Last update 26/07/10

Germans love Austrians, poll shows

The Austrians have been chosen as the Germans’ most popular neighbours. Researchers Emnid found that 22 per cent of the around 1,000 Germans questioned said they preferred Austrians, with the Swiss and French tied for second place with 17 per cent each. The Dutch came third with 15 per cent, the agency added today (Thurs).
Those naming Austrians as their favourite neighbours said they regarded them as friendly and hardworking.

Germans are the most important market for the Austrian tourism as they have topped the overnight rankings for many years. And with around 140,000 residents, Germans are the biggest group of foreigners living in Austria. The two countries have had a love-hate relationship for many years that is often dominated by rivalry in sport, and mostly good-natured mockery over the others’ habits and traditions.

19/07/10

Sensational 65kph water slide opens in Austria

One of the most spectacular water slides in the world has been set up in Austria at a Tyrolean swimming pool.

Courageous bathers are offered DVDs showing their courageous rides as several cameras are set up all along the inside of the slide.

Swimmers need to be older than 14 and weigh between 45 and 130 kilograms to go for a ride on the "L2" slide.
Wörgl Wasserwelten managers expect record visitor figures over the next few days thanks to the new attraction as Austria is sweltering in a heatwave with top temperatures of 37 degrees centigrade.

12/07/10

Female teachers dominate Austrian classrooms

Nine in ten primary school teachers are women, new figures have shown. The education ministry said today (Thurs) only 10 per cent of teachers working at primary schools across the country are men, adding that Austrian special needs schools had a meagre 14 per cent share of male pedagogues.

The ministry – headed by Social Democrat (SPÖ) Claudia Schmied – said figures were based on 2008/2009 statistics.
It said the overall female share among teachers employed at all kinds of schools in the country was 70 per cent, up from 45 per cent in 1961 and 57 per cent in 1981.
Trade schools were the only institutes with female teachers in the minority in the 2008/2009 term with 33 per cent.
The ministry said women were set to dominate the picture as eight in 10 students at teacher training colleges – where lower grade and special schools teachers-to-be are educated – were female.

Men are also in the minority among students at universities offering courses on teaching at upper class schools such as Oberstufengymnasien with just 32 per cent being male.

02/07/10

Traffic jam warning as summer holidays start

Traffic experts have warned they expect massive traffic jams this weekend and next week as almost 500,000 students finish school today (Fri).

Motorists' associations Arbö and ÖAMTC announced jams were most likely to clog the A23 Südosttangente motorway near Vienna and the A2 southern motorway this weekend as several construction and renovation projects are currently being carried out there.

They added that, apart from 480,000 students in Burgenland, Vienna and Lower Austria, students in Belgium and some German states start their summer holidays this weekend.

The nine-week summer holidays in Austria's other six provinces start next weekend.

Tens of thousands of motorists are expected to travel through Austria to reach southern holiday destinations like Italy and Croatia.

Arbö said around 18 per cent of Austrians planning to take the car on holiday are expected to drive to Croatia this summer season, while around the same figure would head for Italy.

23/06/10

Summertime starts with snow!

Several Austrian mountain areas will see snowfall over the next few days as cold weather dominates the country.

Experts at Vienna's Centre for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG) said temperatures today (Mon) would not be higher than 20 degrees centigrade while a maximum 25 degrees centigrade is expected tomorrow and Wednesday.

They added snow will fall at 1,700 metres sea level in northern Alpine areas today. Some rainfall and strong winds are expected to dominate in the provinces of Styria, Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland over the next three days as the summer period starts today.

Unusually cold conditions come after a week-long period of top temperatures between 33 and 37 degrees centigrade, which was preceded by days dominated by fierce thunderstorms and floods.

12/06/10

Weather warning as homes flooded in Austria

Hundreds of basements in the provinces of Upper Austria and Lower Austria were flooded last Wednesday after days of continuous rainfall.

Officials at Vienna's Centre for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG) warned residents living near the Danube, Enns and other rivers to protect their homes as more rain is predicted over the next few days.

But they stressed the situation would not become as dramatic as in the neighbouring Czech Republic and Poland.

Fire brigades in dozens of towns in Upper Austria and Lower Austria are currently busy pumping out cellars and first-floor flats.

