Cover Stories

The City and Land of Music

Vienna made music ... and music made Vienna. As told by “Metropole” writers – a libretto for life in the Austrian capital. With an overture by our Editor in Chief Dardis McNamee.

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Metropole - December 11, 2019

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The Secrets of a City That Works

Vienna continues to grow, blending into the new millennium while keeping its Old World charm. The how and the why.

Ramya Iyer - October 31, 2019

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Profits, Politics, Patronage

More revenues, more products and more gambling addicts. With the state reaping both taxes and profits, laws mostly protect operators, not consumers.

Florian Peschl - July 2, 2019

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Austrian Business Knows No Bounds

Engines in India, cable cars in La Paz, logistics on the Silk Road – Austrian technology and exports are at an all-time high.

Bernd Vasari - February 26, 2019

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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

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Viennese Humor | Tour de Schmäh

Forget Sissi, Schönbrunn and Apfelstrudel: According to the Viennese, their humor is the city’s most remarkable accomplishment.

Andreas Rainer - November 7, 2018

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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, ...

Benjamin Wolf - September 28, 2018

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The Sociable City

Conversations with Viennese architects reveal the secrets to creating a liveable city. “Everything is Architecture,” wrote the Pritzker prize-win...

Andrew Standen-Raz - August 23, 2018

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Animals Are Our Best Ingredients | Can You Love Puppy Dogs AND Pork Cutlets?

The Viennese love their pets under and their meaty schnitzel on the table. A report on the animals we cuddle and those we devour An elderly lady ...

Andreas Rainer - June 30, 2018

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Up & Down the Danube | From the Black Forest to the Black Sea

The mighty river is the lifeblood of the entire southeastern flank of Europe. Cultures flourish, empires fall and ideologies shatter on its shores. ...

Nick Thorpe - May 28, 2018

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The Closer the Better | Austrian Chefs Go Local

Austrian restaurants are proud to cook with local fare. It’s all about knowing your suppliers and helping your customers understand the differ...

Wolfgang Schedelberger - May 3, 2018

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Bringing Life to Our Streets | The Tramway’s Enduring Appeal

With the Straßenbahn in their DNA, the Viennese are abandoning their cars for public transport and looking forward to robot chauffeurs. Bumper to bum...

Bernd Vasari - March 29, 2018

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The Birth of Modernism | 100 Years of Artistic Excellence and Revolution

On this centennial of the deaths of four Viennese masters, the city looks back on the birth of modernism and a vision of the “total work of art,” an e...

The Editors - March 1, 2018

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Austrian Democracy | The Consensus Machine

From Proporz to Verhaberung, participation and influence in Austria go far beyond the walls of Parliament to find an "Austrian solution". By Margare...

The Editors - February 1, 2018

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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

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Siblings Reunited: How Open Borders are Reconnecting the Central Europe Family

Austria shares a rich history and culture with its Central European brothers and sisters. Now that borders have disappeared, the region is once ...

Martin Ehl - October 31, 2017

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The Good Life is as Easy to Define as Love or Justice

Why Vienna tops the rankings of the world’s most livable cities is about attitude as much as anything For the mild-mannered “Zettlpoet” H...

Andrew Standen-Raz - September 28, 2017

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The Turbulent Times of Viennese Design

In Vienna, with so much arts and culture, design may seem like an afterthought. In fact, it's all around us, shaping how we live, eat and dress T...

Aline Lara Rezende - August 30, 2017

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Unlikely Wanderlust and the Austrian Appetite for Adventure

Exploring the Austrians’ love for traveling In early 2009, five months pregnant, I listened in astonishment as my Austrian guy announced he neede...

Kimberly Bradley - July 1, 2017

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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.

Benjamin Wolf - June 8, 2017

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Austria’s Obsession with Extreme Sports and how it Changes us

How Austria's taming the rush of death-defying adrenaline highs condition us to be more resilient. In just one tenth of a second your brain goes ...

Andrew Standen-Raz - April 28, 2017

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In Sickness and in Health | How Viable is Austria’s Health Care System?

The Austrian health care system covers you regardless of your wallet size or passport. But cracks are showing in this jewel of the welfare state. By ...

The Editors - March 31, 2017

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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...

Benjamin Wolf - March 6, 2017

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Capital of Cloak & Dagger

Vienna has never tried to curb the activities of foreign spies. Over the past century, it’s become the go-to stage for the dramas of global espionage ...

Alexander Fanta - February 6, 2017

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What Money Can’t buy

Luxury retail is the lifeblood of the city center, but can Vienna manage to sustain its tradition of local craftsmanship with the demands of internati...

The Editors - December 5, 2016

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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 11, 2016

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Beautiful Minds

If our education decides our future, what happens to upward mobility and equal opportunity? A democracy depends on citizens knowing what they are v...

Andrew Standen-Raz - October 1, 2016

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Smart City Vienna

From San Diego to Copenhagen, from Vienna to Singapore, everybody wants to become a smart city. But how do you upgrade the world's most livable city? ...

Jacob Lassar - September 1, 2016

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Cover Story: Reimagining The Self

Vienna’s dramatists have a long, brilliant and turbulent history. But no year was quite so momentous as 1929, the year modernity was born. Hedwig K...

Brian Hatfield - July 1, 2016

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The Green Republic

No other country believes itself to be so in touch with nature. Is Austria living a lie?

The Editors - June 1, 2016

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Cover Story: A Culture of Innovation

Austria often looks to America’s can-do approach to business, but can it foster its own forward-leaning climate while still preserving its heritage?...

George Nimeh - May 1, 2016

April 2016

Cover Story: Growing Global – Third-Culture Kids

For third-culture kids, international schools around the world become an important but temporary extended family You can hear them on the subway,...

Alexander Fanta - April 1, 2016

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Cover Story: Banking on the Long Run

What Austria’s turbulent past tells us about the current economic and financial crisis In 2012, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s lowered ...

Gregory Weeks - March 1, 2016

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Cover Story: The Collaborative Economy Sharing Game

From cars to office space, and even livestock, the Collaborative Economy is changing more than how we use things. It’s reinventing how we value proper...

The Editors - February 29, 2016

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Cover Story: Private Lives

From the internet to the bedroom, Austrians care about – and protect – the personal sphere. It’s a cultural thing. On a cold, grey day in January...

Andrew Standen-Raz - February 1, 2016

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Cover Story: For the Sake of Art

Does culture still matter in a world where big money often defines value? On a Monday evening in mid-November, the narrow street in front of the ...

Dardis McNamee - December 9, 2015

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Cover Story: The Sharing Game

From cars to office space, and even livestock, the Collaborative Economy is changing more than how we use things. It’s reinventing how we value proper...

The Editors - November 1, 2015

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The Many-Peopled Land

Can Vienna be enriched by the flood of migrants coming to Europe? History suggests that it will. Suddenly, Vienna has become the point city of th...

Dardis McNamee - October 26, 2015