Vienna News
Online Everywhere
Oct 6th, 2014Our need to be contactable and online "always and everywhere" is increasing really fast. And although this situation is disturbing for many people, it is an undeniable fact that you vacation without sending holiday snaps, browsing for the best...
Read more »Vienna carriage drivers on strike
Jul 21st, 2013On Saturday, July 20th, a strike of fiakiers, Vienna carriagemen, took place. The protest was aimed against the allegations of animal rights organisations that protested against using horses in tourism. The Stephansplatz, a square renowned for...
Read more »Unique Unicycle to Rock in Vienna
Jun 30th, 2013A new electric invention, the City-wheel, alowes one to move up to a speed of 16 km/h. The sight of drivers is very unusual; from a distance it looks as if the person hovers above the goround. Much the same is also the driving experience....
Read more »No Kissing, Please!
Apr 3rd, 2013A private premises located near the train station has published a note reading: "Out of respect for our employees and international guests, we ask that you refrain tenderness in our local". The note has been hung next to the House Rules. Interviewed...
Read more »Sharing is caring: New open bookcase in Josefstadt
Mar 6th, 2013Artist Frank Gassner introduced Vienna's fith open bookcase in the central district of Vienna-Josefstadt, public service broadcaster ORF reports today. Bibliophiles can now clean out their bookshelfs and take no longer needed novels and the like to...
Read more »Snowman Saves the Day
Feb 25th, 2013Firemen have praised cops who kept a cool head after they used a snowman to put out a fire threatening to burn down a house at Wiener Neustadt south of Vienna. The three police officers raised the alarm after spotting the fire that had started in two...
Read more »Cozy and Pricey: Kempinski Hotel Breaks Record
Jan 25th, 2013For those who love luxury - and have the wherewithal - this is just the place. In March, the five-star hostel Palais Hansen Kempinski will open its doors at Vienna Schottenring, listing one of the most expensive rooms in Austria: 15,000 must be...
Read more »The Most Expensive Drink in Austria
Dec 18th, 2012"Planters elit Jewel", sold at 555 Euro will soon be available at Barkarte des Planter Clubs in 1st district of Vienna. The offer is limited: only 25 glasses of this drink will be served. The record beverage will include champagne and Stolichnaya...
Read more »Gustav Klimt's last studio opens to public
Nov 15th, 2012Located in residential Hietzing neighborhood of Vienna, one-story garden house inside a Neo-Baroque villa which his studio for the last six years of his life has recently been opened to public. As much as possible, the studio has been made to mimic...
Read more »Grave-robber nabbing composers' teeth?
Jun 29th, 2012Police are investigating the alleged theft of composers' teeth from the historic Zentralfriedhof cemetery in Vienna. The graves of world famous maestros Johannes Brahms and Johann Strauss Junior are among those being investigated. Alarm bells...
Read more »Dalai Lama visits Vienna
May 28th, 2012The Dalai Lama began an eleven-day visit to Austria on Saturday 26th May, beginning in Vienna, where he was met by crowds of over 10,000. The 76-year-old spiritual leader of Tibet addressed devotees at Heldenplatz, at the heart of the Austrian...
Read more »Vienna restaurant rises in world top 50 list
Apr 30th, 2012A Viennese restaurant has been voted 11th best on the globe, according to the annual World's Best 50 Restaurants list, organised by the UK's Restaurant magazine. Steirereck, which is located in the city's leafy Stadtpark, made the list for the...
Read more »Exorcist director gets operatic in Vienna
Mar 26th, 2012Film director William Friedkin, best-known for movies The Exorcist and The French Connection, has launched a lavish opera in the Austrian capital. Appropriately enough, the production has more than a dash of the macabre. Indeed, Friedkin has...
Read more »Vienna prepares for Klimt Year
Dec 29th, 2011The Austrian capital is preparing to pull out all the stops to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of artist Gustav Klimt. A series of exhibitions is in the pipeline, taking in some of Vienna's most prestigious museums. The painter, who was...
