Dardis McNamee
Dardis McNamee is the Editor in Chief of Metropole. She has written for The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler (NYC), the Wall Street Journal Europe and Die Zeit in Vienna, as well as having been a speechwriter to two U.S. ambassadors to Austria. She was awarded the 2007 Kemper Award for Excellence in Teaching (Media & Communications).
Cafés and Restaurants
The Heuriger Tradition: Four of the Best
Unique to Austria, traditional wine taverns serve each year’s new vintage with a simple buffet, amid the timeless pleasures of convivial conversation among friends. Many are excellent. Here are four of the best Heuriger in and around Vienna to try.
Features
Marjorie Perloff – An Alternative Language of Modernism
From The Vienna Paradox to The Edge of Irony, the distinguished literary critic and professor emerita examines the seminal literature and thought of Austria’s interwar period.
Features
LieblingsFisch – Shop Plump Trout and Bouillabaisse in the Leopoldstadt
Finding good fish to cook at home just got a lot easier. A new stand on the Karmelitermarkt is a good place to go.
Interviews
Christoph Wiederkehr Tells Us How He Will Change Vienna for the Better
The new deputy mayor has ambitious plans to improve the schools and launch an independent office to fight corruption ... big ideas for the junior coalition partner.
Opinion
Transparency Requires Civil Courage
With the dismantling of Official Secrecy Laws in Austria, real transformation will require a change of culture.
Features
Austrian Insiders Arrested for Aiding Flight of Wirecard COO
Vienna police have taken a former
FPÖ MP and BVT-security head in custody for assisting the escape of Jan Marsalek, mastermind of one of Europe’s greatest postwar financial scandals.
Cover Story
The Lore and Legend Behind the Viennese Kaffeehaus
A myth, a tradition, but most of all a very real place that many in the Austrian capital cannot imagine life without.
General
Renowned Journalist Slavenka Drakulić Revisits Café Europa and Post-Communist Central Europe
A new collection of essays by the renowned journalist retakes the pulse of Central Europe 30 years after communism, and finds the optimism faded into disappointment, fueling an exodus.
Death in Vienna
Some Viennese may play down any special relationship with death. But, then again, it’s probably better not to take any chances...
Opinion
Integration and Identity – Who is a “Real” Austrian?
On the eve of the Vienna mayoral elections, questions of voting rights and double citizenship – of Heritage and 'Heimat' – are again dominating the agenda.
Fall 2020
Historian Philipp Blom – “The Machine Can Be Stopped.”
On the Enlightenment’s mixed legacy, European solidarity and lessons of the pandemic.
Vienna News
COVID in High Places: Star Director Robert Dornhelm Tests Positive After VIP Event
“Freud” director Marvin Kren steps in for leading Austrian filmmaker, who remains ill following an Aug 18 diagnosis and an elite reception at Grafenegg.
People
Frederick Baker, in Memoriam
The Austro-British filmmaker stretched the boundaries of documentary and film technique, exploring interactive storytelling and the application of virtual reality to the experience of art.
Culture
Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt Is a Portrait of Vienna’s Jewish Life
Lush and ultimately shattering, Leopoldstadt is a loving portrait of Jewish life in early 20th century Vienna, and a heartfelt embrace of Stoppard’s own immigrant story.
Culture
Legendary Cellist and Conductor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch at the Salzburg Festival
In celebration of the Festival's 100th anniversary, the last surviving member of the Women's Orchestra at Auschwitz, now 95, spoke by video about the role of music in her life.
Opinion
Who Protects Women from Domestic Violence?
Under COVID-19 lockdown, domestic violence has predictably gone up. Intervention helps.
Interviews
Ewald Nowotny on the EU Post-Pandemic
The pandemic could be the making of the EU, says the former ÖNB governor. On coronabonds,” the “frugal four” and the clever Mrs. Merkel.
City Life
Swimming Across Town | The Danube Canal (Re)opens to the Public
A cooperation between the Kunsthaus and the urban design project Schimmverein Donaukanal hopes to persuade the public of the pleasures on their doorstep.
General
Christo in Vienna
A chance encounter with Christo and Jeanne Claude, the artists who once planned to wrap up one of Vienna’s Flakturm in a giant gauze.
People
Ruth Wodak on How the Far-Right Deceives the Public and Undermines Democracy
How the far-right deceives the public and undermines democracy. A conversation with linguist Ruth Wodak.
Spring, 2020
Donald Tusk, Former President of the European Council, Takes Stock
Hoping to the last to soften Brexit, while welcoming Scotland, the perennial European faces an even greater challenge: to strengthen the continent’s vision of itself.
Austria, the Making of a Republic
On April 27, 1945, the Austrian Proclamation of Independence was signed and promulgated in the liberated city of Vienna. Today, Austrians celebrate 75 years of their Republic, a free, democratic and open country in the middle of Europe.
