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International Country Club Wien-Lainz, Vienna. (1927 – 1940)
Founded on 12 March 1927, the club was one of the four founding members of the Austrian Golf Federation in 1931.
The course was located in the so-called k.u.k. Saugarten, a strictly enclosed imperial hunting reserve of the Habsburgs. It was here that young archdukes learned the use of firearms and were able to shoot hundreds of head of game in a single day without disturbance from the general population.
Following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the park was transferred in 1919 to the War Victims’ Fund (Kriegsgeschädigtenfonds, K.G.F.). The commitment to nature conservation stood in heavy contrast to the economic pressures necessary to ensure survival.
At this point, the idea of creating a golf course – and leasing large areas of land to a golf club – proved most welcome. Enthusiasm outweighed scepticism and the park administration eventually leased the land for 15 years, with an option for a further 15. Instead of the originally planned 38 hectares, no fewer than 50 hectares were leased.
In 1927 the clubhouse, built entirely in the English country-house style, was completed. With its comfortable furnishings, elegant social rooms, a cosy bar and magnificent changing rooms, it was reputedly without equal on the Continent.
On 5 May 1928 the course was handed over to the players with a professional exhibition match featuring Josef Petras, Harry G. Brown and Carl Schmidt. The formal official opening followed on 31 May 1928, attended by almost 300 guests from Viennese society, senior officials and the diplomatic corps.
The course became the venue for numerous prestigious and popular tournaments. In its very first year it hosted the International Austrian Championship at Lainz. By 1931 the club already had 300 members.
The golf club flourished and had become a major social centre. For the golfers, the world seemed perfectly in order, even though the economic and political situation was anything but stable.
By the late 1930s, however, the – at least official – end of the club at Lainz was approaching.
In 1940, Major General Theophil Gautier, by then appointed Vereinsführer, was even able to report at the general meeting held on 23 April 1940 that the club had recorded a slight increase in membership despite the war.
Later in 1940 the lease agreements for the course were terminated. Unofficially, however, golf continued during and after the war on a provisional layout of four, later even five holes in the area around the Hermes Villa – and this despite the presence of a shooting range used by the Soviet occupying forces.
After the end of the war, Russian soldiers were quartered in the once-opulent clubhouse. They were also responsible for the final, tragic end of the legendary International Country Club.
On 15 February 1954 a film screening was organised for the soldiers when a reel suddenly caught fire. The flames spread so rapidly that panic broke out. As the fire brigade was called too late, the clubhouse could not be saved.
The 18-hole course layout.
The impressive Clubhouse.
Golf Revue 1934.
The above board was put up by the Vienna City Parks department. Christoph Meister took the photo in 2006. It is titled Golfwiese (=Golfmeadow), a term still used locally for the former golf course area in Lainz. The sign translates: "In contrast to monotonous cultivated lawns, this meadow will be transformed into a colourful flower meadow over the course of several years. The slow conversion from fertilised garden soil to natural, barren meadow soil is unusual and will be demonstrated here. Colourful herbs and grasses will reward you for your understanding and patience."
Golf Historian Chrisoph Meister shares his own opinion – “As in Oberhof in Thuringia (East Germany), this is another example of how official bodies and so-called environmentalists distort facts. The fact is that there used to be a golf course here, which ensured that something like the golf meadow still exists today, and not that a golf course would be a threat to the golf meadow.”
Above pictures of the former course taken in 2006. The image above shows Hermes Villa in the background. All pictures from the Christoph Meister archive.
Christoph Meister
December 2025