740.00119 Control (Austria)/6–1645: Telegram
The United States Political Adviser on Austrian Affairs (Erhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 17—3:25 p.m.]
80. In my 78 of June 16, 9 a.m. there were given the highlights of Genl Flory’s report on the mission to Vienna. This telegram will give his conclusions and a separate telegram will follow giving his recommendations after they have been decided upon at Caserta today. Based on detailed surveys of all aspects of the city including bomb damage the districts of Vienna have been listed in their order of desirability. For this purpose the districts were classified as business, residential and suburban. The business districts include those between the canal and the Beltguertel; the residential districts include those between the belt and the city within the 1938 limits; and the suburban districts include those between the 1938 boundaries and the Gau boundaries. The business districts are closely built up and contain many stores and office buildings. The residential areas chiefly apartment houses, villas, parks and gardens, and some open spaces while the suburban areas are rated largely from standpoint of training and recreational facilities. In the order of desirability the business districts are 3, 6, 7, 9, 8, 4, 5; the residential districts 13, 19, 18, 16, 17, 15, 12, 10, 21, 20, 2, and 11; and the suburban districts 25, 26, 24, 23 and the new portions of 21 and 22.
As previously stated no opportunity was granted to inspect the eastern airfields at Aspern, Seyring and Wagram but it is assumed that these are all all-weather airports. Of the airfields inspected west of the Danube the following are in the order of desirability, Tulln, Schwechat, Zwolfaxing. The other airfields may be disregarded as unsuitable for the purposes envisaged by US occupational air forces.
From the administrative point of view it is believed unnecessary for the zones to extend beyond the 1938 city limits unless the Austrians should desire to do this the zones should be correspondingly extended.
If Greater Vienna is taken as the area to be subdivided, one good but badly damaged airfield, two unsatisfactory airfields and a number [Page 143] of fair field sites would fall within the southeastern zone district 23. The west and northwestern sections of Greater Vienna contain no airfields.
Since it is probable that troops will not be available for maneuvers of any magnitude, it is believed that the general availability of small unit training areas most of the districts makes it unnecessary to give consideration to training facilities as a major factor in selection of zones. After the arrival of the occupation forces unit commanders on the ground will be able to select adequate locations.
In the inner city there are to be found chiefly govt buildings, shops, hotels and rests. This area has been badly damaged and few of the large buildings will be habitable without extensive repairs. Such buildings as are repaired are logical choices to house permanently Austrian ministries when established. The first class hotels and restaurants are in good condition and can be utilized at once. There are enough of them to permit equitable distribution among the occupying powers. They would be extremely useful because there are few others elsewhere in the city.
Certain essential facilities in Vienna are so unevenly distributed or so limited in number that they cannot be divided up equally among the occupying powers. As previously mentioned all airfields within Greater Vienna west of the Danube are in one district. Likewise, the docks, railroad stations and possible training grounds cannot be split into four zones and if they are to be made available on the basis of equality they will have to be shared with free transit rights granted to them throughout all zones. This is especially essential in the case of airports if the difficult problem of allocating the zones is to be divorced from the equally thorny problem of distributing existing air facilities.
Soviet objections to a zone exclusively east of the river and the canal and French objection to a zone including only districts 3 and 11 are not unreasonable considering the paucity of adequate facilities in the two areas.
Judging from the American missions relations with the local Soviet officials the latter are quite ready to cooperate with Allied representatives within the limits of their instructions. There is good reason to believe that the Soviet officials are not only being pressured from Moscow but also are themselves anxious for the early establishment of an Allied administration.
Sent to Dept as 80, rpt’d to London as 27.