Culture
Children Uprooted: “Kindertransporte aus Wien”
November 12, 2021: The opening day for the Christkindlmarkt dawned mild and hazy. At a table by the window at Café Landtmann, my 4-ye...
Books
David Edmonds’ The Murder of Professor Schlick Recounts the Rise and Fall of the Vienna Circle...
In The Murder of Professor Schlick, author David Edmonds recreates the compelling history of Vienna’s contributions to scientific philosophy. The book will come out in paperback on March 29, 2022.
Books
Books – Angus Robertson Explores Diplomatic History in Vienna: The International Capital
To say that Angus Robertson knows Vienna well would be an understatement. Bilingual thanks to his German mother and Scottish father, he moved to Vien...
Books
Stefan Zweig, A Global Phenomenon
In this special exhibition, the Literaturmuseum explores how both Stefan Zweig and his stories travelled across the world.
Culture
5 Unique Austrian TV Shows to Discover During the Holidays
Whether you prefer the sleepy countryside or the sombre beauty of 19th century Vienna: here are five Austrian TV shows we recommend!
Art
Egon Schiele and the Cult of the Self
A sampling of the breakthrough artist Egon Schiele’s wrenching self-portraits and an eclectic selection of 12 others to follow.
Books
BOOKS: The Lessons of History in Snow Country
In Snow Country, a new novel by Sebastian Faulks, readers learn about love and consciousness in Austria’s interwar chaos.
Bosnian in Vienna
Let’s Speak Bosnian! – Šprehati bosanski!
Derived from German “sprechen”, “šprehati” is colloquial Bosnian for speaking, one of many borrowed words that are now a vital part of the Bosnian language.
Bosnian in Vienna
Nina Kusturica – Filming Migration Stories
Austro-Bosnian director Nina Kusturica has put the issues of displacement on film, while challenging the orthodoxies of entrenched power.
Books
The Struggle to Preserve & Promote the Bosnian Language
The Bosnian language is still not sufficiently recognized as an important mother-tongue in Austria. A linguist wants to change that.
Culture
3 Museums in Vienna You Can Go to for Free
Austria takes pride in its museums. While some only open their doors “gratis” on certain days, others even go so far as never charging.
Film
Metropole’s Ten Films to Watch at the Viennale 2021
Out of over 200 international films presented at Viennale 2021, Metropole has selected the top ten to share with you.
Art
Vienna Is On OnlyFans: Our Cultural Capital Gets Naked
The Vienna Tourism Board keeps having artworks censored on social media. The solution? Now, Vienna is on OnlyFans.
Books
The Climbers – Local Author Keith Gray’s novel on The Times “Best Books”
Insightful and heartfelt, the book was honored for its success at capturing the struggles of growing up.
Culture
Theater Calling: From Turkey Onto Viennese Stages
Vienna’s theater scene is enriched by a multitude of actors, groups and playwrights who have roots in Turkey and a very diverse outlook.
Books
Portrait of the Director as a Young Journalist
A collection of Billy Wilder’s work as a reporter in Vienna and Berlin reveals his early influences and the verve of the roaring ’20s.
Books
In ‘The Third Walpurgis Night’ Karl Kraus Dissects Nazi Discourse
A far-sighted study on the language of Nazism, the book by Austria’s great satirist is finally available in a full English translation.
Culture
At the Salzburger Festspiele, Hofmannsthal’s Falun Mine Crumbles, Brick by Brick
In spite of its dramatic staging, an early play by the librettist of Der Rosenkavalier struggles to connect.
Art
The Wonder Women of the Wiener Werkstätte
The MAK rolls out a long overdue red carpet for the women artists of the Wiener Werkstätte, shining a light on their contributions to its legacy.
Culture
Found in Translation
A host of independent publishers and translators are introducing some of Austria’s key literary voices to the Anglosphere.
Culture
The Climbers – Growing Tall
In local author Keith Gray’s latest novel, a group of small-town teenagers shed their childhoods as a tree sheds its leaves
Culture
Belongings and Belonging – Stoppard and de Waal Talk Vienna at the London Library
The Library’s annual “Lit Fest” hosted a provocative discussion about cultural Vienna, Jewish diaspora, memory and identity.
