`Abdu'l-Bahá left Budapest and travelled to Vienna by rail, reaching the city in the evening and taking residence in the Grand Hotel.

Abdu'l-Bahá is reported to have said: "the freedom of Europeans, that an individual is free to do whatsoever he desires as long as he does not harm any other person," and says "In the religion of God, there is no freedom of action. Man cannot transgress the law of God, even if no harm is done to others. For the purpose of the law of God is education, for others and for oneself. In the sight of God, to harm oneself is the same as to harm someone else, and both are blameworthy." [Message 9 May 2014]

• It is estimated that some 30 people accepted the Faith during His visit. [AB388, SBBR14p120]
• In 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Egypt p80 it is reported that a bust of 'Abdu'l-Bahá was made during His time in Vienna. Two copies were received in Port Said via Stuttgart on the 18th of July, 1913, one intended for Ahmad Sohrab and the other for Mírzá Mahmúd-i-Zarqání.
• Also see Martha Root: Herald of the Kingdom by Kay Zinky pp361-374 for "Àbdu-l-Bahá's Visit to Budapest".

'Abdu'l-Bahá, walking around Vienna, joined some people entering a palatial-looking domed church, Karlskirche, or St. Charles' Church, widely considered the most outstanding Baroque church in Vienna, with an opulently-decorated interior. He walked around the church for about ten minutes and donated money before returning to the hotel and speaking to Theosophists.
• In the afternoon 'Abdu'l-Bahá called on a Persian minister then returned to visit the Ottoman Ambassador. [The Utterance Project]

`Abdu'l-Bahá left Vienna and returned to Stuttgart, where He arrived in the early hours of the next morning. [AB389]
• This marked the end of HIs visit to Austria where He had spent 6 days.

The Great War (1914–18) broke out in Europe. (28 July, 1914 to 11 November, 1918)

Austria declared war on Serbia.

• See Reading Reality in Times of Crisis: 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Great War by Amín Egea.
• The world experienced horrors the like of which had never been seen with a long list of military engagements.

  The Battle of Verdun (February to December 1916) 130,000 unknown dead on both sides

  The first Battle of the Somme (July to November 1916) 1,000,000 casualties in four months

  The naval battle of Jutland (31 May to 1 June) 21 ships sunk.

Louise Gregory travelled from Luxembourg to Vienna where she met William Herrigel. She accompanied him to Graz where he delivered a couple of lectures. Louise stayed in Graz for about one month. [SVH130-132]
• It was probably during this time that she met Lydia Zamenhof in Geneva. [SYH150]

In the spring of 1927 she went to Sofia, Bulgaria.where Martha Root had visited for 12 days in February.

In June of 1927 Louise returned to New York in the United States from Boulongne-sur-Mer, France. During this trip she had visited Liverpool, York and London in England, Brussels in Belgium, Graz and Vienna in Austria, Budapest, Hungary and Sofia in Bulgaria. [SYH140-145, 240]

In early Spring Louise Gregory sailed for Dresden, Germany where she spent 11 days renewing old acquaintances. [SYH149]
• Around the beginning of April she went to Prague were she met with Martha Root and spent about 2 weeks. [SYH149]
• By March or perhaps mid April she was in Sofia installed at the Hotel Union Palace and nourishing her group of about 5 interested persons. Her knowledge of Esperanto was link to her contacts. On the 14th and the 18th of the month there were severe earthquakes near Bulgaria's second city, Plovdiv. The shocks were felt in Sofia so normal activity was suspended temporarily. [SYH149-150]
• In May, to escape the heat of the summer in Sofia she took refuge the Villa Viktoria in Trenčianske Teplice, a spa town situated in the Carpathian mountains of Slovakia. She stayed there in June, July and most of August. Here she received a great deal of assistance from an attracted soul, Dr Binder and his friend, Mr Schapira. An earthquake in Bulgaria's second city, Plovdiv, upset the country and the teaching work [SYH150-152]
• On about the 20th of August she made her way to Vienna and spent time with a previous contact. From there she took boat down the Danube on August 26th and arrived in Ruse, Bulgaria on the 30th of August and travelled overland to Sofia where she resumed her work with her study group in mid-September. One of her contacts translated Dr Esslemont's pamphlet "What is the Bahá'í Movement" into Bulgarian and 2000 copies were printed. She held study classes, taught languages, held public meeting and put articles in the local paper to attract interested persons. [SYH155; BN No 31 April 1929 p4]
• On the 19th of March 1929 she departed Sofia en route to Haifa and her second pilgrimage. It is likely that she took the Simplon Orient Express to Tripoli, Lebanon and then by autobus to Beirut and Haifa. The latter part of the journey was completed by the Nairn Transport Company. [SYH161-165]
• After her pilgrimage she sailed from Haifa on the SS Asia of the French Fabre Line to Providence, Rhode Island where she arrived on the 13th of May 1929. From their she travelled home to their cottage at Green Acre. During this trip to Europe she had visited Dresden in Germany, had accompanied Martha Root in Prague, Czechoslovakia, spent the summer in Teplice, Czechoslovakia and went back to Sofia before embarking on pilgrimage. [SYH165-166, 241]

