The exhibition "Scientific World-Conception in Vienna – Places of the Vienna Circle" at the Vienna Library in City Hall (5 June to 19 September 2025) presented the ideas and meeting places of the Vienna Circle in their scientific, social, and political context. The influential circle around Moritz Schlick first appeared in public in 1929, shaped the cultural life of “Red Vienna,” and was almost entirely driven into exile after 1938.

At these meetings, Wittgenstein’s Tractatus was also discussed in depth. Wittgenstein himself declined invitations to attend the meetings, but met with Schlick and Waismann in smaller groups.

By the way, one of the last paternoster lifts is still in operation in Vienna’s City Hall.

External link: Vienna Library in City Hall

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Friedrich Waismann, a member of the Vienna Circle, resided at Fruchtgasse 3 in Vienna’s second district. Between 1927 and 1936, he engaged in a series of discussions with Ludwig Wittgenstein and soon came to serve as a kind of "spokesperson" for Wittgenstein in relation to the Vienna Circle. Wittgenstein, however, disclaimed any responsibility for Waismann’s interpretations and later distanced himself from him entirely. Waismann’s notes were published posthumously in 1967.

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

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The exhibition “Berg, Wittgenstein, Zuckerkandl” (March 2018 – February 2019) at the Literature Museum offered a glimpse into Viennese Modernism as a “laboratory for the end of the world” (Karl Kraus). At its centre were Berta Zuckerkandl’s cultural networks, Wittgenstein’s Tractatus as a key work of the era, and Alban Berg’s literature-influenced music. The show highlighted the close interconnection of art, philosophy, music, and society around 1900.

External link: Literature Museum

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At this spot on the Philosopher’s Staircase at the University of Vienna, Moritz Schlick was murdered in 1936. Schlick, who served as the leader of the Vienna Circle, was also connected to Ludwig Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus sparked considerable interest within the Vienna Circle.

Quelle: Edmonds, D. (2020). The Murder of Professor Schlick: The Rise and Fall of the Vienna Circle. Princeton University Press.

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At the Literature Museum in Vienna, the permanent exhibition features original manuscripts by Ludwig Wittgenstein. Among them is a manuscript of the original version of the Philosophical Investigations from 1936/37. Particularly noteworthy is the presence of the term "language game" (Sprachspiel) in the manuscript, a concept that has received considerable attention. Also on display is a diary spanning the years 1930 to 1937. The exhibition includes a letter from Wittgenstein to Paul Engelmann. In addition, other exhibits honour Wittgenstein’s life and work, including a letter from Rainer Maria Rilke, one of the beneficiaries of Wittgenstein’s donated inheritance.

External link: Literature Museum Permanent Exhibition

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Ludwig Wittgenstein’s house in Norway, once known to the locals as “Østerrike” (Norwegian for “Austria”), now stands once more on its original site. Thanks to the efforts of the local Wittgenstein Foundation (Stiftinga Wittgenstein i Skjolden), the building – dismantled in 1958 – was reconstructed and re-erected in its original location. Since its reopening in 2019, the house has grown steadily in popularity, drawing an increasing number of visitors each year. In 2022, we too had the privilege of visiting Skjolden and viewing the house. We were kindly invited to share our impressions with the Stiftinga Wittgenstein.

Wittgenstein designed the house himself following his first stay in Skjolden in 1913, and it was completed as early as 1914. However, due to his service in the First World War, he was only able to make full use of it several years later.

P.S. I’m building myself a little house here in solitude.

Ludwig Wittgenstein, letter to Bertrand Russell, April 1914

Throughout his life, Wittgenstein sought out places of retreat that would allow him to concentrate undisturbed on his philosophical work. What he valued most about Norway was its “quiet seriousness,” as he noted in a letter from 1936.

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Skjolden on the Sognefjord – the place that captivated Ludwig Wittgenstein, seen from a bird’s-eye view. In the centre of the image, the Klingenberg House can be seen, where Wittgenstein initially lived.

Eidsvatnet, the lake on whose shore Wittgenstein later had his own house built, stretches for just over a kilometre eastward from the edge of the village. The Eidselvi river forms the connection between the lake and the fjord.

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