Dardis McNamee, Author at Metropole

Cover Stories

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.

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Dardis McNamee - January 15, 2021

Gemischter Satz

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.

Dardis McNamee - December 9, 2020

Cover Stories

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...

Dardis McNamee - November 1, 2020

Online

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.

Dardis McNamee - October 9, 2020

Fall 2020

Historian Philipp Blom – “The Machine Can Be Stopped.”

On the Enlightenment’s mixed legacy, European solidarity and lessons of the pandemic.

Dardis McNamee - September 27, 2020

Online

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.

Dardis McNamee - September 20, 2020

Online

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.

Dardis McNamee - September 4, 2020

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.

Dardis McNamee - August 16, 2020

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.

Dardis McNamee - August 15, 2020

Op-Ed

Who Protects Women from Domestic Violence?

Under COVID-19 lockdown, domestic violence has predictably gone up. Intervention helps.

Dardis McNamee - August 12, 2020

Gemischter Satz

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.

Dardis McNamee - July 23, 2020

Explore Vienna

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.

Dardis McNamee - July 18, 2020

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.

Dardis McNamee - June 7, 2020

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.

Dardis McNamee - May 25, 2020

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.

Dardis McNamee - May 12, 2020

Empire to Republic

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.

Dardis McNamee - April 27, 2020

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.

Dardis McNamee - April 20, 2020

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.

Dardis McNamee - April 14, 2020

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.

Dardis McNamee - March 18, 2020

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

Dardis McNamee - March 18, 2020

Online

Donald Tusk’s Clear Voice

Welcoming to Scotland, the perennial European is not about to leave the political stage.

Dardis McNamee - February 19, 2020

Online

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.

Dardis McNamee - February 5, 2020

Online

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.

Dardis McNamee - January 18, 2020

Online

The Tell-Tale Note

Jottings from phone calls at a Vienna hotel key evidence in Trump Impeachment.

Dardis McNamee - January 16, 2020

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...

Dardis McNamee - January 13, 2020

Winter 2019

Silvia Frieser & New York’s Viennese Opera Ball

Silvia Frieser and the Viennese Opera Ball in New York

Dardis McNamee - January 6, 2020

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

Dardis McNamee - December 23, 2019

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

Dardis McNamee - November 16, 2019

Online

Complete Smoking Ban | In Defense of Choice

The Wirtschaftskammer’s, champion of separate smoking areas, still thinks this was the better way to go.

Dardis McNamee - November 4, 2019

Online

Peter Handke | A Revolution in Language

Criticized for his politics, the Austrian Nobel Laureate has been a transformative voice in 20th century literature.

Dardis McNamee - October 26, 2019

Online

Eric Pleskow | Of Films and Forgiveness

From Refugee to Hollywood to Guest of Honour.

Dardis McNamee - October 14, 2019

Op-Ed

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)

Dardis McNamee - September 15, 2019

Online

Austrian Journalist Max Zirngast May Be Freed

Austrian journalist Max Zirngast was acquitted of all charges at a court in Ankara, Turkey

Dardis McNamee - September 11, 2019

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.

Dardis McNamee - September 5, 2019

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 ...

Dardis McNamee - July 29, 2019

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 ti...

Dardis McNamee - July 2, 2019

Online

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.

Dardis McNamee - July 1, 2019

Online

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.

Dardis McNamee - May 29, 2019

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.

Dardis McNamee - May 25, 2019

Online

Catering Integration

A new initiative serves delivered lunches to local businesses while training refugee women for careers in the food service business. Additional re...

Dardis McNamee - May 8, 2019

Online

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...

Dardis McNamee - April 30, 2019

Online

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...

Dardis McNamee - April 8, 2019

Online

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...

Dardis McNamee - April 8, 2019

Online

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...

Dardis McNamee - March 19, 2019

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...

Dardis McNamee - March 10, 2019

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 V...

Dardis McNamee - February 26, 2019

Cover Stories

The Power of 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 b...

Dardis McNamee - December 5, 2018

Restaurants

Meissl & Schadn | Let Them Eat Schnitzel

Channeling imperial indulgence, the riding dinners at Meissl & Schadn are all about good taste – in both senses.