Coronavirus
“Inländer raus!” – Austrians Stay Away!
In picturesque towns of the Salzkammergut, mayors hoped to limit spread of the Coronavirus by discouraging city visitors. Instead, they sounded peevish and small-minded.
Coronavirus
Ischgl | Greed and Consequences
Delays and denials by Tyrolean officials and the tourism industry have provoked a class action suit, and untold damage to the reputation of the legendary ski resort.
City Life
In the 250th Year of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Birth, Here’s How to Find Him
For the 250th anniversary of the great composer’s birth, Vienna has pulled out all the stops; join us in tracing his footsteps.
Coronavirus
An Italian Journey Fated by Coronavirus
When reality is overtaken by events, risk can be a hard thing to measure: A beloved country in a very strange time
Vienna News
Donald Tusk’s Clear Voice
Welcoming to Scotland, the perennial European is not about to leave the political stage.
Vienna News
Klimt Portrait Passes the Test
The famed Austrian painter’s recently recovered “Portrait of a Woman” is confirmed as the one stolen from an Italian museum over two decades ago.
Vienna News
Finding Beethoven Part I | 4 Ways to Start the Anniversary Year
Beethoven was a “Wahlwiener,” a Viennese by choice. During this 250th anniversary year of his birth, his adopted city has pulled out all the stops on this great organ of musical life, to bring him alive in sounds, sights and special events.
Vienna News
The Tell-Tale Note
Jottings from phone calls at a Vienna hotel key evidence in Trump Impeachment.
General
Pro & Con | Winter 2019
The Still of the Night
by Dardis McNamee
Some come to Vienna wishing it were Rome or Madrid, bistro nights in Trestevere, or partying on t...
Winter 2019
Silvia Frieser & New York’s Viennese Opera Ball
Silvia Frieser and the Viennese Opera Ball in New York
Art
Relearning Excellence | A Post-PISA response
There was a time when the Vienna school system was among the most respected in Europe. Current PISA results are far from that
Fall 2019
Michael Ignatieff | Academic Freedom Fighter
The Central European University finds a safe-haven in Vienna. Amid the optimism of the move its rector warns of the dangers of complacency
Vienna News
Complete Smoking Ban | In Defense of Choice
The Wirtschaftskammer’s, champion of separate smoking areas, still thinks this was the better way to go.
Vienna News
Peter Handke | A Revolution in Language
Criticized for his politics, the Austrian Nobel Laureate has been a transformative voice in 20th century literature.
Opinion
Democracy’s Second Wind in CEE
METROPOLE and GLOBSEC will be cooperating on a range of activities, initiatives and events in the upcoming months to promote democracy in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)
Vienna News
Austrian Journalist Max Zirngast May Be Freed
Austrian journalist Max Zirngast was acquitted of all charges at a court in Ankara, Turkey
Opinion
Opinion | Brigitte Bierlein – Cleaning up After the Men
Come the hour, come the woman. Leading the interim government was going to be a tough gig, but she was ready.
Features
Matti Bunzl: Staging the Conversation
At the Wien Museum, the US-educated Austrian scholar wants to use the incidents of history to question the way we live now.
In Vienna, museums are ...
Opinion
The Choice for Europe
Amid foreign efforts to undermine Western democracy, decisive questions increasingly can only be addressed in Brussels.
So here we are, at press...
Vienna News
Remaking Globalization
Joseph Stiglitz has been awarded the CEU 2019 Open Society Prize at the final graduation ceremony in Budapest. Our Editor in Chief met him in 2006 when he held a speech in Vienna – foreboding much of what has transpired since.
Vienna News
Remembering the Life of Niki Lauda
Austria loses race car hero Niki Lauda – world champion and aviation entrepreneur, and a legend in his own time.
Opinion
The Choice for Europe Ⓜ️
So here we are, at press time, with Austria’s governing coalition deservedly in tatters. After the release of a fatally compromising video the far-right vice chancellor H.C. Strache has been shown the door.
Vienna News
Catering Integration
A new initiative serves delivered lunches to local businesses while training refugee women for careers in the food service business.
Additional re...
Vienna News
Hospital Heal Thyself
After 13 years and €500 million in cost overruns, the new hi-tech Krankenhaus Nord will open in June, integrating and upgrading services from around t...
Vienna News
Breaking News | Britons May Vote in the EU Elections
Regardless of Brexit, British citizens living in Austria may participate in the European elections in May, the Interior Ministry confirmed.
Estimati...
Vienna News
A New Century of Social Housing
As in 1919, Vienna’s revised Building Code hopes to dampen land prices and make the economics of affordable housing work again
In this season of cen...
