The 2. Brigade Wien was the main Army unit to take part in the Austrian Civil War (also known as the February Uprising) in February 1934 when it helped put down the armed resistance of the socialist Republikanischer Schutzbund. The Schutzbund was a paramilitary organization formed in 1923 by the Austrian Social Democratic Party, the Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs (SDAPÖ) and declared illegal in June 1933.
The fighting started 12 February when the commander of the Schutzbund in Linz Richard Bernaschek resisted the search of Hotel Schiff by a force led by commander the Heimwehr in Vienna Emil Fey (the Heimwehr was a far-right group similar to the German Freikorps). The fighting, initially between the Schutzbund on one side and the Heimwehr and police on the other, spread to other cities with the most violence taking place in Vienna, including the use of artillery against the city council housing estates where the Schutzbund members had barricaded themselves. The fighting in the Vienna area was put down the following day but fighting continued in other parts of Austria until 16 February.

It was upgraded to 2. Division June 1935.

Commanders     

Oberst Johann Graf (1 Sep 1920 - 31 Jan 1924)
Generalmajor Thomas Buzek (1 Feb 1924 - 31 Mar 1925)
Generalmajor Paul Hofmann (1 Apr 1925 - 31 Jul 1926)
Generalmajor Otto Wiesinger (1 Jul 1926 - 28 Feb 1931)
Generalmajor Sigismund Schilawski (1 Mar 1931 - 28 Feb 1934)
Feldmarschalleutnant Theodor Haselmayr (1 Mar 1934 - 1 June 1935)

Soldiers in fron of the Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsoper) during the Austrian Civil War

(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany)

Soldiers in fron of the Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsoper) during the Austrian Civil War

(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany)

Soldiers of the Republikanischer Schutzbund

(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany)

Cheif-of-staff Waldemar Pabst and soldiers of the Heimwehr

(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany)

Memorial to the victims of the Austrian Civil War at the site of the former Hotel Schiff
The text on the memorial reads "12. Februar 1934 / Den Opfern und Kämpfern für Freiheit und Recht zum Gedenken / In disern Haus gab Rudolf Kunst sein Leben für die Demokratie"

(Courtesy of Otto Normalverbraucher)

Sources used

Research by Glenn Jewison & Peter Kreuzer

Reference material on this unit

- None known at this time -