Books
In “Motley Stones,” Adalbert Stifter Describes the Allure of Nature
The Austrian writer's enchanting short stories reveal his love of nature in elegantly simple prose
Lifestyle
In “The Fiume Crisis,” Dominique K. Reill Explains How a Citizens’ Uprising Establ...
While the Great Powers wrestled over the fate of the Adriatic city-state of Fiume, its residents had their own sense of who they were, argues historian Dominique K. Reill.
Culture
Vienna’s Gartenbaukino Undergoes Extensive Renovation
Seeking to restore its 1960s allure, the iconic cinema is currently remodeling, partially financed by a cinephile crowdfunding campaign.
Books
Anne Applebaum’s Twilight of Democracy Describes the Appeal of Authoritarianism
Anne Applebaum introduces us to the elites responsible for democratic backsliding in her new book, Twilight of Democracy.
Culture
Who Was Anna Gottlieb?
Mozart’s Pamina is world famous, but the soprano who first breathed her to life has been forgotten.
Culture
Funding Austrian Culture
Austria is a cultural powerhouse and more than willing to invest public funds in the arts. But where does all the money go?
Culture
An Insight into ‘Bambi’ Author Felix Salten and the Discovery of Viennese Modernism
Best known as the author of a children’s classic and (possibly) a pornographic novel, Felix Salten has never been given his due in his hometown – until now, that is
Art
Joseph Beuys – Social Sculpture at Belvedere 21
A blockbuster exhibition celebrates the Fluxus artist’s 100th birthday, but offers only a fragmented view on his grand vision.
Culture
The Kaffeemuseum – a Time Capsule of Vienna’s Coffeehouse Culture
The Kaffeemuseum presents the city’s long-standing love affair with caffeine through tours, courses and countless artifacts from yesteryear.
Culture
In Memoriam – Arik Brauer, the Last Austrian Emperor of Fantastic Realism
Whether as a painter, musician or tireless advocate for peace and freedom, the remarkable multitalent left his mark on postwar Austrian culture.
Books
Katja Perat’s ‘The Masochist’ Depicts Life in Fin de Siècle Vienna
Set in the gloaming of the Habsburg Empire, Katja Perat’s ardent debut novel is a fictional coming-of-age memoir from the daughter of the world’s first “masochist."
Books
Sylvia Petter’s All the Beautiful Liars Details the Hunt for Answers in Postwar Vienna
In Sylvia Petter’s debut novel All the Beautiful Liars, Katrina Klain arrives in Vienna in search of the lost pieces of her life.
Film
5 Movies and Series to Stream in Austria This Spring
Thanks to successive lockdowns and closed cinemas, streaming has become an even bigger part of our pandemic lives, and while many productions grinded to a halt last year, this spring’s lineup features an iconic superhero indulging in ’80s nostalgia, a Victorian sci-fi extravaganza, a comedy icon revisiting one of his most beloved characters, an animated Bollywood melodrama and a madcap Spanish road saga.
General
The Vienna-Based Fashion Label Published By Is Going Global
A young Austrian label is taking the world by storm, writing a metropolitan success story for the ages.
Culture
Protected: Happy Birthday, Ludwig van Beethoven!
This year we celebrate Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday. This brand-new video series takes you on a musical pilgrimage through Beethoven’s Vienna.
Print Editions
Smile and Stay Safe With the Zero Face Mask, Made in Vienna
Designed in Austria and produced in Germany, this ingenious face mask brings back non-verbal communication in times of corona.
Books
Anna Goldenberg’s “Belonging to Vienna” – a Touching Family Memoir
Close-knit ties triumph over
trauma in Anna Goldenberg’s moving family memoir of torture, exile and ultimate homecoming.
Books
Alice Urbach’s Stolen Cookbook
The bestseller by a society caterer and celebrity chef in interwar Vienna was aryanized, her name erased from history. Now, a century later, her granddaughter reveals her story.
Books
Martin Rady’s “The Habsburgs” Recounts The Family’s Rise and Fall
Martyn Rady’s new history of the Habsburgs argues that their empire was undone by the very things that once made it mighty.
Culture
Wienerland – Guns, Motorcycles, and Magic Made in Austria
An independent fantasy western
made in Austria, Wienerland has
international festivals buzzing.
Art
The Newly Opened Albertina Modern Boasts Austrian Art From Fantastic Realism to Viennese Actionism
After delays and controversy, Albertina Modern opens with an extensive review of Austrian art from 1945-1980.