Hundreds of homes in Upper Austria, Lower Austria and Burgenland were left uninhabitable after floods in June 2009, while dozens of cars and houses in Burgenland and Lower Austria were wrecked last week by thunderstorms and tornados.

7/06/10

Austria to test 'alco-lock' anti-drink drive system

The traffic ministry has revealed plans to introduce an "alco-lock" anti-drink drive system.

Social Democratic (SPÖ) Traffic Minister Doris Bures announced today (Mon) a pilot project testing the system with bus and lorry drivers as well as with people who preliminarily lost their licence for drink driving will start in late summer.

The system asks the drivers for a breathalyser test and prevents them from starting the car if they are drunk.

Similar systems are currently being tested in Belgium, France, Sweden, Germany, Norway Spain and the Netherlands.

The Federal Committee for Traffic Safety (KfV) said in March that the number of people dying in traffic accidents declined by 6.8 per cent year on year as 633 people lost their lives on Austrian roads in 2009.

The number is the lowest since the start of standardised traffic accident records in 1961.

The institution added that the number of people who died in crashes involving drink driving declined by 13.2 per cent from 53 to 46.

30/05/10

Vienna Fiaker driver run over by own horses

A fiaker driver was hospitalised after he was run over by his own carriage in Vienna on Saturday.

The 34-year-old got off his parked carriage in Dr. Karl Lueger Ring in the city centre when his two horses bolted. The animals, reportedly startled by a passing tram, trampled over the man before coming to a halt after a few metres. The driver suffered bruises while one of the horses was slightly injured too.

A similar incident occurred only last month as an unmanned fiaker horse carriage raced through the city centre. The driver chased after it in a colleague's fiaker. Two parked cars were damaged before the carriage was eventually halted after its one-kilometre ride.

Fiaker horse carriages are one of the Austrian capital's top attractions. Drivers do good business taking tourists for a sightseeing ride through the city centre.

27/05/10

Many Austrians want Schilling back as Euro falters

16/05/10

'Mozart effect' a myth, say scientists

Listening to works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart does not make people more intelligent, groundbreaking research by a group of Austrian scientists has found.

Researchers at Vienna University said they looked into 39 international studies conducted on the issue in which more than 3,000 people took part.

Study leader Jakob Pietschnig said yesterday (Tues): "I recommend listening to Mozart to everyone, but not to increase one's intelligence or performance of any kind. His music does not have such an effect."

The research follows US psychologist Scott Lilienfeld branding the "Mozart effect" sixth in his list of "50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology".

The myth first surfaced in 1993 when American psychologist Frances H. Rauscher claimed that listening to the composer's music would help people perform better in intelligence tests.

His comments led to several US states giving away free CDs with the Salzburg-born composer's symphonies to women who had just given birth.

Mozart is an essential aspect of the Austrian tourism industry. Hundreds of thousands of people visit Salzburg and Vienna every year to follow in the composer's steps.

10/05/10

Vienna is Europe's new 'dog-trafficking mafia hub', say police

Police have branded Vienna International Airport (VIA) the "new main turnstile" of the internationally operating animal-trafficking Mafia as 26 puppies were discovered on Saturday.

A police official said: "We discovered the dogs in the boot of a car parked on the airport's K1 parking lot. Our team acted on an anonymous tip-off."

He added that the different breeds were destined for Spain."We suspect up to 250 puppies being flown to Spain from Vienna every week," Alexander Willer, from the local animal shelter said the dogs are now being looked after.

Meanwhile investigations against the Spaniard who wanted to transport the puppies to his home country continue."The suspect admitted he earned around 50,000 Euros for transferring up to 300 animals since 2009," a police spokesman said.

1st May 2010

Jools Holland to return for Graz gig

Jools Holland will perform in Graz later this year. The English pianist is set to give a concert at the city's Kasematten venue on 7 June.

Holland, a founding member of UK pop band Squeeze, has been touring and recording as a solo artist since 1978. His most recent release is 2009 single "I Went By", a collaboration with Louise Marshall.

Holland received a Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the British music industry in 2003.

The Graz show will be already the second time Holland, who is one of the most popular music TV show presenters in the United Kingdom, hits the stage in Austria.

