# Canonical recap data for First Vienna International Exposition Held (1873)
# Source: https://recap.at/1873/vienna-exposition-1873
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: vienna-exposition-1873
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1873/vienna-exposition-1873"
title: First Vienna International Exposition Held
aliases:
- First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline
- Vienna Water Pipeline 1873
- Alpine Spring Pipeline
- Erste Wiener Hochquellenleitung
subtitle: Vienna hosted one of the 19th century's grandest world fairs, showcasing imperial cultural supremacy and industrial achievement.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1873-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1873
decade: 1870
country:
name: Austria
slug: austria
summaryShort: The First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline is a major part of Vienna's water supply and was the first source of safe drinking water for the city. The 95 km long line was opened on 24 October 1873, after four years of construction. Today, it delivers 62 million cubic meters of water per year. The water comes from high sp
summaryLong: The First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline is a major part of Vienna's water supply and was the first source of safe drinking water for the city. The 95 km long line was opened on 24 October 1873, after four years of construction. Today, it delivers 62 million cubic meters of water per year. The water comes from high springs in the Rax and Schneeberg areas in Southern Lower Austria and Styria.
lede: Vienna opened the First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline on October 24, 1873, a 95-kilometer engineering feat that delivered clean water from Alpine springs to the city for the first time. The four-year construction project solved a critical public health crisis by replacing contaminated local sources, establishing a model for European urban water infrastructure that would be copied across the continent.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Wasserschloss_in_Kaiserbrunn.jpg/1280px-Wasserschloss_in_Kaiserbrunn.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline"
importance: 68
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Pipeline length
  value: 95 kilometers
- label: Opening date
  value: October 24, 1873
- label: Construction duration
  value: 4 years
- label: Current annual delivery
  value: 62 million cubic meters
- label: Water source
  value: Alpine springs (high elevation)
- label: Primary benefit
  value: Replacement of contaminated local wells
timeline:
- date: 1869-01-01
  title: Construction begins
  description: Work starts on the Alpine pipeline project after years of planning and engineering surveys.
- date: 1873-10-24
  title: Pipeline opens
  description: The First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline officially opens, delivering clean water from Alpine springs into the city.
- date: 1900-01-01
  title: Capacity expansion
  description: The pipeline system is expanded to meet Vienna's growing population demand following industrial growth.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Vienna_Mountain_Spring_Pipeline"
  title: First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The pipeline transformed Vienna from a disease-prone city dependent on polluted wells into a modern metropolis with reliable safe water. This infrastructure investment became a template for urban development across Central Europe, directly enabling Vienna's population growth and industrial expansion through the late 19th century. The system's success demonstrated that large-scale water management could be both technically feasible and economically justified.
categories:
- festival
taxonomy:
domain: technological
eventTypes:
- infrastructure_rollout
canonicalClasses:
- creation
- transformation
impactRadius: national
velocity: gradual
predictability: scheduled
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: birth
metaDescription: Vienna's 1873 Alpine pipeline delivered safe drinking water to the city for the first time, solving a public health crisis.
wikidataQid: Q20826111
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20251005063352/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Vienna_Mountain_Spring_Pipeline"
  capturedAt: 2025-10-05
  label: First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Vienna_Mountain_Spring_Pipeline"
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Wasserschloss_in_Kaiserbrunn.jpg/1280px-Wasserschloss_in_Kaiserbrunn.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Wasserschloss_in_Kaiserbrunn.jpg/800px-Wasserschloss_in_Kaiserbrunn.jpg"
  caption: First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline
  credit: Wikipedia · "First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline"
  width: 330
  height: 495
comparisonThenNow:
- metric: Water delivery capacity
  thenValue: initial capacity approximately 25 million cubic meters annually
  thenYear: 1873
  nowValue: 62 million cubic meters annually
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Expanded through subsequent pipeline additions and system upgrades
- metric: Pipeline length in operation
  thenValue: 95 km
  thenYear: 1873
  nowValue: 95 km (original main line still in use)
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Second Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline completed in 1910 added additional capacity
- metric: Vienna population served
  thenValue: approximately 900,000
  thenYear: 1873
  nowValue: approximately 1.92 million
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Population growth necessitated second pipeline construction
- metric: Water source elevation
  thenValue: Alpine springs in Lower Austria foothills
  thenYear: 1873
  nowValue: same primary sources plus supplementary groundwater
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Original gravity-fed system requires no pumping
consequences:
- title: Cholera epidemics ceased in Vienna
  year: 1876
  description: Within three years of the pipeline's opening, Vienna eliminated cholera as a endemic disease threat through access to uncontaminated Alpine water, establishing the city as a model for European public health infrastructure
- title: Population expansion and urban development
  year: 1880
  description: Reliable water supply enabled Vienna's rapid expansion into outer districts; the 1880 census showed population growth accelerating, with new neighborhoods developing beyond the traditional city walls
- title: Second Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline commissioned
  year: 1910
  description: Continued population growth and industrial demand necessitated construction of a second pipeline from the same Alpine sources, doubling the system's capacity and cementing Vienna's water independence
- title: International model for water infrastructure
  year: 1900
  description: Vienna's pipeline system became a template studied by municipal engineers across Europe; cities from Berlin to Budapest modeled their own Alpine water projects on Vienna's engineering and management approach
culturalContext:
topMusic:
- title: Tales from the Vienna Woods
  artist: Johann Strauss II
  year: 1868
  note: Celebrated Vienna's relationship with its surrounding natural landscape
topFilms: []
topTVShows: []
zeitgeistNote: Vienna in 1873 was at the height of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's confidence and modernization drive. The Exposition itself celebrated industrial and technological progress. The city's grand infrastructure projects—including the water pipeline—reflected both engineering ambition and urban pride during the Gründerzeit (founding era) of rapid industrial expansion. Music and architecture were the dominant cultural forms; the cinema did not yet exist.
relatedQueries:
- Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline 1873 history
- First Vienna International Exposition 1873
- Alpine water supply Central Europe 19th century
- cholera elimination Vienna water infrastructure
- Johann Strauss Vienna 1870s cultural context
- Austro-Hungarian engineering modernization projects
- Second Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline 1910
- gravity-fed water systems Alpine engineering
