Opinion | Metropole

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 the Barrio de Las Letras. Vienna’s so quiet. Where’s the action? The answer is, underground, or on the roof, in an old warehouse, or under the arches of the Stadtbahn. Or simply, inside. In […]

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Dardis McNamee - January 13, 2020

Opinion

Should the Viennese Really Take that Much Pride in Being Unfriendly?

No one can say Vienna is a sore loser. After Austrian media picked up the Expat Insider study’s City Index ranking Vienna the second least friendly city for expats, the “news” spread like wildfire.

Margaret Childs - December 18, 2019

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

Benjamin Wolf - October 1, 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

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

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

The Caretakers Go About Their Business

The interim government of bureaucrats is giving Austria far more than its first female Chancellor

Binu Starnegg - June 20, 2019

Expat's Voice

17 Million Mobile EU Citizens Deserve a Political Voice

Those of us who reside in another member state live more “European” lives than anyone. Yet we feel disenfranchised.

Alberto Alemanno - May 31, 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

Opinion

Trojan Dragon?

Austria is likely to benefit from the New Silk Road, the mammoth Chinese infrastructure project spanning two continents. But strategic thinkers in Was...

Simon Ballam - April 2, 2019

Opinion

Pam’s Jam

She’s a fresh faced, bright-eyed optimist with an easy laugh. She is also confronting a task daunting enough to wipe the smile off the sunniest of dis...

Simon Ballam - March 19, 2019

Pro & Con

Pro & Con | March 2019

Open Store Policy Closing shops on Sunday is so 19th century Every time I welcome someone to Vienna and give them my lis...

Philipp Rossmann - February 26, 2019

Opinion

Growth and Its Discontents

Central Europe has experienced a soaring economy in the last two decades. Yet the disaffection of many shows the limits of what economic gro...

Martin Ehl - February 26, 2019

Opinion

The US Midterms and the Consequences for Europe

The world has watched the US midterm elections spellbound. But for Europe, even the Democratic victory in the house of representative might not bring ...

Eva Nowotny - December 6, 2018

Opinion

A Flatlander’s Lament

What is it like to have fear of heights in a mountainous country? Austrians have absolutely no understanding for this. So how to get over it? By sucki...

Kimberly Bradley - November 13, 2018

Opinion

Kurz and Austria Rising

The Austrian chancellor as a mixture of Hitler and Mozart on the cover of Newsweek. Please relax! Leni Riefenstahl, the director and scriptwriter of...

Rainer Nowak - November 13, 2018

Opinion

Op-Ed | The Brexit Endgame

The outcome may indicate how the dialectic between supranationalism and nationalism will play out in much of the rest of the world. The United Kingdo...

Robert Skidelsky - 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

Culture

Expat’s Voice | The (Other) Sound of Music

Austrians like to show off their serious appreciation of classical music. But if you want them to erupt into joyful singing, you’ve got to play them s...

Richard Asher - October 1, 2018

Expat's Voice

Expat’s Voice | The Future is Female

Three women now head the parties of the opposition. A small revolution for Austria Sometimes reality overtakes prophecy. Christian Kern was quicker...

Rainer Nowak - October 1, 2018

General

Opinion | Women’s Rights Sell-Out

The Austrian government has cut essential funding for feminist organizations and initiatives – a move that says a lot about its image of women This...

Nicole Schoendorfer - October 1, 2018

Opinion

#MeTwo

A debate unleashed by the hashtag #metwo highlights the need to fight everyday racism – and how listening is still a tall order. In recent weeks,...

The Editors - August 23, 2018

Opinion

The Draft Dodgers

An expat muses on the virtues of fresh air. Before moving to Vienna in July 2001, I spent my final weeks in New York suffering through the witherin...

Michael Bernstein - August 23, 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

Opinion

(No) Pity for Christian Kern

Why the SPÖ leader rides his bike, has some enemies and is not to be envied. Let’s call it a really bad losing streak, not a personal failure. Th...

