Benjamin Wolf
Benjamin studied Journalism, History and International Affairs. After stints with Cafébabel in Paris and Arte in Strasbourg, he is now working as managing editor and COO for Metropole in Vienna. Fields of expertise are politics, economics, culture, and history.Photo: Visual Hub
General
Solar Roofs for All New Buildings in Vienna & a Turbocharged Climate Budget
A new city planning law stipulates that no residential building in Vienna may be built in the future without solar collectors on the roof. Meanwhile, the federal government almost doubled funds for climate initiatives.
Coronavirus
The Coronavirus in Austria & Vienna | Austrian Airlines to Fly Again Starting on June 15
Austria has successfully flattened the curve, for now. Here’s all you need to know about current measures, including available resources, trusted sources and tips – regularly updated.
General
Home is where the Herz is
Understanding Vienna means understanding all the cultures that make up this diverse city. Vienna is home to people from over 180 nations. Metropole g...
Online
Vienna Ranked as Greenest City in the World – and Metropolitans Show Why
Our readers share some of their favorite pictures of springtime Vienna.
Coronavirus
The Coronavirus in Austria & Vienna | What Happened in April
Austria has successfully flattened the curved. Here’s all you need to know about what happened in April 2020 in Vienna and beyond.
Coronavirus
How Austrian Businesses Are Now Fighting the Coronavirus
The pandemic and the shutdown have shaken the country’s economy. Now businesses gear up to help fight the coronavirus, with masks, hackers, drones and more.
How To
“Where There’s a Will…”
Getting our affairs in order in time of a crisis can be a huge relief for all parties, while protecting those you love.
Coronavirus
The ORF Goes Multilingual – a Little Bit
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.
Coronavirus
The Austrian Cultural Forum New York Invites You to Vienna’s Digital Concert Hall
The sound of Austrian music reverberates even in times of the lockdown, from Vienna to New York. The Konzerthaus’s digital concert hall brings live music to your home.
Coronavirus
All Eyes on Austria as it Reopens Stores, Eases Coronavirus Lockdown
The world watches as Austria becomes one of the first countries European countries to start lifting its lockdown. A media review.
Coronavirus
An Easter Sunday in the Prater
This spring is different. A report from a Styrian in Vienna, as we all stay together apart.
Coronavirus
What to Eat to Keep Your Immune System Fit
Two immunologists share which nutrients can support our resistance to disease in the times of corona.
Coronavirus
Vienna’s Artists Bring the Best of Culture to Your Couch
Cultural life on Austria is on standby – but not quite. Many institutions are trying to keep the spirit alive online. We’ve compiled the best of Vienna’s cultural offerings you can enjoy from your couch.
Coronavirus
The Coronavirus in Austria & Vienna | What Happened in March
The coronavirus has arrived in Austria. Here’s all you need to know about what happened in March 2020 in Vienna and beyond.
Coronavirus
Help Us Help You
In these turbulent times, we are there for you, every day. Now we need your support to keep it up.
Coronavirus
English-language Updates on the Coronavirus in Austria
Metropole is there for the roughly 500,000 non-German speakers across Austria who need information on COVID-19 developments. Their contribution to the #stayathome effort is vital for the success of Austrian safety measures.
Coronavirus
The MA 35 & Vienna’s City Administration in the Time of Corona
The MA 35 still operates, but remotely. And Vienna’s Mayor issued an urgent plea to the Viennese to not overwhelm the city’s administration at exactly this time.
Online
3 Ways to Swear Like a Real Wiener
Entire books have been written about the ingenious ways the Viennese swear, rant, yammer and nag. And we know how to help you get acquainted with the high art of Viennese swearing.
Online
5G Comes to Austria
In a “game-changing” advance, all major Austrian telecom companies have launched the next generation of telecommunications network – 5G.
Online
Can’t Vote in Vienna? Here’s Your Chance to Have a Voice
A new project by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) aims to bring Viennese who are not citizens into the political conversation. And you can be part of it!