Books
Is Liberalism Dying? A Look at What Went Wrong After 1989
“The Light that Failed: A Reckoning” by IWM fellow Ivan Krastev and NYU professor Stephen
Holmes explains what went wrong with Western liberalism.
Culture
Metropole’s 10 Films to Watch At the Viennale 2020
Austria’s premier film festival enters the pandemic age with extra screens and a great selection of world cinema.
Fall 2020
Meet Praline Le Moult, a Parisian Fashion Designer Who Launched Her Brand in Vienna
“Beauty, like a butterfly, is fleeting. Like a spectacular sunset, it’s there for a moment – and then it’s gone.”
Art
Is Vienna a Fashion Capital? Not Yet.
Once a burgeoning capital of fashion, Vienna lost its design industry with the Jews who supported it and has struggled in the decades since. But the next chapter may be different.
Culture
More Current Than Ever, “Nina Simone – Four Women” Brings Down the House at Theate...
A stellar cast and memorable songs transports the Civil Rights movement to the #BlackLivesMatter era
Art
How to Enjoy an Art Fair
You don’t have to be an expert to enjoy the wide world of contemporary art – but enthusiasm and courteousness helps.
Coronavirus
Saving the Salzburg Festival
A musicians' initiative to do aerosol studies made the Festival's 100th anniversary possible after all. From here, the studies will help the Vienna Philharmonic and others stay safe from COVID-19.
Culture
Cinematic Comfort Food
What the movie 'Love Sarah' lacks in drama, it almost makes up for in charm.
People
Sisters and Business Partners
At the Viennese label Kids of the Diaspora, founders Leni Charles and Cherrellone do everything together – even motherhood – creating a space where everyone belongs.
Culture
Our Top 5 Picks to Stream This Summer
A search for self in lost memories, crafting a more inclusive historic Hollywood, the final triumph of the greatest basketball team ever and a send-up of American interstellar militarism all vie for your attention.
Culture
Letters from the Anschluss in Elisabeth Åsbrink’s New Book
A history and a memoir, the Swedish journalist's And in the Vienna Woods the Trees Remain is the story of a family, reconciling the past, and the power of friendship over politics.
Culture
Hungarian Theater Is Threatened
The autonomy of the internationally renowned Hungarian University of Theater and Film Arts is undermined by a government-controlled restructuring.
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.
Culture
Before Sunrise: Celebrating 25 Years of Vienna’s Iconic Film
Shot in just 25 days in the summer of 1994, Richard Linklater’ s disarming look at flirtation, friendship and conversation opened the 1995 Sundance Film Festival, leading to two sequels and a creative partnership.
Books
The Viennese Ida Pfeiffer Circumnavigated the Globe Alone Twice
Wife, mother, traveler – humble but headstrong Ida Pfeiffer took the world by storm by circumnavigating the globe her way.
Books
Book Review | Daniel Kehlmann & The Power of Mockery
In Tyll, widely-acclaimed German-Austrian author Daniel Kehlmann reinvents a medieval legend to unmask the fatuity of rulers and the wisdom of tricks.
City Life
On Rathausplatz | Opera and Ballet Are Still Larger Than Life
In the 2020 summer of Covid-19, the famed Film Festival continues with cautionary measures for anxiety-free evenings of memorable performances and international cuisine.
Culture
How Vienna’s Piano Makers Weathered the Crisis
In New York City, piano sales surged during lockdown. In Vienna, “a small awakening” – but little support from Stadt Wien.
Culture
Hit Hard by the Lockdown, Austria’s Cultural Sector Sees Itself at Existential Risk
As Austria’s art sector is taken hostage by COVID-19, the government’s response
struggled to find form.
Books
The Coronavirus Ushered Into A New Age of Hubris
Yale professor Frank Snowden’s sweeping analysis of pandemics over the centuries concludes that while science advances, people do not.
Film
Vienna’s Indie Cinemas Screen Old Favorites and Current Releases
A cavalcade of films new and old welcome starved cinephiles back last weekend.
Books
A New Metternich Biography Rounds Out the Portrait of One of History’s Greatest Political Strategist...
Wolfgang Siemann draws on newly discovered notes and letters to paint a more nuanced portrait of diplomat and statesman Klemens von Metternich.
