Archduchess Maria Theresia as nurse at the bedside of a wounded soldier, photo, 1917

As soon as mobilisation started, there was a shortage of means of transport, most of which was requisitioned by the army. This problem also affected the transport of the sick in the city. Some hospitals had their own railway siding and in other cases trams were increasingly used.

War invalids were a conspicuous reminder of the misery of the war and of defeat at the end of it, thus always aroused very strong emotions and had to face being blamed for a great deal.