Read more »Before Sunrise Take Three
Nov 22nd, 2011Actor Ethan Hawke has revealed that a third instalment in the acclaimed Before Sunrise saga is in the pipeline. The first film, which paired Hawke with sultry French star Julie Delpy, saw two young travellers fall in love during a chance...
Read more »Private dicks to patrol Viennese taxis
Oct 30th, 2011Viennese authorities are hiring private detectives to dob in devious or incompetent taxi-drivers, after two reports revealed that standards left a lot to be desired. An annual survey by ADAC, Europe's largest automobile club, put Vienna second...
Read more »Mozart's piano returns to Vienna after 255 years
Oct 30th, 2011According to information from tourism officials the piano will be put back in the same room in Vienna where it used be when Mozart possessed it and will be on view for 2 weeks to visitors. Made by Anton Walter, regarded as one of the leading piano...
Read more »Gladiators' school discovered outside Vienna
Sep 26th, 2011It's still unconfirmed whether Russell Crowe was trained there, but archaeologists have discovered a vast Roman gladiatorial complex on the outskirts of Vienna. Experts hold that this is the most significant discovery of its kind beyond...
Read more »Casino jackpot leads to courtroom joust
Aug 21st, 2011A man who won 43 million euros at a casino in Bregenz, western Austria, is suing the company after it failed to pay him his jackpot prize. Behar Merlaku, 26, went out for a flutter following the birth of his baby son. As it soon transpired,...
Read more »Austria bids farewell to emperor that never was
Jul 26th, 2011The last crown prince of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire was laid to rest in Vienna on 16th July. Otto von Habsburg, who was 98 when he passed away earlier this month, spent the majority of his life in exile. Cut off from his inheritance by...
Read more »My Father Eric, Nuclear Spy
Jun 16th, 2011The University of Vienna has hosted an unlikely book launch, recalling the long-hidden exploits of one its former star professors. Scientist Spies, by Paul Broda, explores how both the author's father Engelbert, code-named Eric, and his...
Read more »Man uncovers regal splendours in back garden
May 24th, 2011A man digging a pond in his back garden in Wiener Neustadt, south of the Austrian capital, has uncovered a hoard of medieval jewellery that may have been commissioned for a royal court. The find has stunned the Viennese art world, with experts...
Read more »Cafe legend turns 100
Apr 18th, 2011Leopold Hawelka, one of the legends of Vienna's cafe scene, has celebrated his 100th birthday. Politicians, writers, artists and cake-lovers alike all paid tribute this April, and Austria's national post office even rustled up a stamp in the...
Read more »Wine that's music to the ears and palate
Mar 27th, 2011An Austrian entrepreneur is pioneering wines that have been musically nurtured to give them that extra little something. Marcus Bachmann, a veteran French horn player, has created a special speaker that can be submerged in grape juice as it...
Read more »Museum launches 'Worst of Klimt' contest
Feb 26th, 2011A Viennese museum has launched an unlikely contest to tie in with the 150th anniversary of painter Gustav Klimt's birth, with a quest to unveil the very worst products connected with the artist. The Wien Museum's 'Worst of Klimt' looks set to...
Read more »Nappy enforcement for Viennese horses
Feb 21st, 2011Travellers taking a spin in the traditional Viennese 'fiaker' (horse and carriage) will now only be doing so with horses who sport nappies. The crackdown comes after Vienna's residents got fed up with being confronted with piles of horse dung on...
Read more »Pigeon Lover Evicted After Neighbours Fly Into Rage
Jan 20th, 2011A 56-year-old man has been evicted from his Vienna flat for over-enthusiastically feeding local pigeons. The ruling brings to an end several years of legal wrangling and an angry stream of complaints from neighbours at the housing estate in...
Read more »Panda Named At Vienna Zoo
Dec 30th, 2010Proud staff at Viennas zoo have given a cub its name, following an internet vote that garnered over 25,000 participants. The cub has been called Fu Hu, which means Happy Tiger in Mandarin. Traditionally, keepers wait one hundred days before...
Read more »Austria Pledges 20 million For Jewish Cemeteries
Nov 19th, 2010The Austrian government has approved a bill to allot 20 million for the restoration of Jewish cemeteries across the Alpine republic. The move comes after protracted debates about who is responsible for the neglected heritage sites. Ariel...