Online
Austria’s New Government | Who’s Doing What
Here are the people who will be running the country: their backgrounds, portfolios and plans
Online
New Austrian Government Sworn In
Austria’s first ever coalition between ÖVP and the Greens is being sworn in today – setting quite a few records.
Online
How the ÖVP & Greens Reached the Coalition Deal
How Austria got its first-ever coalition government between Conservatives and Greens
Online
“With Courage and Confidence”
Austrian Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen addresses the nation in his New Year’s Speech 2020
Online
The Best Train Trips from Vienna in 2020
The Austrian capital has become the best-connected city by rail in Europe
Online
Apprenticed Asylum Seekers Can Stay
A new law ends the practice of deporting asylum seekers in formal training for jobs in Austria
Online
Strache Loyalists Found New Party
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.
Online
New Nightjets for the ÖBB
New nightjets for the ÖBB | A new generation of sleeper trains promise futuristic comfort to train travelers all over Austria.
Online
Crime Group Smuggling Nuclear Materials Arrested in Vienna
In an internationally coordinate operation, a group attempting to sell nuclear containers could be arrested.
Online
The Ephrussis Are Back in Vienna
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.
Online
ÖVP & Greens Enter Coalition Talks
After flirting and courting, now come the hard-nosed marriage negotiations
Online
ÖBB Launched Night Train Service to Brussels, Starting at €29
The new night train connection from Vienna to Brussels will be launched on January 19, 2020. And the ÖBB are already working on more nocturnal rail connections.
Online
Metal Workers Get a 2.8% Raise
Always first to negotiate the new sectoral wages, metal workers are a bellwether for economy-wide wage negotiations in Austria.
Online
Diversity in Parliament
Austria’s newly elected National Assembly is the most female and diverse in its history – but imbalances remain.
Local Finds
7 Austrian Expressions that Sound Hilarious in English
Translating expressions word for word into another language seldom makes sense, as anyone who ever tried it can attest. Chances are you will be met with befuddled looks or cackling laughter, like a human version of google translate.
Online
What Coalition the Media Expect – and Want
The elections have been fought, the winners and losers on the record. Now all eyes are turning to the decisive coalition negotiations.
Opinion
Maria Theresia Is to Blame
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
Online
What Coalition Now for King Kurz?
A coalition between Conservatives and Greens seems currently like the most feasible option. Will ÖVP chief Sebastian Kurz go for it?
Online
Austria Goes to the Polls
With parliamentary elections less than four weeks away, parties put forward their ideas.
Online
World’s First Hydrogen-Powered Light Rail to Be Built in Austria’s Zillertal
The popular tourist region in Tyrol has decided to replace its existing diesel system with a hydrogen-powered light rail, a world premiere on narrow gauge tracks.
newsletter
Party Manifestos | What the People’s Party (ÖVP) Wants for Austria
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.
newsletter
Party Manifestos | What the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) Wants for Austria
The 46-page SPÖ manifesto focuses on health, work, education, infrastructure and protecting the climate – but also contains some bold policy proposals.
newsletter
Party Manifestos | What the Freedom Party (FPÖ) Wants for Austria
The FPÖ’s manifesto is thus a mix of praising the measures taken over the last two years and promises to go further.
newsletter
Party Manifestos | What the Liberal Party (NEOS) Wants for Austria
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.
newsletter
Party Manifestos | What the Green Party Wants for Austria
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.
newsletter
Party Manifestos | What the Liste JETZT Wants for Austria
The list led by former Green MP Peter Pilz seems unlikely to make it into parliament this time. The central idea of the Liste JETZT is better control of the government.
newsletter
Party Manifestos | What the Small Parties Want for Austria
Seven smaller parties are also running in the 2019 parliamentary elections, but only two – Wandel and the KPÖ – made it onto the national ballot.
Online
Plant Me a Forest
An audacious art installation transforms Carinthia’s largest stadium into a woodland.
