Austrian community protests business park planned on former Nazi forced-labour site
Plans to develop a business park, including a Lidl store, on the former Hirtenberg subcamp of Mauthausen have triggered anger and calls for preservation in Leobersdorf, Austria.
In Leobersdorf, Austria, a plan to erect a business park on the former Hirtenberg subcamp of the Mauthausen concentration camp has sparked public outcry. The site, once part of the Weinberglager forced-labour complex that held thousands of prisoners, saw roughly 400 women forced to produce ammunition between September 1944 and April 1945. Although archaeological surveys found some traces, the Federal Monuments Office concluded they did not merit monument status, prompting demolition to proceed.
Local campaigner Erich Strobl, historian Bertrand Perz, and Mauthausen Committee board member Josef Pumberger have condemned the development and urged a memorial, noting the marginalisation of women’s experiences in Holocaust remembrance. The land, previously owned by mayor Andreas Ramharter and sold for over €15 million, was bought by TRA LEO GmbH & Co KG, which says it will back a memorial, while Lidl insists its store will sit on adjacent, not historic, ground.
Why it matters
The controversy highlights ongoing tensions in Austria over how to handle sites linked to its Nazi past.
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