VIENNA: A persistent humming noise that had annoyed residents around the Russian embassy in Vienna for months finally fell silent on Friday, as reported by Kurier.
The disturbance, which had been present since at least May, disappeared suddenly in the afternoon. After the Austrian news agency APA reported on the nuisance on Tuesday, relevant city departments launched an intensive investigation. Measurements carried out on Tuesday identified rooftop ventilators on an embassy building as the source, and by Thursday officials from ORF Wien said the noise levels posed a health risk to neighbours.
By late Friday afternoon the droning sound described as a continuous hum with a noticeable tone around 790 hertz had vanished. APA observations on Saturday evening confirmed that the street was quiet again, apart from the usual rumble of police vehicles patrolling Reisnerstrasse in Vienna’s Landstrasse district.
Complaints about the noise first emerged in May, when residents in the embassy quarter contacted Vienna’s building police via their property management. “Several apartment owners have for some time reported significant noise pollution, perceived both during the day and especially at night,” one email read. The message added that the sounds appeared to come from a technical installation, such as heating, ventilation or air-conditioning, on the Russian embassy site. At the end of July, the property management also lodged a written complaint directly with the Russian embassy.
The noise was reportedly noticeable even in the neighbouring German embassy, where staff spoke of a “disturbing sound”. The Russian embassy, however, said it had not detected any problem. “We can confirm that we do not perceive any noise and have received no complaints from the neighbourhood,” the embassy team told APA on Monday.
Even after the sound stopped, some details remain unclear. Building police told ORF Wien that measurements pointed to two rooftop ventilators on the embassy building at Reisnerstrasse 45, which houses consular services and borders a primary school. Residents noted that several years ago a large amount of electronic equipment had been installed on that roof, and aerial images show a conspicuous covering of about 20 square metres.