Culture
The Truth About the Vienna-born Bluetooth Bombshell Hedi Lamarr
The Jewish Museum and a recently published book re-evaluate the myths surrounding Hedy Lamarr
Books
Finding Purpose with Robert Musil
Robert Musil’s epic Austrian classic gets cut down to size to explore love and identity across the boundaries of self.
Culture
This Year’s Wiener Festwochen Exposes 21st Century Ills, But Offers Solutions, Too
Canceled or moved online in the age of Corona, the program of this year’s Wiener Festwochen seemed surprisingly prescient.
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
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.
Books
Yale Historian Frank Snowden on Epidemics and Society
Yale professor of medical history Frank Snowden’s sweeping analysis of pandemics over the centuries, concludes that while science advances, people do not. An unsettling but gripping read.
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.
Culture
Passing the Baton
The Vienna Theatre Project meditates on MLK’s last night on earth in Katori Hall’s “The Mountaintop.”
Music
Froth and Finesse
The longest-running piece of musical theater of all time, Die Fledermaus captures an era, and (perhaps) the way Austrians like to see themselves.
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
Books
Book Review | A Call to Ears
In his first foray into cultural criticism, musician Dave Randall
calls upon his readers to think outside the jukebox.
Winter 2019
Book Review | The Painted Face
Love and Desire, War and Human Suffering in Ingeborg Bachmann’s Malina.
Culture
Thomas Schäfer-Elmayer | The Baron of Ball Season
Austria’s own Mr. Manners, Thomas Schäfer-Elmayer spills the beans on upholding traditions, ball season’s allure and gender equality.
Books
Reconsidering Thomas Bernhard
On the 30th anniversary of his death, the Austrian author’s acerbic wit still cuts through the pomposities and pettiness of a society hiding from itself.
Culture
New Perspectives
It’s easy to be a film buff in Vienna: With not one but two film museums and numerous cinemas specializing in original-language fare, offbeat, indepen...
Culture
Opening the Castle Gates
With high culture such an integral part of the Austrian identity, there are few positions as coveted and prestigious as director of Vienna’s B...
Art
Cultural Whale or Fish out of Water?
You couldn’t miss it if you tried. After the vast vineyards, golden sunflower fields, apricot trees heavy with fruit and century-old farmhouse...
How To
How To… Become an Art Collector
The scene may feel like an impenetrable world from the outside. In truth, it’s within any art lover’s reach. The trick is knowing where to look – and how.
Books
The Long Winter of Discontent
Philipp Blom sets out to demonstrate how rapid climate change can dramatically upset our social and economic structures, our everyday lives. It has ha...
Books
Who Owns Kafka’s Legacy?
The struggle over a rich literary inheritance opens questions of identity regarding the seminal writer, a Czech who was also Jewish but wrote in Germa...
A Charming Tour of Krems | Wine, Music & Art
Sleepy little town on the Danube – or hotbed of political intrigue and architecture? Surrounded by vineyards and just an hour from Vienna, Krems is both.
Culture
The Floating World of Impulstanz
With courses for all ages, bodies and skills, Europe’s largest contemporary dance festival can be very rewarding for novice dancers – if you’re willing to put in the work.
Culture
Popular Movement
Ever since its inception, Impulstanz has grown in reach and output while welcoming all ages, all levels, all bodies.
The expansive world of contem...
Culture
Alter Egos Come Out to Play
A growing number of conventions and groups prove that dressing up doesn't have to end when you grow up.
Film
The Eagle Soars
50 years later, the documentary Apollo 11 takes you to the moon with newly discovered footage.
Culture
Around the Town in 23 Days
The Wir sind Wien festival brings theater, music and local culture to each of Vienna’s districts – one day at a time and free of charge.
Culture
All Salzburg’s a Stage
Born out of the ashes of the Great War, the Salzburg Festspiele carries on Max Reinhardt's dream of a Europe united through culture.
Where other...
intern -
Culture
5 Shows to Take Your Mind Off the Loss of Game of Thrones
Every day, new TV series pop up and disappear – most we will never remember. Every once in a while, though, a show like Game of Thrones (GoT) comes ar...
Art
Mind Matters | Our Top Picks for the Biennale
Artist Andreas Kattner shares his top 10 moments from the Venice Art Biennale.
Culture
Performing Private Parts
Thiasus’ production of The Vagina Monologues brings real-life stories about the joys and sorrows of femininity to Vienna.
When The Vagina Monologue...