although the trial ended in his acquittal, the episode marked a decisive turning point in his life and led him to abandon his career as a primary school teacher. He subsequently devoted himself, together with the architect Paul Engelmann, to the construction of the Palais Stonborough – today known as the Haus Wittgenstein – in Vienna’s third district.

Sources:

• Monk, R. (1991). Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius. Vintage.
• Wittgenstein, L. (2013). Gesamtbriefwechsel / Complete Correspondence (2nd release). Innsbrucker Electronic Edition. InteLex.

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Photos: EW

In Linz, a short street has been named after Ludwig Wittgenstein since 2023 (formerly Porscheweg). Wittgenstein attended the Realschule in Steingasse from 1903 to 1906 and lived in Waltherstraße during that time. Commemorative plaques at both locations mark his years in Linz. Another plaque can be found at the school’s present-day site in Fadingerstraße.

In Vienna, Wittgensteinstraße is named after Hermann Christian Wittgenstein, his grandfather. In Trattenbach, there is a hiking trail known by the same name, Wittgensteinweg.

Sources:

• Wittgensteinweg (LinzWiki)

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At Villa XAIPE (also known as Chairevilla or Villa Chaire), located directly beside the Schönbrunn Palace Park at the Meidling Gate entrance, Karl Wittgenstein lived with his family from 1875 to 1879. His sons Hans and Kurt (brothers of Ludwig Wittgenstein) were born there. The family then moved to Vienna’s inner city, first to Schwarzenbergstraße and later, in 1881, to Schwarzenbergplatz.

Sources:

• Eigner, P. (2023). Die Wittgensteins: Geschichte einer unglaublich reichen Familie. Molden.
• Wittgenstein, H. (2015). Familienerinnerungen (I. Somavilla, Ed.). Haymon Verlag.

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At this address stood the publishing house of Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, which in 1926 published Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Dictionary for Elementary Schools [Wörterbuch für Volksschulen]. The dictionary was compiled during his time as an elementary school teacher in Otterthal.

Directly next door stood the house in which the composer Johann Strauss II lived and died.

Source: Janik, A. S., & Veigl, H. (1998). Wittgenstein in Wien: Ein biographischer Streifzug durch die Stadt und ihre Geschichte. Springer.

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