Read more »Ballerina Who Bares All Gets Severe Dressing Down
Oct 18th, 2010A ballerina at Vienna's State Opera was sacked and then reinstated after appearing nude in the Austrian edition of Penthouse magazine. Russian-born star Karina Sarkissova took part in a photoshoot sporting only her ballet shoes, a move that...
Read more »John Malkovich to Play Casanova in Vienna
Sep 16th, 2010Hollywood's most beloved portrayer of psychos and wild cards has now been cast as Casanova in a unique new Viennese enterprise. The production, The Giacomo Variations, is being billed as a hybrid cross between an opera and a play, and will be...
Read more »Museum Pays Millions To Keep Painting
Jul 23rd, 2010A leading Viennese museum has paid $19 million to hold on to a painting by Expressionist legend Egon Schiele. "Portrait of Wally", which depicts the artist's mistress, has been at the heart of a thirteen-year legal dispute. The painting was...
Read more »Vienna Victorious As World's Most Livable City
Jun 27th, 2010The Austrian capital has been ranked the world's finest city in a far-reaching survey carried out by London-based investment company Mercer. Some 221 cities were considered in the programme, with factors such as housing, health services, cultural...
Read more »Viennese Fashion Victim Faces Fine
Jun 11th, 2010A trip to Italy left a bitter taste in the mouth of one Viennese lady this June. Seconds after snapping up an imitation Luis Vuitton handbag on the beach at Tresolo, the pensioner found herself the subject of a police swoop. A 1000 Euro fine was...
Read more »Vienna Airport Revives In Steps
Apr 20th, 2010Vienna airport resumed flight operations on Monday 19th, amidst the chaos caused by Iceland's volcanic eruption. However, whilst services due east are largely unaffected, the western bound flow of air traffic is still problematic. Europe was...
Read more »Harvey Keitel To Play Saviour of Vienna
Apr 7th, 2010A big-budget movie about the fabled 1683 Relief of Vienna has been announced by Italian director Renzo Martinelli. Harvey Keitel is to play King Jan Sobieski, the Polish monarch who saved the city from the Turks. Billed under the title of...
Read more »Roll Over Beethoven
Mar 18th, 2010One of Vienna's most illustrious art museums has caused a rumpus by hosting a swingers club on its premises. The Secession Pavilion, an iconic relic of the fin-de-siecle era and home of Klimt's famed "Beethoven Frieze", has angered right wing...
Read more »Activists Save Piggies' Bacon
Jan 15th, 2010Austrian animal rights activists have brought a halt to experiments testing pigs ability to survive avalanches. The tests, conducted in the Alps to fathom how long humans could endure in an air pocket, had drawn a hail of condemnation from green...
Read more »Viennese "Basterd" the toast of Hollywood
Nov 18th, 2009Although reviewers stopped short of declaring Tarantino's latest film, Inglourious Basterds, his greatest work, there was one issue that they were unanimous on: the brilliance of Viennese actor Christoph Waltz. Since scooping the Best Actor Award...
Read more »Austria Approves Same Sex Partnerships
Nov 17th, 2009Vienna has already shown itself to be a congenial place for gay travellers, winning the "Gay Destination of the Year" award back in 2004. Now, steps have been taken to put same sex partnerships on a similar legal footing to those in several other...
Read more »A Coffee With The Gargoyles
Sep 23rd, 2009If any city in the world is entitled to host a "Coffee Day" then it must surely be Vienna. And this year, there will be some wonderful one-offs to help us celebrate the caffeine-fuelled cause. On October 1st, coffee-lovers will be able to enjoy a...
Read more »Bruno: A New Ambassador For Austria?
Jul 14th, 2009Not since The Sound of Music has an Austrian-themed movie won so much media attention. Bruno, about the madcap adventures of an unemployed Viennese fashionista, opened worldwide on July 10th (well not quite worldwide, as Ukraine's Minister of...
Read more »Meinl Muddle
Jun 10th, 2009Julius Meinl V, head of one of Austria's most prestigious banking and retail dynasties, is pending trial for fraud, in what's being billed as one of the most controversial cases of the decade. Mr Meinl has already endured the indignity of a spell...