Rainer Nowak - August 23, 2018

July/August 2018

The Sebastian Kurz Show

They love him or they hate him: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is more notorious across Europe than most of his predecessors. Now he is taking ove...

Rainer Nowak - 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

June 2018

Austrian Muslims | It’s Time to Support Ourselves

In a provocative move, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced the closing of seven mosques and potential expulsion of 60 Turkish-funded imams on...

Layla Huriya - June 20, 2018

Expat's Voice

Expat’s Voice: Hipster Politics and the Reds Up in Arms

Why Vienna's city government has completely reorganized itself and what it has to do with the FPÖ, expats and international managers It is an int...

Rainer Nowak - May 28, 2018

Opinion

Expat’s Voice | To Your Health!

For newcomers, Austrians can take some getting used to. But if you’re planning to get sick, Austria is the place to be. Let’s be honest; if you’r...

Amos McCurren - May 28, 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

June 2018

Finishing the Job in the Western Balkans

Western Balkan countries have made significant progress since the 1990s, when ethnic violence tore the region apart. But that progress is fragile with...

Guy Verhofstadt - May 28, 2018

Opinion

Communism or Populism? Protests and Politics in Czechia

One generation after the miraculous Velvet Revolution brought down totalitarianism, Central Europe is still dealing with its legacy – and seeking to preserve the spark of the Prague Spring

Christian Cummins - 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

Opinion | Why Doesn’t the World Know More About Vienna?

Wien is a city of international stature in multiple ways - but too many know nothing about it. Vienna has been a premier diplomatic capital for 2...

Angus Robertson - 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

Opinion

After Rude Awakening, Slovakians Demand Real Change

As the largest protests since 1989 rock Slovakia following the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak, fellow contributors wonder about the fut...

Alena Bohunická and Jan Jindra - March 29, 2018

Opinion

The Sharing Economy Won’t Triumph over Capitalism

The sharing economy makes us more flexible but is no substitute for a true social community. When my Airbnb host introduced me to his children ...

Angelika Reitzer - March 29, 2018

Opinion

Opinion | Moralism & the Arts

Just as we should not condemn a work of art because of the artist’s private behavior, we should also be careful about applying norms of social respect...

Ian Buruma - March 1, 2018

Opinion

Opinion | When Art, Students and Politics mix, the Universities Need to Recognize their Role in Fost...

Art & Politics at the Angewandte Austrian art and politics have always been entangled in an interdependent, uneasy relationship – often the more u...

Tamara Radak - March 1, 2018

Opinion

Opinion | Don’t let the Servers Stop you: The Frauen*Volksbegehren – 100,000 and Countin...

Ten days after the official start of the Frauen*Volksbegehren – the petition for a referendum on women’s rights – organizers reported breaking the req...

Alexandra Peng - March 1, 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

Opinion

Opinion | Does Austria’s Military Have a Future Role to Play on the International Stage?

The Bundesheer is the nation’s stepchild, unloved and underfed. But it is a respected international player and may have found its new role. Today...

Simon Ballam - January 31, 2018

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...

Benjamin Wolf - January 29, 2018

Opinion

Smoking | Freedom Worth Dying For?

As the door to Café Einhorn opens, a draft of icy winter air surges into the room. For a fleeting moment, our lungs suck in the oxygen before it disso...

Andreas Rainer - January 28, 2018

Opinion

Opinion | Will you be Replaced by a Robot Soon?

Can we control the spread of AI and robots into every aspect of our lives? Sophia has been granted citizenship by Saudi Arabia; she h...

Andrew Standen-Raz - November 30, 2017

Opinion

Opinion | The Austrian Bureaucracy has (sort of) Reinvented Itself for the age of the Internet

Beamter: Check out any decent dictionary and it will show a string of translations – official, clerk, functionary, civil servant etc. – none of ...

