Aufstand im Bordell - Frauenhandel um 1900

In the spring of 1902, Marie König, a young working-class woman from Vienna, flees an abusive household hoping for a better life. An agent promises silk dresses and carriage rides, but instead brings her into a high-end brothel where freedom is replaced by locked doors, violence and systematic exploitation. Over several grim years Marie endures physical and emotional abuse while the brothel operates under a veneer of respectability. When she finally confides in journalist Emil Bader, he publicizes the conditions and initiates legal action against the owner, Regine Riehl. The film follows Marie's struggle to be heard and the slow process of exposing entrenched abuses, without revealing how the courtroom battle concludes.

Directed by Stefan Ludwig, this 2024 hybrid documentary-drama blends dramatized scenes with archival material. Maria Hofstätter, Markus Schleinzer, Alice Prosser and Christoph Radakovits lead the cast, grounding historical research in lived performance.

The film had a limited theatrical and festival presence, with distribution focused on specialty venues and archival screenings; broad commercial figures were not widely reported.

Early responses note strong performances and meticulous archival work, and the movie foregrounds themes of exploitation, press intervention and gendered power in fin de siecle Vienna. It uses historical detail to frame how public exposure can challenge private abuses, emphasizing testimony and documentary evidence alongside acted scenes.

Since its release the film has sparked renewed discussion about historical human trafficking and the legal treatment of sex work around 1900. Its combination of courtroom material, period atmosphere and survivor testimony has encouraged historians and activists to revisit archives and publicize lesser-known cases from the era.