Read more »Pam Waltzes Into Vienna
May 18th, 2009Pamela Anderson was a star guest at this year's Life Ball, the glitzy Viennese shindig that raises money for victims of HIV and AIDS. The annual ball, which was first staged in 1993, has since become one of the most flamboyant European events of...
Read more »The Best Place To Live In!
Apr 28th, 2009According to "Reuters Life!" the Austrian capital has defeated Zurich and many other beautiful cities in the competition launched to name "the place with the best quality of living". Apparently, Vienna is it! After improving the country's social and...
Read more »Vienna City Marathon
Mar 27th, 2009In about two weeks, on April 19, around 25,000 runners from over 70 nations will race in the 26th Vienna City Marathon. Every year, over 100,000 viewers gather along the streets to cheer the athletes and to experience the unusual atmosphere. The...
Read more »The Wonderful Mucha In Vienna
Feb 24th, 2009Vienna is hosting the famous art-nouveau painter Alfons Mucha's work, again. The city is coated with rainbow-colored posters, advertising the event. The exhibition, which is being presented in Unteres Belvedere is already a vast success. Viennese...
Read more »Crisis? What crisis?
Jan 29th, 2009Although the financial crisis is lurking around every corner, it will not prevent the rich and the famous of the Viennese society from attending the famous Opera Ball. Sadly, "tickets for the 2009 edition have already been sold out" organiser Desiree...
Read more »Just Remember - Don't Stab Yourself!
Dec 12th, 2008Imagine you're an actor who's supposed to kill himself on-stage. It doesn't seem too challenging, does it? You just use a blunt prop-knife and PRETEND to be stabbing yourself. Then, when the curtain drops down, you get up, the curtain is pulled back...
Read more »Nazi Salute Leaves Tram Driver Unemployed
Nov 5th, 2008A 35-year-old tram driver was fired from the Vienna Public Transport Company Wiener Linien after greeting his passengers with the well-known "Sieg Heil" salute over the PA system. When asked about the incident, he didn't deny the accusations,...
Read more »Klimt And Co Return
Oct 10th, 2008Art lovers have a treat to savour as a major exhibition is now open for business. "Gustav Klimt & the Kunstschau" celebrates the centenary of a trailblazing show that rocked the Vienna art world in 1908. That year was in fact Emperor Franz...
Read more »Reflections On A Rollicking Good Cup
Jul 2nd, 2008The viewing stands have been cleared, and the fans have flown back to their native lands. But the memories of Euro 2008 will live on. Even the English, who for once failed to qualify, were fulsome in their praise of the tournament. Jeremy Wilson,...
Read more »Divine Inspiration
Apr 3rd, 2008A monastery on the fringe of Vienna has hit the headlines after winning a major deal with Universal Records. Monks from the medieval monastery of Heiligenenkreuz submitted a youtube clip to the US label after hearing of a prize for singers of...
Read more »Snow Takes Tragic Toll
Mar 26th, 2008Unexpected snowfalls throughout Central Europe claimed a terrible toll in Austria on Tuesday. Over seventy vehicles were involved in a pile-up on the motorway between Vienna and Salzburg. One lady has been confirmed dead, whilst dozens of...
Read more »Rock Fest Reveals Roster
Mar 20th, 2008The organisers of Nova Rock - one of Europe's biggest rock festivals - have revealed some of the first big name confirmations for this year's shindig. The Verve, The Sex Pistols and Kid Rock are amongst those topping the bill, with a little help from...
Read more »In An Imperial Pickle
Mar 17th, 2008Otto von Habsburg, son of the last Austrian Emperor, has sparked controversy at an event commemorating the Nazis absorption of Austria in March 1938. The ninety-five-year-old Archduke, who served as a member of the European Parliament for twenty...
Read more »Oscar For Austria
Feb 25th, 2008Viennese director Stefan Ruzowitzky has won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, beating off favourite Andrzej Wajda. The win is Austria's first success at the Academy Awards. "I hope very much this award will help Austrian filmmakers to...
