Like in most European countries, the problem of prostitution in Austria was legally solved. The Austrian legislation, however, was extremely vague so that local police forces kept arranging the problems in different ways. Bigger cities solved the problem of prostitution fairly early while smaller provincial towns continued struggling against it for a long time. The municipal government of Celje first tackled the problem only in 1895, when special instructions were given concerning the supervision of prostitution In town. Already in the following year, Celje got its first brothel which, according to the available sources, continued to be in operation even during the World War I. At that time there existed also a considerable number of secret prostitutes despite the constant persecution by the police.