Vienna beneath the surface
By 1739, Vienna was the first European city to boast a fully developed sewer network. In the mid-19th century, streams crossing the city were covered over. Today Vienna’s wastewater sewer network is approximately 2,300 kilometres long.
Vienna’s sewers became famous around the world through the 1949 film The Third Man, starring Orson Welles. One of the film’s best-known sequences, set in the post-war city under four-power occupation, takes place in the sewer system.
Film clip · German audio, English subtitles
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