1672 

Austria’s first wool factory

From 1672 to 1850, the woolen goods factory Linz was located on the site of today’s Tabakfabrik: Austria’s first textile factory of the industrial age and at the time the largest in Europe.

1850

The current Tabakfabrik was built in stages during the global economic crisis because production capacities had become too small. Peter Behrens and his student Alexander Popp planned and built Austria’s first steel-framed building in the New Objectivity style: the 226.8-meter-long, slightly curved cigarette production building (today: CASABLANCA house), the KRAFTWERK with high-pressure steam plant, warehouses (SMART and HAVANNA houses) and the pipe tobacco production (FALK and DAMES houses).

2001–2009

End and new beginning

In 2001, the British Gallaher Group bought the company Austria Tabak from the Austrian state holding company, and in 2007 it was itself taken over by Japan Tobacco International. The Japanese owner closed the company with 284 employees in 2009.
The city of Linz subsequently bought the factory site in order to convert it into a beacon of Upper Austria’s creative industry.

2010+

A new world is emerging

Just as the construction was carried out in stages, the revitalization also took place in steps. Visionary tenants were selected from hundreds of interested parties who benefit from each other and create a unique, vibrant ecosystem.
Many pioneers still have their studios, offices and workshops in the Tabakfabrik today.
10 years of investment, networking, conversion and expansion were carried out. In 2022, Tabakfabrik was proud to announce full capacity – the revitalization of the architectural jewel was a success.

FUTURE

Space for models of the future 

In 2024, 250 organizations on the site collaborated to shape the future, 2,900 people worked, learned or taught in the tobacco factory.

The transformation from the wool industry to cigarette production to a hotspot for creative industries, digitization and start-ups has been successful.

With the QUADRILL, the tobacco factory will develop into a future-oriented district with a diverse infrastructure from 2025, a green oasis of well-being that invites people to linger, work and live.