Vienna: space invaders in the capital

Above: WN_31 at the corner of Ballgasse and Rauhensteingasse, 9 July 2024 (P15).

Don’t worry: it’s not 1529, nor is it 1683, and there are no bands of marauders on horseback arriving for a large and lengthy siege. This also does not include anything from outside the Solar System. Instead, this is about a human artist and their little creations sprinkled throughout the Austrian capital city. In fact, I’d claim their “invasion” has already succeeded.

When a wae lad was I, the video game Space Invaders was a revelation, a dawn to a brand new world. The lasting effects snuck into many aspects of life, including the learning, pursuit, and practice of science. The video game as battle to ward off waves of little aliens once required the purchase of a large bulky black console, accompanied by a large bulky black joystick with a big red button. But in the passing decades, the technological leap mmeans that Space Invaders is available as an online game, easily called upon anytime on demand.

In Vienna, the sight of little aliens prompted immediate curiosity, and I’ve spent parts of several consecutive summers wandering the streets to find and chase down the little “visitors”.

Invasion of Vienna

French artist Invader installed 56 tiled-mosaic works of little colourful aliens throughout Vienna between 2006 and 2008; each “alien” has its own “WN” identifier on the artist’s map. The following is my visual examination of Invader aliens; 4 pieces are missing. It’s my view the artist or those close to them fully understands the utility of the Internet with which they continue to replace missing pieces in the city. For that, I’m grateful, because in the summer of 2026, I found replacements at various locations where I thought missing pieces would be lost for good.

Christian Öser also provided extensive coverage on his German-language site, and Invader Spotter has also been a valuable resource to locating Invader’s pieces in Vienna.

In the list below, each item includes a trailing number in parentheses representing the city’s district; e.g., (7.) is the 7th district, known also as Neubau. On a given annual summer visit lasting a few weeks, I don’t traverse the city to inspect and update all 56 spots; it’s possible some pieces may go missing (again).

WN_01 (6.) ❌
WN_02 (6.)
WN_03 (7.)
WN_04 (6.) ❌
WN_05 (6.)
WN_06 (4.)
WN_07 (4.)
WN_08 (1.)
WN_09 (1.)
WN_10 (1.)
WN_11 (1.), I 👾 Wien
WN_12 (1.)
WN_13 (1.)
WN_14 (1.)
WN_15 (7.)
WN_16 (7.)
WN_17 (9.)
WN_18 (9.)
WN_19 (9.) ❌
WN_20 (9.)
WN_21 (9.)
WN_22 (1.)
WN_23 (1.)
WN_24 (1.)
WN_25 (1.)
WN_26 (1.)
WN_27 (2.)
WN_28 (2.)
WN_29 (1.)
WN_30 (1.)
WN_31 (1.), I 👾 Wien
WN_32 (1.)
WN_33 (6.)
WN_34 (7.)
WN_35 (16.)
WN_36 (8.)
WN_37 (7.)
WN_38 (3.)
WN_39 (3.)
WN_40 (3.)
WN_41 (3.)
WN_42 (3.)
WN_43 (3.)
WN_44 (1.)
WN_45 (1.)
WN_46 (4.)
WN_47 (6.)
WN_48 (7.)
WN_49, Street Art Passage (7.)
WN_50 (7.)
WN_51 (2.)
WN_52 (1.)
WN_53 (8.) ❌
WN_54 (7.)
WN_55 (7.)
WN_56 (7.)

WN_01 ❌

Fritz-Grünbaum-Platz & Gumpendorfer Strasse (6.)

Invasion of Vienna

WN_01 ❌

WN_02

WN_03

WN_04 ❌

WN_05

WN_06

WN_07

WN_08

WN_09

WN_10

WN_11

WN_12

WN_13

WN_14

WN_15

WN_16

WN_17

WN_18

WN_19 ❌

WN_20

WN_21

WN_22

WN_23

WN_24

WN_25

WN_26

WN_27

WN_28

WN_29

WN_30

WN_31, I 👾 WIEN

WN_32

WN_33

WN_34

WN_35

WN_36

WN_37

WN_38

WN_39

WN_40

WN_41

WN_42

WN_43

WN_44

WN_45

WN_46

WN_47

WN_48

WN_49, Street Art Passage

WN_50

WN_51

WN_52

WN_53 ❌

WN_54

WN_55

WN_56

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