Read more »Palm Tree Beyond The Pale
Jan 28th, 2008An 82 feet palm tree with an imperial pedigree is due to be culled in Vienna. The so-called 'Sisi Palm', named after Empress Elisabeth - a tragic figure often likened to Britain's Princess Diana - has been growing for 170 years. The problem...
Read more »Austrian Film Up For Oscar
Jan 23rd, 2008Viennese director Stefan Ruzowitzky has made it to the short-list for the 2008 Academy Awards. His movie Die Falscher (The Counterfeiters) is one of five nominated pictures for the coveted Best Foreign Language Film award. This year saw an...
Read more »Burlesque Beauty Booked For Ball
Jan 21st, 2008Her marriage to macabre rock singer Marilyn Manson may have collapsed over Christmas, but burlesque star Dita von Teese has been declared guest of honour at Vienna's otherworldly Opernball. Von Teese, who stole the show in Manson's 'Mobscene'...
Read more »A Doctor A Day Keeps The Taxman Away
Jan 9th, 2008Police have arrested a 59-year-old man for soliciting bed and board in hospitals for non-existent illnesses. Unbeknownst to the authorities, the wily adventurer had stayed in some 93 hospitals over the last two years, each time under false pretenses....
Read more »Vandals At Viennese Cemetery
Jan 7th, 2008Vienna's grandest cemetery, the Zentralfriedhof, was subjected to a bout of vandalism in the wake of the New Year. About 101 graves were abused, although the attacks were rather haphazard, and wholesale destruction of tombs was not achieved. ...
Read more »Vienna On The Box
Jan 7th, 2008In spite of its grand history, Vienna seems to be on TV a lot less than former rivals London and Paris. But this week, the BBC will be redressing the balance, with a double dose of 'Masterpieces of Vienna'. The new series on BBC Four takes us back...
Read more »Art For All!
Dec 14th, 2007Those in search of more exotic stocking-fillers than the ones found at the Christmas Markets should head to the Museumsquartier this December. A quirky exhibition by young European artists has opened at the Freiraum (quartier21), flying in the face...
Read more »Hitchcock Hits Town
Dec 13th, 2007An early Christmas present is on the cards for all film aficionados. The Austria Filmmuseum is preparing the country's greatest ever retrospective of Sir Alfred Hitchcock, beginning on December 1st and running all the way to February 4th. ...
Read more »Sad End For Scot
Dec 13th, 2007A Scot has met a tragic end in Vienna. John McFadzean, a UK official at the UN, fell asleep in a park after a night's revelry. Dipping temperatures proved fatal, and less than three hours later, Mr McFadzean had expired. Police have only just...
Read more »Dastardly Draw For Euro Cup
Dec 3rd, 2007The placid Swiss city of Lucerne was convulsed by drama on Sunday as UEFA officials executed the Euro 2008 draw. Gasps of incredulity echoed round the room as a 'Group of Death' emerged, squashing several of Europe's top teams into one shooting...
Read more »War Criminal Exposed By Walters
Nov 6th, 2007British historian Guy Walters has tracked down a wanted Nazi war criminal at a flat in Vienna. Erna Wallisch, 85, served as a prison guard at some of the most notorious concentration camps in Nazi-occupied Europe, including Majdanek and the key...
Read more »Austria Reaps Bitter Fruits Of Turkish-Kurdish Clash
Nov 5th, 2007Friction between Turkish soldiers and Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq sparked a parallel clash in Austria this weekend when a major street fight erupted in Vienna. As many as 80 people were said to be involved in Sunday's altercation, which saw...
Read more »Austria Wins By A Whisker
Oct 19th, 2007Austria was saved from utter humiliation yesterday when their team managed to pull off a 3-2 victory against the Ivory Coast. Had they lost the match, Austria would have broken their own record of nine consecutive losses. As one of the host...
Read more »Klimt Film Opens In New York
Oct 17th, 2007Raoul Ruiz's biopic of Gustav Klimt opened in America today, with John Malkovich stepping into the role of troubled artist. However, intriguing as the mix might sound, word is that fans shouldn't hold their breath for a masterpiece. Mr Ruiz has...