Holland joined "The ABC & D of Boogie Woogie", the side project of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, during a performance in Bad Ischl in January.He will be returning to perform in Bad Ischl for the famous 'Shake the Lake' Jazz event between 2-6th June.

Britishrock.cc meanwhile reports that American singer-songwriter William Fitzsimmons is to give a concert at Vienna's Haus der Musik on 1 June, before Swedish pop rock singer Moneybrother performs a solo show at the city's W.U.K. club on 16 June.

Other eagerly awaited live music dates are the performances of Austrian bands Sofa Surfers and Bauchklang at the Gasometer Vienna on 11 September and the concert by Welsh rockers Stereophonics at the city's Arena on 6 July.

24/04/10

VCÖ bids for cycling as new figures reveal Austrians' car lust

One in two car rides in Austria are shorter than five kilometres, according to a traffic expert.

Martin Blum of the Traffic Club Austria (VCÖ) appealed on politicians to invest more in cycling networks and public transport to tackle the current situation.

Blum said today (Weds): "Half of the distances covered in cars are shorter than five kilometres, while 8.5 per cent lie even below 1,000 metres."

The VCÖ official said politicians could do their part in protecting the environment by spending more on the extension of cycling paths networks.

"Cycling must become more attractive," he said.

Recent VCÖ research shows that Austrians covered an overall of 1.9 billion kilometres by bike last year. Almost two million of the around eight million Austrians cycle several times a week, while another 2.4 million do so "now and then". This means 151 million litres of car fuel worth around 160 million Euros were saved in 2009.

Motorists' associations have warned the coalition government to withdraw plans to increase car fuel taxes to avoid "burdening people further".

Some experts have warned the potential move would not lead to more tax revenue since it might bring "fuel tourism" to a halt. This term describes the thousands of foreigners crossing the border to Austria to fill their vehicles, since petrol in Austria is cheaper than in most of its seven neighbouring states.

Blum meanwhile revealed that less than one per cent of car trips in Austria cover more than 200 kilometres.

"All this information shows how many avoidable car journeys take place in Austria everyday," he said, stressing that cars need three times more fuel than their average amount in the first 1,000 metres covered.

A study by the Alfred-Wegener Centre of Graz University presented today meanwhile reveals that just over more than 20 per cent of distances up to two kilometres are covered via public transport by Austrians.

This comes just days after a different study showed that public transport had an overall share of 35 per cent of traffic in the capital of Vienna.

19/04/10

Construction prices on the rise

Now might be a good time to buy older existing property as Housing construction costs soared by more than three per cent last month.... according to research by federal statistics agency 'Statistik Austria'.

The body announced costs in the housing building sector jumped by 3.1 per cent in March compared to price levels in the same month of 2009.

Experts said soaring prices for plastics, petrol and other substances as well as the current fluctuation of steel prices were to blame for the development.

Road construction costs meanwhile increased by 2.4 per cent year on year last month.

10/04/10

Austrian glaciers are shrinking

Environmental alarm bells are ringing as the vast majority of Austria's glaciers shrunk last year.

Andrea Fischer of the Austrian Alps Society (OeAV) said today (Fri) studies have shown that 91 per cent of the country's glaciers diminished in size in 2009.

Fischer said the Niederjochferner decreased most drastically by 46 metres, followed by the Kesselwandferner (minus 44.4 metres) and the Marzellferner (minus 42.3 metres). All three mountains are situated in Tyrol's Ötz Valley.

Seven further Ötz Valley glaciers shrunk in 2009, the expert added.

Fischer explained 85 of the 93 Austrian mountains the OeAV had monitored last year diminished in size, while just one grew. She stressed that, in comparison, four mountains had increased in size in 2008.

OeAV experts have supervised weather developments in the Alps for 119 years.

1/04/10

Kate Nash to rock Salzburg

Kate Nash has been confirmed for a show at Salzburg's Rockhouse later this year.

Online music newspaper Britishrock.cc reports today (Weds) that the British singer will come to Austria for a performance on 10 June.

Nash topped the UK charts with her debut album "Made of Bricks" in 2007. Her songs "Foundations" and "Pumpkin Soup" became hits all over Europe.

Since extensive touring, the BRIT Award-winning singer-songwriter has kept a low profile recently. Her fans are however eagerly awaiting her second album "My Best Friend Is You" which is due for release next month.