Online
Austrian Parliament Offers Citizenship to Descendants of Holocaust Victims
A move once promised by ex-chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Parliament has now made good on it.
newsletter
Party Manifestos | What the Liberal Party (NEOS) Wants for Austria
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.
Fall 2019
City Planning Masterpiece – Explore Our Fall 2019 Issue
Browse our digital issue now. Our stories will be optimized for an online experience and published separately on the website in the weeks to come.
Online
Austria Gets Ready to Vote
With Austrians coming back from their summer holidays, a heated political fall awaits them.
newsletter
Taking the Train
Taking the train for the summer holidays is becoming trendy again – and Austrian cities are again serving as international hubs, just as in times gone by.
newsletter
Austrian Employment at Record High As Growth Chugs Along
The Austrian economy is a job-creation machine for the entire region and remains unruffled by slowing global growth.
newsletter
Guess Who’s Back – Uber!
After being shut down for five days, ride-sharing service Uber is now back on the streets of Vienna.
Online
Vienna’s New Cooling Installations Will Be Called “Sommerspritzer”
+++ Update, July 24 +++Vienna's new mist cooling system officially has a name: Sommerspritzer. On July 24, Vienna's Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) annou...
Online
Austrian Railways Set New Records
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.
Online
7 Words That’ll Win You the Heart of a Wiener
No matter how well you speak German, these words will impress any Viennese.
Explore Vienna
What’s Your U-Bahn Type?
Fifty years ago, construction started on Vienna’s subway network. The Wiener Linien celebrate the joyous occasion with perfumed wagons, a refurbished ...
Online
My Bahn? U-Bahn
This year we get a refurbished U4, perfumed and a video straight out of the 80s. Astonishing progress for a subway network that first broke ground 50 years ago.
Travel
Alpine Boardwalk | Our Guide to Wörthersee
From jet setters to families, Carinthia's Wörthersee is the waterfront escape Austrians keep coming back to.
Online
Austrian Parliament Goes Into Overdrive
On July 2, the Austrian parliament passed a raft of consequential measures covering everything from paternal leave to a smoking ban.
Explore Vienna
Making a Big Splash at Vienna’s Pools
Vienna’s pools are more than just a place to cool off, they are an arena for the city’s social life
Online
Glitter & Hope at Life Ball 2019
A tradition both modern and deeply Viennese comes to a finale furioso – and perhaps opens the way for an encore
Online
Caretaker Government Sworn In
Brigitte Bierlein becomes Austria’s first female chancellor and puts together an interim government with expertise, wide appeal and unknown ambitions.
Online
Europe Has Voted
The new European Parliament is both more diverse and more fragmented. But the message voters sent turned out to be quite different from the populist wave many were dreading.
Online
Lest We Forget
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.
Business & Career
Austria’s Hidden Champions
Between 175 and 200 Austrian companies are considered to be hidden champions. That’s the highest density per capita in the world. These companies are ...
Online
Who Would You Vote For?
In less than a week, Europeans go to the polls to elect the new European Parliament. Despite the transnational character of the EU elections, party li...
Online
Orbán Divides Austria & Europe
The Hungarian Prime Minister wants to build a European right-wing alliance. Austria’s Vice-Chancellor H.C. Strache is one of his strongest supporters,...
Online
Checks & Balances
Austria’s government plans a sweeping revamp of banking supervision that would strip the central bank of its oversight role.
Long allies in the overs...
November 2018
Could it Happen Here?
With press freedom declining across Central Europe, Austrians have to stay vigilant to defend the rights of journalists.Poland i...
General
Vienna’s Police Live-Tweet a Weekend’s Work
Have you ever wondered what Vienna's police officers are up to all day (and night) long? Well, you're in luck! On the weekend of September 29-30, the ...
Cover Stories
Cover Story | Hidden Giants
Austria may sometimes appear frozen in time. But below the surface, its people power one of the most vibrant globalized economies in the world
Skis, ...
Empire to Republic
This Map Shows Everything You Need to Know About Ukraine
This month's Empire to Republic is about Ukraine. Check out the map with everything you need to now about the country.