Read more »Viennale 2007
Oct 7th, 2007The countdown has begun. Vienna's International Film Festival will kick off on Friday October 19th, and there's a scintillating celluloid selection in store. Directors, producers, actors and die-hard film fanatics will be descending on the Austrian...
Read more »Ear's How To Be A Weightlifter
Oct 3rd, 2007We've all watched in awe as a raging Russian held aloft a weight that was equal to that of a blue whale. How do they do it? Well, Zafar Gill, a focused fellow from Pakistan has put even the Russians to shame by hoisting a 62 kilograms weight using...
Read more »Eccentric Vandal Strikes Vienna
Sep 26th, 2007A barefoot man in an orange dress was arrested on Sunday after breaking into a branch of the Austrian Education Ministry. When police arrived at the scene, they found that the office had been enthusiastically ravaged, with all loos blocked and...
Read more »Subway Fiend Dices With Death
Sep 19th, 2007A twenty-eight year old man was arrested on Monday for violent behavior at a Viennese subway station. The man is said to have attacked an elderly gentleman, breaking his glasses, and when bystanders tried to intervene, he threw three of them onto the...
Read more »Pope's Pleas For Environment
Sep 12th, 2007The Pope reiterated his concerns for the environment on Sunday as he concluded his pilgrimage to Austria. In a mass at Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral the pontiff encouraged Austrians to contemplate the fragile gifts of creation: Sunday is also...
Read more »Pope Benedict Flies To Vienna
Sep 7th, 2007As Pope Benedict XVI began the seventh international trip of his pontificate, flood warnings were declared in Austria as rains refused to abate. A native German-speaking Pope is a novelty for Austrians, but Pope Benedict will be lucky to receive...
Read more »Bogus Cops Cash In On Tourists
Sep 3rd, 2007Four Romanian men have been arrested in Vienna for fleecing unwitting tourists. The ruse, which resembled that of an Ealing Comedy, was perhaps not so funny for the victims, although original nonetheless. The Romanian robbers dressed up as...
Read more »Diamonds (And Lederhosen) Are Forever
Aug 27th, 2007Will P Diddy soon be strolling down Fifth Avenue decked out in diamond-studded lederhosen? Shrewd gamblers might not be reaching for their wallets yet for this fashion prediction, but pairs of jeweled lederhosen are on the market. Christian...
Read more »Panda Birth Sparks Cautious Celebration
Aug 24th, 2007The birth of a giant panda is a major event in any zoo, especially a European one - not for twenty-five years has a successful birth occurred. Indeed, even in the wild, it is estimated that only 1600 pandas roam the forests of today's China. And...
Read more »Pig Pandemonium
Aug 22nd, 2007It's already bad enough to be driven to an abattoir by a lorry-driver who loves bacon sandwiches, but a herd of pigs had to endure a triple indignity when the vehicle carrying them crashed twice on an Austrian motorway. 192 pigs emerged blinking...
Read more »Treasure From The Trash Can
Aug 20th, 2007A medieval cross that was looted from a Polish Princess during World War II turned up in a trash can in rural Austria. The painted cross, which is estimated to be worth some 800,000 dollars, was untraced for over 60 years. However, a lady from Zell...
Read more »Divine Dictums Direct To Your Phone
Jul 31st, 2007The Vatican is embracing the mobile phone revolution in its plans for Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Vienna. Beginning this week, the Holy See is providing a free service that sends excerpts from the Pontiff's sermons to faithful readers across...
Read more »Ice Cream For Dogs
Jul 25th, 2007With Central Europe in the throes of a heat wave, cooling off has become big business. This week we've seen penguins at the zoo pecking at fish-flavoured ices and tigers licking gigantic lollies. Now a Viennese vendor has come up with a novel idea...
Read more »Untying The Knot
Jul 25th, 2007Monty Python would have loved the idea, but Vienna's Divorce Fair is in fact no joke. Billed under the slogan 'A New Start', the fair is due to be held during the weekend of October 27th-28th. So just what should one expect from a divorce fair?...