Other live music highlights taking place in Austria this summer are the concert by American blues and jazz singer Norah Jones in Sankt Margarethen im Burgenland on 1 July and the gig by Irish rock stars U2 in Vienna on 30 August.

21/03/10

Salzburg boy foils attempted abduction

A 10-year-old school boy had a narrow escape on Monday when a man tried to abduct him on his way home from school.

District police chief Arno Kosmata said ' the incident occurred around noon in Niedernsill' in Salzburg's Pinzgau region.

A black Volkswagen van with Romanian license plates pulled up alongside the boy and the driver told him to get in. When he refused, the driver grabbed his arm and tried to drag him into the van. The boy managed to break free, however, and ran away. The driver made no attempt to follow.

Kosmata said there had been no witnesses even though the incident had happened in the middle of the town. "We take such incidents quite seriously and will continue our search for the driver," he said.

In 2005 there were five failed attempts to abduct schoolchildren by the driver of a black car in the Pinzgau. The car had Vienna license plates. A police investigation failed to find the person responsible.

15/03/10

Skier almost hangs himself on a cable

A skier is in a critical state after skiing into a piste grooming machine cable on Sunday evening at the Wagrain ski area in Salzburg, police said yesterday (Mon).

The 50-year-old man was skiing down to the middle lift station at about 8pm after a birthday party at a mountain hut when he failed to see the extended cable in the darkness and skied right into it, nearly severing his neck.  Rescuers took the man to Schwarzach emergency hospital for treatment.

In a similar accident earlier this year, a 45-year-old Styrian woman skied into a cable after dark on 30 January at the Hauser Kaibling ski area in Styria's Liezen district. She died a few days later at Schladming hospital where she had been undergoing treatment.

Helga Maria B. had been making her way down to the valley floor at 11pm after visiting a mountain hut with pals when she skied into a cable running from a piste packing machine to a nearby pole and was left hanging by her neck.

The Styrian cable car operators' division of the Styrian Economic Chamber called for a ban on night skiing after the woman was left in a coma following the accident. But division head Peter Lackner said a ban would be difficult to agree on as the interests of authorities and restaurant owners differed.

A second person died after a night skiing accident at the Rangger Köpfl ski area in Tyrol's Innsbruck-Land district several weeks later.  Police said the man, 51, had been skiing 300 metres above the valley floor when he skied off a lighted piste and fell. He was found lying 40 metres away and taken to Innsbruck clinic, where he died.

10/03/10

Austria 'gain self esteem' as team beat Denmark

01/03/10

Five Two ski-ers rescued at Gastein

Twenty-four rescuers used a rope to move two stranded winter sportsmen to safety near Bad Gastein, Salzburg.

The two men, a Latvian, 24, and a Swede, 23, who were working as seasonal labourers at establishments in the Gastein valley, decided at 1:30pm to go off-piste, one with skis and the other with a snowboard, down the northern slope of the Kreuzkogel.

They got lost in fog and found themselves on the lip of a vertical rock wall 250 to 300 metres high. Unable to move on, they called rescuers at 4pm.

Since it was impossible to use a helicopter because of high wind, 24 rescuers climbed up to their location and used a rope in the darkness to move them 160 metres over a frozen waterfall to safety.

Neither man was injured.

24/02/10

Five people have died in avalanches since the beginning of February.

The danger of avalanches in Austrian mountains ranges from slight to considerable at present but is expected to rise over the weekend as the weather worsens.

The Lower Austrian avalanche warning service said today (Fri) the level was three in areas bordering on the Ybbs Valley and the Rax-Schneeberg area, two in Türnitz Alps and one in the Gutenstein Alps and the Semmering-Wechsel area.

It said the danger would go up over the weekend as rainfall would increase the risk of spontaneous avalanches.

The Vorarlberg service said the level of avalanche danger was three in areas above 2,100 metres and two in lower areas but still not to be underestimated. It added unstable snow cover in many areas made avalanches likely. Five people have died in avalanches in the province since the beginning of February.

The Salzburg service said the danger of avalanches was at the two and the three levels, depending on the area in question. It warned that expected new snow and high wind would significantly raise the level in the Hohe Tauern mountains.

