Since 1909, street in the 3rd district (Landstraße) of Vienna.

The Keilgasse was formerly part of the Hohlweggasse. The name "Keilgasse" (literally "Wedge Street") was derived from the original shape of the street in the early 20th century. The street runs parallel with the Fasangasse south of the latter's junction with the Rennweg at the Fasanplatz. Only about 100 meters in length, it runs between the Gerlgasse and Hegergasse. The Botanical Garden of the University is located close by, on the opposite (west) side of the Fasangasse, and the Aspang Bahnhof just north of the Keilgasse.

Keilgasse and Schenker

Heinrich and Jeanette Schenker moved into Keilgasse 8 in May 1921 – their first home together since their marriage on November 10, 1919 – before which they had been living separately in the Reisnerstraße and Streichergasse, from which the Keilgasse was only a few minutes' walk – after an arduous fifteen-month search for accommodation. As he commented: Now we are in our home. For the first time we can both betake ourselves to the same apartment, the same room, after so many years of being torn apart, a fulfillment which makes us all the happier because it has been so difficult to achieve. (OJ 3/2, p. 2385)

Their apartment was No. 12 (Tür 12), and they had procured the rental of it by May 7, and moved in about May 20. Heinrich described his room to Moriz Violin in a letter of June 13, 1921 (OJ 6/7, [1]), when it was still full of painters, cleaners, and electricians: It [...] offers me all the conveniences I could possibly wish for. In my room there are no fewer than three desks, each for a specific purpose: one for the "Theory" volumes, another for the Beethoven edition, and the third Der Tonwille. Lamps everywhere, and my own writing materials, so that all I have to do is summon the physical strength needed to bring this quantity of work to a conclusion.

The diary for May and June 1921 provides much description of the apartment and its renovations. At the end of August, Schenker wrote: our apartment fulfils all the requirements we could muster. It gives me and Lie-Liechen the opportunity for work in comfort, for quietude, for pleasure; it has rooms and corners which, with the passing of time, will hopefully be carpeted with [our] blessings. (OJ 3/2, p. 2386)

The couple lived there until Heinrich's death in January 1935. Thereafter, Jeanette seems to have remained only until November of the same year.

Photographs

Six photographs of the interior of the apartment (four of them taken by the Atelier Meroth, Rennweg 17) survive in the Oswald Jonas Memorial Collection as OJ 72/19, showing the living room, the music room, and Heinrich's study-bedroom.

Contributor:

Image rights

• 1. OJ 72/19, No. 3: used by permission of Special Collections & Archives, University of California, Riverside, CA; original photographer: Atelier Meroth
• 2. OJ 72/19, No. 1: used by permission of Special Collections & Archives, University of California, Riverside, CA; original photographer: Atelier Meroth
• 3. OJ 72/19, No. 2: used by permission of Special Collections & Archives, University of California, Riverside, CA; original photographer: Atelier Meroth
• 4. OJ 72/19, No. 4: used by permission of Special Collections & Archives, University of California, Riverside, CA; original photographer: Atelier Meroth