City Life
Renting Riddles
Housing in Vienna is relatively affordable, but figuring out what rent you actually ought to pay is surprisingly complicated.Property in Vienna ...
Empire to Republic
10 Things To Do in Croatia and Slovenia
From the peaks of the Alps to the sand-stone of the Dalmatian coast, both Slovenia and Croatia have wonders small and tasty to shareBy Neža Luka...
Local Finds
Empire to Republic | A Bohemian Rhapsody: 10 Things to See & Do in Czechia
In their anthem, Czechs wistfully praise the beauty of their land. And indeed, from orchards decked in spring's array to technological prowess bustlin...
International
100 Years Later, 10 Nations Reckon with Their Austro-Hungarian Past
For the 100th anniversary of the demise of the Habsburg Empire and the forming of new states and territories in its place, we are embarking on a y...
Opinion
#Reichenhetze | When Harrassing the Rich Meets Daily Racism
“How are you doing today?” the paramedic asks with a smile, as the ambulance hurtles towards the hospital. “I’m not talking to a Neger (negro),” the p...
International
Ahoj Fešák! – Czechia
How well do you know your neighbors? We looked into the Alpine Republic’s special relationship with each of them
Special Report
Special Report | How Vienna is Bidding to Become the new Home of the European Banking Authority
Following the Brexit vote, two EU agencies are poised to leave London. Amidst cutthroat competition, Vienna is a prime contender...
Stage
The Illusionist Philipp Oberlohr can Read Your Mind, and he Knows You’re Coming to his Next Sh...
Baffling and bewildering, illusionist Philipp Oberlohr knows everything about youAs I walked through the 16th district, I suddenly g...
Opinion
Opinion | Will Austria’s new Government Find Friends in the “Right” Places?
He did it. Sebastian Kurz, head of the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), won the Austrian election.
His shift to a more populist stance on immigrati...
Special Report
Special Report | The Austrian Election: A Soap Opera
On October 15, Austrians will head to the polls to elect a new parliament – in the most elaborate piece of theater the Alpine Republic has on ...
Out of Town
Travel | Switching From Ski Boots to Hiking Boots, Austrians Head to the Alps in Every Season
Summer heat doesn’t temper Austrians’ appetite for high peaks in the slightest.Many Austrians have never seen The Sound of Music (after all,...
Cover Stories
At The End of the Rainbow
The LGBT scene has experienced a surge of acceptance in Austria, but it took a while to get here and equality is not yet a reality.
Business & Career
Get Ready for the Freestyle Explosion That is Masters of Dirt
So what's wrong with dirty money? Founder Georg Fechter has perfected the art of banking on fuel, fire and adrenaline.Motors roar, flames blaz...
Blog
7 (more) German words that will piss off Austrians
More fun with confusing Austro-German idiomsLast year we published some entry-level instruction for avoiding embarrassment (or purposefully instig...
Cover Stories
Living and Working in Austria
Austrians appreciate a fair day’s work if it doesn’t interfere too much with their private lives. But as the economic heart of Central Europe, the cou...
How To
How to be a Spy
Are you cut out for 00 status? Improve your combat skills, polish your manners, and become wine, poker and dance floor savvy. It could just save you...
Books
Books | Prized by the People – “The Habsburg Empire: A New History”
A myth-busting new history of the Habsburg Empire by Pieter M. Judson gives valuable insights on nationalism and identity in Central EuropeIn Ju...
Stage
Beguiled by the Bird-Catcher
The Raimund Theater sets the stage for Emanuel Schikaneder, legendary writer of The Magic Flute.Every year, the day after the famed Opera Ball s...
Books
Unbridled Learning
With schools and universities starting again, Benedict Carey’s How We Learn is the right guide for getting your brain in full swing.
Learning is a sl...
International
The State of the Union – Post-Brexit Europe
The Brexit vote has shaken the Europe’s political foundations. Will the project begin to unravel, or is this a new start for the Continent?They ...
