Benjamin Wolf

Sebastian Kurz announced today that he will step down as chancellor. Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) is tapped to take over.

In 2019, it was a secretly filmed video that broke the coalition between ÖVP and FPÖ. For the ÖVP-Green government, chats may spell the end of the coalition.

The Austrian government is on the brink of collapse following allegations of corruption against chancellor Sebastian Kurz and the ÖVP. Here’s what could come next.

After the raids Wednesday, October 6, on ÖVP offices and allegations that favorable newspaper coverage was paid for with taxpayer money, the chancellor is under intense political pressure.

Monthly inflation has accelerated to 3.2%, the highest since 2011. With the economy recovering rapidly, all eyes are now on wage negotiations.

Vienna’s MA 35 is responsible for immigration and citizenships. Now, an anonymous official has shared an account of how dysfunctional and gridlocked the office has become.

Downpours this past weekend caused floods across the country, leaving Hallein in Salzburg and Kufstein in Tyrol underwater. In the capital, more rain fell in an hour than in the
previous seven weeks together.

Over the last few days, Austria’s immigration authorities have deported children from Lower Austria and Vienna to Armenia and Georgia. Most of them have spent the majority of their lives in Austria or were born here.

It was a night of grief and terror. But in their unique way, the Viennese showed heroism, resilience and wit.

Viennese voters have handed the ruling SPÖ of Mayor Michael Ludwig a decisive victory. All other parties win a higher vote share. Only the far-right-wing FPÖ implodes, losing more than three quarters of its voters.

From digital devices to digital platforms, the government is launching an ambitious new program to bring technology to Austrian schools.

A new city planning law stipulates that all new residential buildings in Vienna have to be built with solar collectors on the roof. Meanwhile, the federal government almost doubled funds for climate initiatives.

Austria’s public broadcaster now offers current news snippets in multiple languages. The short videos published every other day on Instagram cover coronavirus news in 9 languages.

In a “game-changing” advance, all major Austrian telecom companies have launched the next generation of telecommunications network – 5G.

Here are the people who will be running the country: their backgrounds, portfolios and plans

A new law ends the practice of deporting asylum seekers in formal training for jobs in Austria

Three FPÖ members of the Viennese municipal council announced today that they’d form a new political club – The Alliance for Austria (DAÖ). Former FPÖ chief H.C. Strache is expected to head the new party in due time.

New nightjets for the ÖBB | A new generation of sleeper trains promise futuristic comfort to train travelers all over Austria.

Once one of Europe and Vienna’s most famous Jewish families, expropriated and expelled by Nazi terror – the Ephrussis – are back in Vienna with a new grand exhibition.

Listen to all the best music from our current issue on Spotify

The elections have been fought, the winners and losers on the record. Now all eyes are turning to the decisive coalition negotiations.

In September, over 220,000 Viennese students went back to school. Some go willingly, some have to be dragged, but Austrian parents have a stock response to unwilling schoolgoers: Blame Maria Theresa

With parliamentary elections less than four weeks away, parties put forward their ideas.

The basic tenets of the program are and remain, according to Kurz: no new debt, a lower tax burden and the fight against illegal immigration.

The 46-page SPÖ manifesto focuses on health, work, education, infrastructure and protecting the climate – but also contains some bold policy proposals.

The FPÖ’s manifesto is thus a mix of praising the measures taken over the last two years and promises to go further.

the party’s 80-pages manifesto focuses on protecting the climate and sustainability, alongside long-term NEOS topics such as education, a pension reform and more transparency for parties and state authorities.

Led into the 2019 elections by long-time politician Werner Kogler, the fight against climate change and for sustainability takes center stage in the Green party manifesto.

An audacious art installation transforms Carinthia’s largest stadium into a woodland.

With Austrians coming back from their summer holidays, a heated political fall awaits them.

After being shut down for five days, ride-sharing service Uber is now back on the streets of Vienna.

+++ Update, July 24 +++ Vienna’s new mist cooling system officially has a name: Sommerspritzer. On July 24, Vienna’s Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) announced the results of the name poll to find a replacement for the rather clumsy term Hydranten-Sprühnebeldusche-Trinkbrunnen (hydrant-spray …

Vienna’s New Cooling Installations Will Be Called “Sommerspritzer” Read More »

Train passenger numbers in Austria have hit new records, making the country the No. 1 railroad nation in the EU. That builds on a long legacy.

An exhibition of portraits of Holocaust survivors on Vienna’s Ringstraße has been defiled on three separate occasions since May 7. Now, civil society is stepping up to protect them.

With press freedom declining across Central Europe, Austrians have to stay vigilant to defend the rights of journalists. Poland is under siege. So is Hungary. The forces arrayed against our proud, confident nations are numerous, sly and insidious. But fear …

Could it Happen Here? Read More »