Franz Peter Schubert is thought to have been born here in the “Rauchkuchl” on 31 January 1797, the 12th child of a teacher and his wife.
Of his 14 brothers and sisters, only four survived to adult age.
The house was called “Zum rothen Krebsen” and belonged to Himmelpfortgrund, a village suburb of Vienna with 86 houses and over 3.000 inhabitants.
In 1800, there were around 70 people living in this house, which was divided into 16 apartments.
The Schuberts’ apartment was probably one of the largest and most expensive. It had a kitchen and a living room. The water was drawn from a well in the courtyard and there was an earth closet in the front garden.
The house was always full of life: the family played music and Schubert’s father ran a school on the ground floor. As he required more room for the school, he purchased another house in Säulengasse nearby, into which the family moved in 1801.
Franz Schubert only lived in this house, which bears his name, as a small child.
