From September 29, 2026, the House of Austrian History (hdgö) will present the exhibition „Rights instead of charity! The Austrian disability rights movement in the interwar period“.“
Under the motto "Work, not pity," people with physical disabilities founded the First Austrian Disabled Workers' Association in 1926. This highly active group fought for access to work, education, and medical care. Their goal was to strengthen community and self-confidence internally and to exert influence on politics and the public sphere. With their magazine "Der Krüppel" (The Disabled), the association gave their movement a strong, independent voice. The demand for work was central: it was meant to help them break free from a dependent and externally controlled life situation.
The exhibition traces the history of this first wave of the disability rights movement and simultaneously highlights the precarious living conditions of people with disabilities in the interwar period. Finally, it offers a glimpse into the end of the movement with the Nazi seizure of power and the difficult new beginning after 1945.
The traveling exhibition is part of the project „100 Years of the Disability Movement“ by Volker Schönwiese and Angela Wegscheider.
Further information here