Vienna News
Heumarkt | Stopped for Now
Under pressure from Federal Culture Minister Gernot Blümel, Vienna’s controversial Heumarkt project was suddenly called off late Sunday (Mar 17), dela...
People
Timothy Snyder’s Call to Action
In an age of confusion, historian and author Timothy Snyder looks to the past for a guide to the future of the West.
On a pleasant evening in late O...
Books
Coffeehouse Diaspora
In A Rich Brew, Shachar Pinsker makes a convincing case for the role of cafés in fostering a golden age of Jewish culture.
In any guidebook about Vie...
Cover Story
The Power of Austrian Culture
How Austrians know who they are
On November 18, the afternoon temperature suddenly dropped to an icy chill and the first flakes of snow began to...
Cafés and Restaurants
Meissl & Schadn | Let Them Eat Schnitzel
Channeling imperial indulgence, the riding dinners at Meissl & Schadn are all about good taste – in both senses.
General
Get the Hang of Wiener Schmäh
Schmäh may not be the first thing you notice when you arrive in Vienna. But it comes up soon enough
In school, for example: My children were astonish...
General
Opinion | Déjà vu All Over Again
With the Neue Mittelschule, reformers tried one-size-fits-all – with dismal results. Education Minister Heinz Faßmann’s pragmatic approach deserves a ...
October, 2018
Opinion | Kurz’s Course Correction
The EU is finally getting tough on Europe’s strongmen.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz played a major role in this turnaround
On September 12, th...
Opinion
Rethinking Nationalism
At the root of Europe’s malaise is a philosophical paradox over what it means to be human.
On a summer afternoon in 1991 soon after the collapse ...
Cafés and Restaurants
Dining on the Danube at the Scenic Ufertaverne
At the Ufertaverne of the Hofbauer Segelschule, great food and wine is only half the draw
It’s a sunny Sunday in Vienna, with a light breeze. A g...
July/August 2018
Has #MeToo Gone Too Far?
Lifetimes of understandable resentment can boil over into presumptions of guilt. This is dangerous. And when important public careers are ruined, ever...
June 2018
Servas, Michi!
After a quarter century, Vienna’s popular Mayor Michael Häupl leaves behind a city more prosperous, international and innovative – yet still humane. T...
General
Die Creme de la Creme | Where to Find Great Austrian Cuisine Around the World
Long underestimated, Austria's culinary traditions are being reinvented and coming into their own
by Bart de Vries & Dardis McNamee
After ...
Books
Book Review | “The Marshall Plan Since 1947” Recalls America’s Role in Post WWII E...
70 years later, the Marshall Plan remains a model for foreign aid policy in everybody’s interest.
In retrospect, the past seems inevitable. But e...
Opinion
Opinion | Remedial German for Migrants: “Ghetto Classes” or Special Treatment?
The debate over remedial German classes for migrants has been heated and polarized. It is also a false choice.
Ludwig Wittgenstein was absorbed w...
Opinion
Making Sense of the Central European Tragedy
What would we have done? Trying to grasp what we can never fully understand.
This year’s commemoration of the Anschluss of Austria by Nazi Germ...
Vienna by District
Nestroyviertel | A Legend Behind Every Door
On a little square, tucked away at the bottom of Praterstraße, stands a gentleman cast in iron, his Napoleon collar high on his neck, top ha...
International
Austria, a Country Reborn
As the Habsburg Empire entered the final year of the Great War, the future seemed wide open. A turbulent century followed.
On a pleasant summer...
Opinion
The Dangers of Denial
Two years after the start of the refugee crisis, some hard truths and daunting challenges can no longer be ignored.
Since 2015, when over a mil...
Books
The Education of Viktor Orban
In "Orban: Europe's New Strongman" Paul Lendvai tracks the ambition of the increasingly authoritarian Hungarian prime minister.
In politics, symbol...
The Nostalgia Trap: How There Has Never Been Just One “Old Vienna”
In every age, the pressures of change in Vienna have stirred a longing for better times gone by, often more imagined than real, but nonetheless ...
Opinion
Opinion | What Happens When we Forget the Reasons for the EU?
The exuberance of the early 2000s has given way to mistrust, but catastrophe can be avoided if we keep a close eye on the past
In 2007, Austra...
International
The Empress & the Wine: Slovakia
How well do you know your neighbors? We looked into the Alpine Republic’s special relationship with each of them
Austrians know its nearby cap...
Opinion
Opinion | Europe’s Identity Under Crisis: Is Populism the Answer?
The anguish over protectionism misses a deeper message about European identity
The news about Europe these days is discouraging: headlines, books and...
Opinion
Opinion | What’s to Come of the Neighborhood Beisl?
The closing of the beloved Café Industrie on the Margaretengürtel in May made headlines in Vienna
A family Lokal handed down from mother to daugh...