Dardis McNamee - December 5, 2018

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...

Dardis McNamee - November 13, 2018

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 ...

Dardis McNamee - November 8, 2018

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...

Dardis McNamee - September 28, 2018

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 ...

Dardis McNamee - August 23, 2018

Food & Drink

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...

Dardis McNamee - June 30, 2018

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...

Dardis McNamee - June 30, 2018

Features

Texting Europe | Hungary’s Children of the Revolution

Dardis McNamee - May 30, 2018

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...

Dardis McNamee - May 28, 2018

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 ...

Dardis McNamee - May 8, 2018

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...

Dardis McNamee - May 3, 2018

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...

Dardis McNamee - April 29, 2018

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...

Dardis McNamee - March 29, 2018

Grätzl

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...

Dardis McNamee - March 29, 2018

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...

Dardis McNamee - March 2, 2018

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...

Dardis McNamee - February 8, 2018

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, sy...

Dardis McNamee - January 31, 2018

Cover Stories

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 ...

Dardis McNamee - November 30, 2017

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 200...

Dardis McNamee - November 30, 2017

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 n...

Dardis McNamee - November 5, 2017

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...

Dardis McNamee - October 31, 2017

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...

Dardis McNamee - September 28, 2017

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 ...

Dardis McNamee - September 28, 2017

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...

Dardis McNamee - August 30, 2017

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, ...

Dardis McNamee - August 30, 2017

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...

Dardis McNamee - July 1, 2017

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...

Dardis McNamee - July 1, 2017

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 ...

Dardis McNamee - July 1, 2017

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...

Dardis McNamee - June 1, 2017

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 ...

Dardis McNamee - June 1, 2017

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...

Dardis McNamee - April 29, 2017

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...

Dardis McNamee - April 28, 2017

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...

Dardis McNamee - March 31, 2017

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...

Dardis McNamee - March 31, 2017

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. ...

Dardis McNamee - March 6, 2017

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...

Dardis McNamee - March 6, 2017

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...

Dardis McNamee - March 6, 2017

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...

Dardis McNamee - February 6, 2017

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...

Dardis McNamee - February 6, 2017

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...

Dardis McNamee - January 17, 2017

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...

Dardis McNamee - December 5, 2016

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...

Dardis McNamee - December 5, 2016

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...

Dardis McNamee - November 1, 2016

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...

Dardis McNamee - October 1, 2016

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...

Dardis McNamee - September 1, 2016

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...

Dardis McNamee - July 1, 2016

June 2016

Editorial: Climate Refugees

As failed crops, droughts, and extreme weather cause more upheaval we may need to rethink our definitions Across 17th century Europe, the tempera...

Dardis McNamee - June 1, 2016

May 2016

Editorial: Can’t Take a Joke

With each attempt to strong-arm the media, Turkish President Erdogan only confirms his vulnerability Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is ha...

Dardis McNamee - May 1, 2016

April 2016

How to…Keep your culture

Being an expat in Vienna doesn't necessarily mean turning your back on all things home Often, it isn’t until you live outside your native land th...

Dardis McNamee - April 1, 2016

April 2016

Editorial: Rediscovering Statesmanship

Austrian leaders took some risks – and a lot of criticism – to start the diplomatic conversation As I write this Brussels is still smoldering fro...

Dardis McNamee - April 1, 2016

March 2016

Editorial: The Right to be “Ugly”

Eugene Quinn’s irreverent campaign to reimagine Vienna, and break down hidebound rules of trade If you stare at something long enough, it can...

Dardis McNamee - March 1, 2016

February 2016

Editorial: Suspending Schengen and Migration to Europe

Closing Europe’s borders is not the solution to the refugee crisis, but it might help open a real discussion about it. by Dardis McNamee and Greg...

Dardis McNamee - February 1, 2016

Books

Book Review: Theater of Modernity

With a fascinating cast of characters, Philipp Blom’s engaging history of the inter-war years stages the glories and agonies of these troubled times....

Dardis McNamee - February 1, 2016