Austrians Keep Their Secrets
Changing banking laws is tricky, wherever it’s done. It affects nations, businesses and citizens – in fact, everything. In Austria, the last big change was made in 1996, when it was decided that Austrian savings accounts (Sparbücher) could no longer be anonymous. By 2000, it was literally impossible to open a savings account without showing [...]
MQM: A New Home For Media Companies
“Welcome to the future!” shouts the sign outside the Media Quarter Marx (MQM), proclaiming a complex aim to be ahead of its time. The red brick buildings that once stood alone on a gaping lot are now joined by futuristic glass in a campus-like atmosphere, with pathways interrupted by pleasant outdoor seating. But unlike Vienna’s [...]
Green Austria: Smoke and Mirrors?
Meeting the 2020 Kyoto Protocol targets has been a struggle for many countries. Some have scaled back their original commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; others have withdrawn entirely. In emerging markets, most notably China, emissions are on the rise. In China a new coal-fired power station is being built every few days. In Austria, [...]
Rathkolb: Revisiting Interwar History
For much of early March, it was nearly impossible to get historian Oliver Rathkolb on the phone. He did better with emails, dashing off two-to-five word answers, with links or attachments. Signed characteristically, “herzlichst, OR”. When he was finally able to pry loose for a few minutes, he sounded harassed – but not unhappy. Leading [...]
Kurz Cares About The Card
Say you’re from a non-EU country – America, say, or Singapore, or South Africa – and decide to study in Austria. Maybe you arrived here with your parents as a child, or you fell in love with an Austrian, or simply decided to study here because it was cheap. Whatever the reason, you’re here now, [...]
Today’s Jewish Life In Vienna
On a side street off Karmeliterplatz in the 2nd District, Kosherland is a hub of Jewish life. Here, the community feel is tangible. Parents send their school-age children to Dr. Marina Plistiev’s store unaccompanied and instead of paying for their groceries on the spot, the shopkeeper sets up a tab and waits for their parents [...]
Fear-Based Identity Crisis
They don’t shave their heads, tote swastikas or glorify the Nazis and the majority are educated. The “Identitären” represent a new right wing phenomenon in Europe. Initiated in France in 2003, it is a young movement that has spread eastwards but also west to the United Kingdom. On 25 February at Café Tirolerhof, the chairman [...]
Renate Brauner: Keynesian in the Rathaus
In late February, the West and South sides of the Rathaus were still wrapped in gauze to contain the dust from sandblasting the final layers of soot built up over the decades and the repairing of weather damage to the 1883 city hall’s magnificent Gothic stonework. This is phase one of a major, 11 stage [...]
Family Psychology: More Than ‘Pimp My Child’
Parents matter. And teachers matter. And, for the lucky children, there is a whole community of people around while they are growing up, people who can have a lasting influence. For me personally, it was a high school counsellor who let me hang out in his office, the English professor who asked “Why aren’t you [...]