A series of deaths by avalanche continued this week in Austria, with a 50-year-old skier from Ehrwald, Tyrol, dying in an avalanche on Tuesday near Gamskars in the province’s Zugspitz area. Police said the man’s wife reported him missing at 8pm, and searchers found his body at 11pm under 30 centimetres of snow at an altitude of 1,800 metres.

In another mountain accident, two people ski touring in Upper Austria ended up in hospital over the weekend after falling. The separate accidents occurred in Roßleithen in the Kirchdorf district and near the Simony hut on the Dachstein. In both cases, the injured skiers were taken by helicopter to local hospitals.

Last week, a 42-year-old Norwegian woman who suffered serious head injuries when she was caught in an avalanche a week ago Saturday died at Innsbruck University Clinic.

Long-term statistics show that an average of 26 people die in avalanches in the Austrian Alps every year.

7/02/10

Call for night time skiing ban

Graz. Calls have been made for a ban on night skiing after a woman was left in a coma after an accident as she skied down a mountain in the dark. The Styrian cable-car operators’ division  called for the ban after a 45-year-old was left in a coma following an accident at the Hauser Kaibling ski area. She had been making her way down to the valley floor at 11pm after visiting a mountain hut when she skied into a cable running from a piste packing machine to a pole and was left hanging by her neck. Doctors said she would probably be handicapped for the rest of her life if she survived. Styrian cable-car operators’ division head, Peter Lackner said ' any ban would be difficult to agree on as interest of officials and restaurant owners would differ'.

24/01/10

Lindsay Lohan Opera Ball invite

15/01/10

3/01/10

Tourism hoping for good winter

Research firm market- agent.com said 69 per cent of 500 people participating in a poll they had carried out said they would spend as much as they always had while more than one in five (21 per cent) said they planned to spend more than usual.

The agency’s poll was not strictly about holidays in Austria, but its results may nevertheless lighten up the mood among tourism chiefs in the country hoping for positive figures this winter. For the complete article, check out our news blogs on this page.

24/12/09

AC/DC concert in doubt over birds!

12/12/09

4/12/09

Avalanche warnings for Alpine regions

Innsbruck. Authorities have issued avalanche warnings after heavy snowfalls in the Alps. Experts at the Avalanche-Warning Service said heavy snow in East Tyrol and along the Alpine divide had created a "precarious” situation in many areas. But they said they expected the situation to returns to normal over the coming days. Conditions above 2,500-metres were most dangerous with regions like the southern Ötz Valley and the Stubai Alps most at risk of avalanches. Skiers were warned of skiing down shadowy, steep slopes with large amounts of freshly-fal- len snow as it could increase the chance of sudden avalanches. Meanwhile fire brigades in the western province of Vorarlberg were called out 35 times on Monday night following the heavy snowfalls.

27/11/09

Salzburg Airport battles the crunch

Airport’s flight  down in first three quarters.

Alexander Klaus, spokesman Austria’s second-biggest airport after Vienna International Airport (VIA), said passenger figures had shrunk by a similar number.

Salzburg Airport CEO Roland Hermann said it was impossible to predict results for the upcoming winter tourism season, but said it would be a success for the airport if it could match 2008 figures this year.   For the complete article, check out our news blogs on this page.

21/11/09

Austrian Sports Minister warns betting scam crooks

SPÖ Sports Minister Norbert Darabos warned any Austrians found to have been involved in a Europe-wide betting scam would face "very tough punishments”. Prosecutors in Bochum announced last week they were investigating "at least 200 matches and 200 people” in several European countries believed to be part of a huge betting fraud.  For the complete article, check out our news blogs on this page.

12/11/09

 Haider Porsche for Auction

A Porsche once owned by late right-wing political leader Jörg Haider has gone up for auction online on Thursday. A Klagenfurt-based firm is offering the metallic blue 911 Targa on its website http://www.cavinnash.at for ten days. Auction organisers expect the winning bid to be much higher than the 320-horsepower car’s market value and believe a fan of the former BZÖ chief will snap it up. Auction organisers said Haider owned the car, which has 58,700 kilometres on the clock, between 2002 and 2004. Haider died when he crashed his VW Phaeton at high speed after a drunken night out in October 2008.