The National Spiritual Assembly of Germany and Austria was re-established. [BN No 187 September 1946 p8-9]
• It was elected for the first time since 1937. Those elected were: Fred Kohler, Dr Adelheid Jäger, De Hermann Grossmann, Martha Brauns-Forel, Erwin Knorr, Paul Golfer, Edith Horn, Martel Weiss, Hede Schubert. [The German Baha'i Community under National Socialism p18]
• Three American servicemen, Bruce Davison, John Eichenauer, and Capt Henry Jarvis rendered service to the stricken community. See the article The Baha'i Faith: Banned by the Nazis and the Communists by Caroline Fowler on Bahá'í Teachings.org.
• It would appear that there was no Austrian representation at this National Convention nor at the National Convention the following year. [BW11p30]
• See The German Baha'i Community under National Socialism p21-26 for the persecution of the Bahá'í community before and during the war.

Some goals were:
  - To double the number of Local Spiritual Assemblies from fourteen to twenty-eight, increasing the Bahá'í membership in each community
  - To raise the number of localities in Germany and Austria where Bahá'ís reside
  - To deepen the understanding of the friends in the operation of the Administrative Order
  - To encourage deeper study of the teachings
  - To construct the National Hazíratu'l-Quds in Frankfurt
  - To enrich Bahá'í literature with two publications by March 1949, fifteen by March 1950, six by March 1951 and nine by 1952

He is Particularly anxious to have some of the German Bahá'ís enter the western territories of the Soviet Union not yet open to the Faith, namely: Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, White Russia and Moldavia, and every effort should be made to enable some of the Bahá'ís, German or of other nationality, to go to these countries. The young people in particular may be able to arrange their affairs in such a way as to procure employment in the Soviet Union. This would be a great service, and is part of the work allotted to the German Bahá'ís under the World Crusade. [14 August 1953]

Separate national spiritual assemblies were formed for Germany and Austria. [BW13p274, 283; BBRSM186]
• For the letter of the Custodians to the national convention of Austria see MC158–60.
• For a photo of the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Austria see WMSH244. The members were: Johanna (Hauff) von Werthern, Franz Pollinger, Bertha Matthisen, Leopoldine Heilinger, Dr Mehdi Varqá, Gunther Hang, Ursula Kohler, Dr Masoud Berdjis and Dr Aminolláh Ahmedzadeh.

The First International Bahá'í Youth Winter School took place in Salzburg, Austria, attended by 600 people from 25 countries. [BW15:332]
• For picture see BW15:332.

The European European Board of Counsellors sponsored a Bahá'í Youth Conference in Innsbruck. Amatu'l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum was a special guest. It was attended by about 1,500 from some 40 countries. [BW19p173]
• See the letter from the Universal House of Justice addressed to the Conference.

The Bahá'í International Community and Bahá'ís from 11 countries participated in the United Nations World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna and the parallel meetings for non-governmental organizations. [BINS298:1–2]
• The representatives from the Bahá'í International Community highlighted the importance of recognizing the universal nature of human rights.
• A joint statement entitled Promoting Religious Tolerance was presented by the Bahá'í international Community.