Simon Ballam - 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

Opinion

Opinion | Look up from Your Phone on Your Next Commute

I just uploaded a selfie onto Instagram, complete with a sophisticated quote, imperceptibly blurred, and some contrast to underline the color of...

Claudia Paccosi - November 30, 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 | How to Tame the Dangers of Democracy

Democracy, for all its flaws, may in fact be the best form of government. But there are many ways to improve it By Peter Emerson ...

The Editors - October 31, 2017

Opinion

Don’t Call Me Tüte | Why Austrians Love to Hate on Germans

Austria and Germany share a troubled past, the (almost) same language – and are still worlds apart.

Andreas Rainer - October 31, 2017

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...

Benjamin Wolf - October 29, 2017

Opinion

Opinion | The Empty Promises of Sebastian Kurz

Regardless of what you think of the “New ÖVP,” the hype around its leader Sebastian Kurz, Austria’s millennial foreign minister and likely new chancel...

Binu Starnegg - October 28, 2017

Opinion

Opinion | Are you Voting on Sunday? I won’t be.

I won’t be voting in the Austrian election. In fact, I never have. A few months ago, a media colleague asked if I had thought of entering politic...

Margaret Childs - October 13, 2017

Opinion

Opinion | Can Germany Breed Solidarity in the EU?

For the European Union to work, its strong members must show solidarity with its weak members. Germany need to support the creation of a mechani...

Robert Skidelsky - September 28, 2017

Opinion

Opinion | Why a Potential new EU Copyright law Might Impede Free Speech Online

From elections to dating, the internet is increasingly shaping our lives. In the effort to control copyright abuse, however, the European Comm...

Joe McNamee - September 28, 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 | “Steigen Sie aus?”

Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the crowd … but every time the U-Bahn rolled into the station, there it was “Steigen Sie aus?” (“Are you gett...

Catherine M. Hooker - 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 | The Failing Economy of Austro-Uber

The sharing economy promises cheap and easy fixes in a time of limited resources. But if you peek behind the facade, many business models look...

Steven Hill - September 28, 2017

Opinion

Opinion | The Troubled State of the Austrian Left

With the Greens absorbed in internecine warfare, the prospects for a progressive left agenda look increasingly dim With just a month until the pa...

Liam Hoare - August 30, 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

Opinion

Opinion | Her Headache with Face Veils

While banning the face veil may be within Europe’s rights, is it the right thing to do? First, let’s get one thing straight, the niqab, and the b...

Layla Huriya - August 30, 2017

Opinion

Opinion | A Funeral March for the Staßenbahn R.I.P.

Push the button, climb the high steps and plop yourself down on a polished wooden seat. The seat’s design has an inward slope, so with every twist and...

Alexei Korolyov - August 30, 2017

Blog

Why Austria’s Millennial Minister Sebastian Kurz Could be Dangerous

On Saturday, July 1st, in a muted and highly uncontested leadership election in Linz, Austria, 30-year-old Sebastian Kurz secured 98.7 percent of the ...

Yaël Ossowski - July 12, 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 | Now? Forever?

With visitor numbers at an all time high, the Vienna Tourist Board rethinks the City’s image. Locals may not have noticed, but Vienna’s got a new...

Kimberly Bradley - June 30, 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

Opinion | What Macron Means for Europe

For voters battered by globalization, pro-Europeans must deliver growth – and jobs Emmanuel Macron’s decisive defeat of Marine Le Pen in the French p...

Robert Skidelsky - June 1, 2017

Opinion

Opinion | Realpolitik or a Dance with the Devil? Engaging with the FPÖ in Light of the October Elect...

The dangerous dance with Kern, Kurz and Strache The image alone must have sent a shiver through the souls of decent chardonnay socialists, to see...

Simon Ballam - June 1, 2017

Opinion

Opinion | Theresa May Rolls the Electoral Dice

An unelected Prime Minister seeks a public mandate for leadership and her Brexit strategy. A big election year for Europe just got bigger. With F...