4/11/09

Austrian Economy to Grow

Austria’s economy is to grow next year, the European Commission (EC) has claimed in a revised forecast. The EC raised its prediction of economic growth for Austria in 2010 from minus 0.1 per cent early this year to 1.1 per cent in its autumn economic forecast. It also predicted Austria would record growth of 1.5 per cent in 2011. For the complete article, check out our news blogs on this page.

25/10/09

Salzburg location for new TOM CRUISE Movie

The new Hollywood action movie called “The Unknown Wichita Project” will have quite a few scenes shot in Salzburg. The city government paid a grant of 300.000 Euro to support the costs of the filming.

The city of Salzburg and also the rail line from Zell am See to Böckstein are going to be the shooting locations for the movie. Tom Cruise will play an agent who is searching for inexhaustible sources of energy. He ends up falling in love with a woman played by Cameron Diaz. There will be action packed chase scenes over various continents. There is also a pursuit across the roofs in Salzburg's old town.

It is hoped that the sum of 300.000 Euro is a good investment. “There will be a crew of 200 persons who are going to stay in Salzburg for more than three weeks. They need 200 hotel rooms of the four and five star category. This means a net product of 1,2 mio Euro”, says the city advisor.

28/09/09

Austria wins 322 million Euro contract

Salzburg. Construction firm Alpine Bau GmbH has sealed a 322 million Euros construction deal in Singapore. The company announced on Tuesday it will build two stretches of the second segment of the Downtown Line underground in Singapore to be finished in 2015. The work will entail construction of three new underground stations and a single-track tunnel 6.16 kilometres long. The Downtown Line is scheduled to be built in three segments that should be finished in 2013, 2015 and 2016, respectively. The firm already has a contract for some work on lines 3 and 4 of the city’s underground. Alpine is also working on the Gotthard Basis-tunnel in Switzerland as well as tunnel projects for hydro-electric plants in India, Bulgaria and Turkey. The new deal is another in a string of large foreign contracts for the firm this year, including assignments in Slovenia and Poland.

21/09/09

Austria to pay out €100 for fridges

By David Rogers

The Household Environ- mental Forum (UFH) in cooperation with the envi ronment ministry announced yesterday Austrians would get 100 Euros for the exchange of the old appliances for energy-saving "A++” devices under the scheme, which has been backdated to 1 September. The budget for the initiative, which will last until the end of the year, is 2.5 million Euros.

For the complete article, check out our newsblogs on this page.

13/09/09

Birth rate down in first seven months of 2009

Vienna. The number of births in Austria declined by 2.3 per cent year on year to 42,918 during the first seven months of 2009, Statistik Austria reported yesterday. The biggest decline, 7.8 per cent, occurred in Salzburg and Carinthia, followed by Vorarlberg, 4.9 per cent, Burgenland, 3.9 per cent, Lower Austria, 3.0 per cent, Upper Austria, 2.1 per cent, Tyrol, 1.7 per cent, Vienna, 1.4 per cent, and Styria, 0.7 per cent. The agency had reported last month that the number of births had declined by 2.7 per cent year on year to 35,294 in the first six months of the year.

5/09/09

Solar power sector booming in Austria

Vienna. Austria's solar-power sector is booming and feeling no impact from the recession, a senior industry figure has claimed. Roger Hackstock, head of Austrian solar industry companies’ umbrella organisation Austria Solar, said there had been an increase of 29 per cent to 8,446 in applications for solar-power subsidies year on year in the first six months of 2009. He added an additional 900 jobs in production, distribution and installation fields had also been created. The third quarter, he said, would give an indication of results for the entire year since many applications for subsidies in the first half had been for solar-power installations completed last year.

25/08/09

Austrians oppose EU light bulb law

By Lisa Chapman

Majority says new EU guideline on light bulbs is nonsensical.
Fear over mercury causing illnesses.

Vienna. Almost two thirds of Austrians take a dim view of new EU rules forcing people to switch to new energy saving light bulbs, a new poll has revealed.

In a poll by UFH, a Vienna-based firm that disposes of used electronic devices, 64 per cent of Austrians said the new EU guideline phasing out classic light bulbs that will enter into force on 1 September was nonsensical.

Thermal insulation to boost economy?

WKO boss wants thermal insulation subsidy programme.