ORT courses in Vienna were opened at the end of 1946 to cater for the needs of DPs from the camps scattered in and around the city.

The first ORT  training courses in the city were established in the premises of the State Vocational High School and were run in the evenings, after the school’s regular classes ended. The staff consisted of fifty-four professional instructors who during the day were employed in the technical high schools and colleges of the city.  The examination boards for the courses' final exams were composed of members of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce and experts from state vocational training schools. At the beginning of ORT's work in Vienna, the fluctuation of the pupils was considerable, 'due to the steady movement of the people and lack of any feeling of stability.’[1] Soon however, the school managed to achieve a steady enrolment of students. Already by October 1947, less than a year after it was founded,  there were 556 applicants for 340 places offered in the Vienna school. The  courses offered included auto mechanics, radio technology, electro-engineering, dental mechanics, dressmaking , lingerie making, cosmetics and hairdressing. Later courses were also offered in such diverse subjects as invisible mending, tie making, confectionery and metal turning.

By October 1950 ORT school had been moved to its own building in the Arzbergerstrasse DP camp in Vienna. The  cosmetics and radio technology courses were still conducted in the state vocational high school.  In 1951, after the closing of  Arzbergerstrasse Camp, the school moved its premises to the Rothschild Hospital DP camp. In 1953 ORT could finally move into its own building in the city centre.