The AAR were founded in 1963 by former resistance fighters, persecuted individuals and dedicated scientists. With an extensive archive, numerous special collections, a huge library and a large photo archive on the history of National Socialism, it is a point of reference for researchers from all over the world.

The permanent exhibition in the Old City Hall documents the historical background of National Socialism, the resistance and persecution that took place in the Nazi era, and the revision of the Nazi past after 1945. The rise of the NSDAP, the "Anschluss" (annexation) of Austria to Nazi Germany, Nazi terror and the persecution and deportation of Jews are also topics, as are resistance, Nazi medicine, de-Nazification after the Second World War and right-wing extremism of today.

Two other memorial sites remember the darkest past of Austrian history:

• The exhibition "The war against the 'Inferior': On the history of Nazi medicine in Vienna" can be visited in the Otto Wagner Spital (Pavilion V) on the Baumgartner Höhe (We-Fr 10.00 am - 5.00 pm, Sa and hols. 2.00 pm - 6.00 pm; 24 Dec. and 31 Dec. closed). www.gedenkstaettesteinhof.at
• A memorial room at Salztorgasse 6 reminds visitors of the victims of the Gestapo in Vienna (opens by request, tel. +43-1-228 94 69-319).