Vienna’s Freedom Party faction leader Maximilian Krauss has revived the historical political slogan “Vienna must not become Paris,” bringing a decades-old rhetorical device back into the city council chambers. The phrase follows a lineage of warnings that began in 1991 under federal party leader Jörg Haider, who initially deployed the cry “Vienna must not become Chicago” to target urban crime.
The Evolution of a Rhetorical Slogan
In 1991, when the federal FPÖ was led by Jörg Haider, the slogan “Vienna must not become Chicago” was introduced to mirror concerns over gang violence and criminality. The formula returned in 1996. Krauss, serving in his capacity as district chairman for Josefstadt, invoked the Chicago comparison following an alleged assault by suspected drug dealers on two police officers.
A decade later, in 2005, the rhetorical target shifted east. The-then Vienna FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache declared that “Vienna must not become Istanbul.” That campaign stemmed from the party’s anti-migration platform and reacted to an art project titled “Kanak Attack. The third Turkish siege,” which featured the Kunsthalle Wien draped in Turkish flags.
Continuity Under Successive Leadership
Dominik Nepp, who succeeded Strache, utilized the Istanbul motif in 2020 by circulating an image of himself holding a placard reading, “Whether 1529, 1683 or 2020. Vienna must not become Istanbul!” The maneuver invited online parody, with internet users altering the text to mock the party’s internal dynamics. Observers pointed to Herbert Kickl, the current federal party leader and long-serving mastermind behind the party’s rhyming slogans, including the 2015 campaigns “Daham statt Islam” and “Pummerin statt Muezzin.” Those slogans coincided with the FPÖ’s historic high in Vienna at 30.8 percent, contrasted with 20.4 percent in the 2020 elections.
Past Institutional Fallout
The rhetoric has previously carried direct political consequences for Krauss. In 2014, at age 21, he labeled then-Michael Häupl a “Turkish mayor” who received orders directly from Ankara—phrasing he later stated was borrowed from Strache. The remarks prompted Häupl to reject Krauss’s appointment as vice president of the Vienna City School Council. Häupl stated that the comments disqualified Krauss for the role and cited procedural non-compliance by the party, declaring that he was “not the waiter who takes orders from the FPÖ.”
| Year | Slogan Used | FPÖ Leader | Target Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991, 1996 | Vienna must not become Chicago | Jörg Haider / Maximilian Krauss | Gang violence and criminality |
| 2005 | Vienna must not become Istanbul | Heinz-Christian Strache | Art installation and migration policy |
| 2020 | Vienna must not become Istanbul | Dominik Nepp | Historical sieges and contemporary migration |
| Vienna must not become Paris | Maximilian Krauss | Current municipal debate |
