Private Property: Is Water the Price of Union?
Austrians love their water. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 94% of Austrians say they are satisfied with water quality. When restaurant owners attempted to charge for tap water in 2009, it was cultural blasphemy in a city where water, fed by Alpine springs, is seen as a birthright. When Austria held [...]
They Eat Horses, Don’t They?
One of the attractions that the residents of the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana and informed visitors enjoy is a relatively unobtrusive stand in the middle of Tivoli Park in the city centre. At any time of day or night, you can buy an excellent, huge hamburger – made of horsemeat. It is a favourite spot [...]
Hidden Prosperity In the CEE
What do countries as different as Slovakia, Moldova, Slovenia and Estonia have in common? In the 2012 Legatum Prosperity Index, published by the London-based Legatum Institute, these four made the biggest leap forward among European countries, raising the prosperity of their citizens in the eyes of the index’s analysts. There are numerous charts that try [...]
City Lights: Vienna Celebrates the Holidays
With the city all aglow, Christmas markets appear at every turn, and the smells of cloves, roasted chestnuts, sugary treats, mulled wine and cinnamon permeate the air. Even for those who don’t celebrate the holiday, the Wunderland that is Vienna has lots in store. We take you behind the scenes, into the mechanics of the [...]
A Mother Fights for Custody
In September, 41-year-old Dane Thomas Nørgaard Sørensen received a one-year suspended prison sentence for abducting his five-year-old son Oliver from Austria; his child with his estranged Austrian partner, Marion Weilharter. He had travelled to Austria in April, grabbed Oliver out of Weilharter’s car as she dropped him off at kindergarten, and drove him back to [...]
The Fable Of Frank Stronach
He has an image many politicians would die for: Small town boy who goes off to make his fortune and comes back a wealthy and successful man; he invests, he flourishes, and now in his golden years, he wants to “give back” through public service. “I’m a man of the people,” billionaire Frank Stronach proclaimed [...]
Viennale 2012: A City Goes to the Movies
Now in its 50th year, organiser Hans Hurch calls the Viennale “a festival at eye-level”, and despite annual adaptations of venues and programme, in essence it’s a constant. This is an event that “doesn’t serve anything or anyone,” Hurch says. It is its own reason for being. Proof lies in the city’s undying enthusiasm for [...]
The HUB: Connect & Dream
Above the kitchen, scrawled in bold cursive script are the words, “To the ones who have the courage to dream, believe and act.” Nearby, on rounded worktables stationed through the remodelled loft, handmade signs encourage people to smile and give hugs. The 200+ members of the HUB Vienna have no shortage of optimism and faith [...]
The Yugosphere: Not Just Balkan Nostalgia
It is Saturday night. Boys in tight T-shirts and close-cut military hairstyles throw around boisterous jokes, encouraged by shots of schnapps they have just taken. Tipsy girls in miniskirts teeter under an onslaught of laughter. This is a common scene anywhere in the city on any given Saturday night. Tonight, however, we are on Ottakringer [...]