Read more »Salzburg: No Go for 2014
Jul 9th, 2007Wednesday was a bitter day for Salzburg, as news broke that the city will not host the 2014 Winter Olympics. The picturesque Austrian city, famed for its associations with Mozart and The Sound of Music, had reached the final voting stage alongside...
Read more »Hands Off My Meteorite!
Jul 9th, 2007A Bavarian court ruled on Friday that an amateur German astronomer can hang on to a chunk of meteorite that was found in Austria, much to the dismay of the Austrian Town Council of Reutte. Karl Wimmer, a Bavarian physicist, discovered the...
Read more »Arnie Is Back
Jun 26th, 2007There was a hint of a rapprochement this weekend when Arnie 'The Oak' Schwarzenegger made a surprise visit to his native Austria. The Terminator star had gone from hero to zero back in 2005 over his controversial stance towards capital punishment....
Read more »Football In The Freezer
Jun 12th, 2007Austria and Switzerland, host nations for next year's European Cup, played an otherworldly game on Friday to celebrate one year's countdown to the 2008 competition. In what must be one of the chilliest five-a sides in history, Austria and...
Read more »A Booty'ful Day In Vienna
Jun 6th, 2007It seems that it's a case of 'all's well that ends well' in Vienna this week. A Stradivarius violin worth four million dollars that was nabbed a fortnight ago has been returned to its rightful owner, Mr. Christian Altenburger, an acclaimed Viennese...
Read more »Life Ball Rocks Vienna
May 28th, 2007White tie went out the window this weekend as thousands of glam queens gallivanted up the red carpet for Vienna's famed Life Ball. Now in its fifteenth year, the stupendous party drew a colourful mix of celebrities and fancy dress aficionados in what...
Read more »Waldheim's Last Word
May 18th, 2007Austrian news sources have revealed that former President Kurt Waldheim left a final address to the world. The controversial statesmen, who passed away on Thursday aged 88, sparked a wave of controversy in the mid-80's when allegations surfaced of...
Read more »Easyjet Will Fly To Vienna
May 18th, 2007Low-price airline Easyjet has unveiled plans to fly to Vienna. A service between London Luton and Vienna will begin on October 29th, and the first batch of tickets has already gone on sale. The news will be greeted with joy by England's football...
Read more »City Library Launches Erotic Hotline
May 8th, 2007How does one go about raising money for the renovation of a hallowed national monument? Organise a sponsored marathon? Launch a plea on prime-time television? Get some musicians to rally together for a fund-raising concert? Well, they're all tried...
Read more »The Congress Uncorked
Apr 30th, 2007A new book has just been published about one of the most colourful episodes in Vienna's history. Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna lifts the lid on the shenanigans of the famed peace conference of 1814-15. Author...
Read more »Sacher-torte Turns 175
Apr 16th, 2007Austria's most distinguished cake celebrated its 175th birthday on Thursday with a special party in central Vienna. The sacher-torte, originally launched in 1832, has won thousands of aficionados across the globe, as well as prompting a fair amount...
Read more »Fabled Faberge Eggs Stolen
Apr 16th, 2007Over a million dollars worth of Faberge eggs have been stolen from a palace in Vienna. The jewel-encrusted treasures, which were celebrated in the James Bond classic Octopussy disappeared late Tueday night from the baroque Harrach Palace. Police...
Read more »Bunnies Block Motorway
Apr 16th, 2007The main motorway between Vienna and Budapest was brought to a standstill on Monday when several thousand rabbits escaped from a lorry. The M1 motorway was officially closed due to the incident, which happened when a lorry crashed some 25 miles...
Read more »A Weaker Brew For 2008?
Apr 3rd, 2007Are the Austrians losing their nerve about Euro 2008, or are they just being sensible? Austrian authorities are trying to cut a deal with breweries to sell a low-alcohol beer during the tournament. At places such as Rathausplatz in Vienna, huge...
Read more »Euro 2008: Austria Warms Up
Mar 29th, 2007Austria got her first taste of Euro Cup action last night during a friendly match against the French. Thankfully, the result has no bearing on the coming championship, as Austria qualifies automatically alongside co-hosts the Swiss. The Austrians...
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