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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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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At Siebensterngasse 30 lived the photographer Moriz Nähr (1859–1945), who took several well-known portraits of Ludwig Wittgenstein. Nähr also created notable photographs of Gustav Klimt and Gustav Mahler.

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

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At Opernring 6, Ludwig Wittgenstein was staying in September 1947, “c/o Frau v. Stockert”. From here he wrote in a letter to Rush Rhees: „[…] As you can imagine Vienna isn’t a nice sight at present. In spite of everything the people I meet are in astonishingly good spirits […]“.

Sources:

• Schmidt, A. (Ed.). (2023). „I think of you constantly with love …“: Briefwechsel Ludwig Wittgenstein – Ben Richards 1946–1951. Haymon Verlag.
• Wittgenstein, L. (2013). Gesamtbriefwechsel / Complete Correspondence (2nd release). Innsbrucker Electronic Edition. InteLex.

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At Walfischgasse 13 in Vienna’s first district there was a branch of the “Poldihütte”, the steelworks of Karl Wittgenstein (Ludwig’s father) in Kladno, in what is now the Czech Republic, which was named after his wife Leopoldine (Ludwig’s mother).

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

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At Heumarkt 4, directly next to the Vienna Konzerthaus, is the Vienna Ice Skating Club (Wiener Eislaufverein). Ludwig Wittgenstein and his siblings were also known to skate here, as family photographs attest.

Sources:

• Nedo, M. (2012). Ludwig Wittgenstein: Ein biographisches Album. C. H. Beck.
• Janik, A.S., & Veigl, H. (1998). Wittgenstein in Wien. Ein biographischer Streifzug durch die Stadt und ihre Geschichte. Springer.

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At Café Imperial in Vienna, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Adolf Loos met in 1914. At that time, Wittgenstein was giving part of his inherited wealth to artists and cultural figures. The two apparently shared many common interests, and Wittgenstein was delighted about the meeting. Paul Engelmann, who later designed the house for Wittgenstein’s sister Margaret Stonborough together with Wittgenstein, was a student of Loos.

A memorial plaque in the entrance area honours the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, who was one of the recipients of Wittgenstein’s donated wealth.

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

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