Opinion
Opinion | To Sunday or not to Sunday
Retail stores in Austria still stay closed on Sundays, but the benefits outweigh the inconveniences
So Richard Lugner is at it ...
Opinion
Opinion | How the Solar Eclipse Shows how Tiny we Really are
“It’s difficult to make predictions,” the great Danish physicist Niels Bohr liked to say, “especially about the future” – a proverb that captured quit...
Books
Books | In Black Vienna Janek Wassermann Shows the Radical Right’s Interwar Takeover of the Ci...
Janek Wasserman takes a closer look at conservative discontent in Red Vienna during the interwar period
It is the victors who write the history, Win...
Opinion
Opinion | The Controversial Heumarkt Project Endangers Vienna’s UNESCO World Heritage Status a...
Vienna has traded their skyline to improve the Wiener Eislaufverein and other public spaces in the area. But at what cost?
In this proud old city...
Opinion
Opinion | More Than Just Fresh air, the Mountains cut off Your Phone, but Reconnect you with Nature
Summer in the mountains is a world apart: Here, the air is thick with smells of moist earth, acacia and wild honeysuckle. On a cloudless day, the ligh...
Opinion
Opinion | Former Foreign Minister Alois Mock, Remembered for Cutting the “Iron Curtain”,...
History is often remembered in an iconic photograph, and so it was when the Foreign Ministers of Austria, Alois Mock, and Hungary, Guyla Horn, met on ...
Opinion
Opinion | Kurz the Boy Wonder
When Sebastian Kurz was asked to be State Secretary for Integration in 2011, he was 24 years old.
It was a new position, and then-ÖVP party chairman...
Opinion
Opinion | The Politics of Women’s Clothing on Beaches and Billboards
The politics of women’s clothing in advertising
A double billboard fills the end wall of an apartment house just off the Karmelitermarkt in Vienna’s ...
Opinion
How the war the U.S. Entered 100 Years ago Gave Birth to Peace in our Time
The centennial of the Great War is the clearest argument for why the European Union matters
In May 1917 – 100 years ago this month – the fi...
Opinion
Opinion | Why Elfriede Jelinek’s Trump Play Might Just Make Waves
While others may debate whether art is, or should be, political, Austrian Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek has never been in doubt.
Through much...
Opinion
Keeping Women on the Austrian Farm
To keep women on the land, things will have to change.
One of the most successful programs in the history of Austrian television is a quirky dat...
Opinion
What Lies Ahead for Café-Restaurant Cobenzl
Charm is an elusive quality, a mix of beauty, setting, an appeal to the heart. Something precious. Even in Vienna, it should never be taken for grante...
Opinion
Opinion | How Tony Blair is Trying to Save Britain From Itself
Calling ‘the pain large, the gain illusory,’ the former PM’s last-ditch effort to undo Brexit
Tony Blair has just given Britain another chance. ...
Opinion
Opinion | Politics in the Sauna
In the current political climate, trust is at a premium. So Gerhard Kroiß (FPÖ), the deputy mayor of Wels in Lower Austria, decided it was time for th...
How To
How to be a Diplomat
The ultimate dream jobs in public service take patience, persistence and good language skills. If you’re lucky, you even get to save the world
Ad...
Opinion
Opinion | (Fake) News of the World
How a small number of young eastern Europeans have managed to influence U.S politics
Fake news has no borders. Last fall, in the flurry of debunk...
Art
Georgia O’Keeffe: The Reluctant Icon
Georgia O’Keeffe stars in her largest retrospective outside of her home country
Most people first get to know Georgia O’Keeffe through her volupt...
People
Remembering Ari Rath (1925 – 2017)
Vienna-born Ari Rath, former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, died on January 13, 2017, at the age of 92. A strong advocate for peace between th...
Opinion
Opinion | Integration à la Suisse
It has happened so often
Soon after their arrival in Austria, a refugee family makes a formal application for asylum and is assigned to a small t...
Science & Technology
Alpine Hi–Tech
Skiing is deeply embedded in Austrian identity. In spite of climate change, technology has made the sport smarter and safer
International familie...
Opinion
Opinion | It Can’t Happen Here
Across Europe, liberal principles are under pressure, Austrian democracy must not be put at risk
In a few weeks, Austrians will again go to the p...
October 2016
Teaching Thinkers
A revolution in school reform – finally!
Austria’s new Education Minister Sonja Hammerschmid had barely taken office before she began ruffling fe...
Opinion
Once More, with Feeling
With contributions pouring in, Alexander Van der Bellen is out to win the Hofburg – again – and help set the tone for Europe’s future
On a brilliantly...
July/August 2016
Editorial: Politics with Production Values
Austria’s new media-savvy chancellor Christian Kern offers a “New Deal,” while facing down the far right
It was high drama in the Austrian Parliament...
