Last year, I won a free trip to a Las Vegas resort. But it came with a catch: I had to listen to a sales pitch on at least one afternoon of my three-day, two-night stay. No biggie, I thought. I’d pop in and hear the pitch before I hit the pool. The trip was […]
Kickl seeks detention of ‘dangerous’ refugees
In a press conference Monday afternoon, Austrian Interior Minister Herbert Kickl (FPÖ) outlined his plans for “Sicherungshaft,” a legal change that would allow preventative detention for refugees deemed to pose a danger to Austrian society by the government. The measure comes in the wake of a knife attack in the Vorarlberg city of Dornbirn, in which a Turkish […]
The Flow of Commerce: How the Danube Energizes Austria’s Economy
The Danube powers many an industry on its way to the Black Sea, from hydropower to high-volume logistics Flowing through 10 countries – from the Black Forest to the Black Sea – the Danube River has unified a Central European population of some 83 million people of otherwise very different cultures and nationalities. Its waters […]
The Marshall Plan: How Austria Benefited 70 Years ago
With an entire continent in ruins, the Marshall Plan planted the seeds for a peaceful, prosperous Europe As the Second World War finally ground down to an end in Europe, Austria lay devastated, its economy in shambles, its territory carved up by the victorious Allied powers into zones of authority for the U.S., France, Britain […]
Why Austria’s Millennial Minister Sebastian Kurz Could be Dangerous
By Yaël Ossowski | Metropole Magazine 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 vote to head the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) before October’s elections. A mere three days later, the headlines surrounding Kurz were far less flattering. A scandal […]
Austria’s millennial leader in waiting may surprise by embracing the far-right
By Yaël Ossowski Last Saturday, in a muted and highly uncontested leadership election in Linz, Austria, 30-year-old Sebastian Kurz secured 98.7 percent of the vote to head the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) before October’s elections. Well-dressed and soft-spoken in a posh Viennese accent, the young Minister of Foreign Affairs and Integration unveiled his platform and […]
A Sole Flame Cast Against a Hall of Mirrors
By Yaël Ossowski | Devolution Review Being a sole flame cast against a hall of mirrors has always been an excitable affair. Customs and ordinary occurrences are strange and new. There’s a deep yearning for understanding the deeper meaning of each word, each syllable, and each dialect spoken from anyone’s mouth. Even if comprehension is […]
Just What the Doctor Ordered
Since the 18th century the city of Vienna has been on the cutting edge of medical innovation. What is the next frontier? By Yaël Ossowski | Metropole Magazine Vienna at the fin de siècle was the center of a massive empire that covered 20 percent of Europe. It stretched all the way from the Ukraine […]
Austria is leagues beyond its past: So stop invoking it
A modern visitor to the vibrant Alpine Republic of Austria can be forgiven for succumbing to its charm, beauty, and permanent sense of order. From the stunning Alps in the west to the cobblestoned streets of the Imperial City of Vienna in the east, it’s a majestic country which boasts great pride from its 8.5 […]