Phillip Legrain - April 29, 2017

Opinion

Obituary | Fond Memories of the Wafer Maker, Carl Manner

Even the color is iconic: “Pantone rose” is a registered trademark for Austria’s signature snack – Manner Schnitten, the pink block of hazelnut ...

Simon Ballam - April 29, 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

Blog

Editor’s Letter | The Fast and the Frivolous | May 2017

What is it with the comfort zone? It sounds pretty good, so why are we constantly told to get out of it? Whether we’re hurling ourselves out ...

Margaret Childs - April 28, 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

The Time I Found out Just How Great the Austrian Health System Is

Medical Meanderings: From dodgy diagnostics in the U.K. to a tree-filled quad in the Alpine Republic. A tale of two cities. When a sympathetic ...

Andrew Standen-Raz - March 31, 2017

Opinion

Setting the Tone | Is Right-Wing Populism in Retreat in Europe?

A collective sigh of relief across Europe: With Norbert Hofer and Geert Wilders defeated at the polls, right-wing, anti-European populism appears to b...

Binu Starnegg - 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

Blog

From our Readers | April 2017

Many thanks for your thoughts, ideas and insights! If you have something to say about Vienna or a story you read here, tell us all about it. Send an e...

The Editors - March 31, 2017

Opinion

Opinion | 5 Reasons it Feels Better to Work in Austria

The grass is really greener Many things draw Americans to Europe: family roots, the beauty, new perspectives, and of course romance. For me, this...

Todd Cesaratto - March 6, 2017

Opinion

Opinion | Why it’s Dangerous for Global Citizens to Forget They Have a Homeland

A warning to remember your country – of heritage or residence – even if your life has made you a citizen of the world Last October, British Prime...

Dani Rodrick - March 6, 2017

Opinion

Opinion | How Putin’s Visit to Hungary has Changed the Game in Europe

An unspectacular visit by Vladimir Putin is an important measure of the growing pressures on a united Europe On February 2, Vladimir Putin arrive...

Martin Ehl - March 6, 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

Blog

From our Readers | March 2017

Many thanks for your thoughts, ideas and insights! If you have something to say about Vienna or a story you read here, tell us all about it. Send an e...

The Editors - March 6, 2017

Opinion

Opinion | The Melange Mentality

When Starbucks came to Vienna some 15 years ago – opening 21 shops in prime locations – many Viennese braced themselves for the graceless world of Ame...

Binu Starnegg - March 6, 2017

Opinion

Opinion | When in Winterland

We’re now well into winter. The last cinnamon breath of Christmas is a distant memory, and the glimmering promise of spring is still too distant to cl...

Ross Ludlam - February 6, 2017

Opinion

Opinion | Austrian Idol?

Amid the erosion of the political center, little Austria may be the unlikely champion to stem the surge of the far right If there is anything wor...

Simon Ballam - February 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

Opinion

Opinion | Born-Again Facts

If the recent election has taught us anything, it’s that details do not matter anymore Trump rose to power not only by tapping into notions of helple...

Gregory Bondaruk - February 6, 2017

Blog

From our Readers | February 2017

We’ve been getting lots of feedback from our readers over social media. Many thanks for your thoughts, ideas and insights! Check us out on Facebook, ...

The Editors - February 6, 2017

Opinion

Opinion | If You Don’t Look Good, We Don’t Look Good

Fashion’s dark side is cleverly disguised in fancy sets and luxurious outfits; Here are some pointers on how to survive the fake laughs It’s been...

Ali Rabbani - February 6, 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

Blog

From our Readers | December 2016/January 2017

We’ve been getting great feedback from our readers over social media. Thanks very much for your thoughts, ideas and insights! Check us out on Faceboo...

The Editors - December 5, 2016

Opinion

Opinion | Not the President’s men

Hardly has been there a time in recent years when the political tensions in Austria and America have been so similar, when both countries have been so...

Catherine Lankes - December 5, 2016