Austrian blood stirs
To welcome our new cafebabel.com local team in Vienna, we have a look at this tiny country which has become big in the international news thanks to the trial of incest father Joseph Fritzl and the sudden death of Europe’s most popular right wing politician, Jorg Haider. But Austria is also the country that has just won its case for banning GM crops against the European commission, that gives 16-year-olds the right to vote and that has the lowest unemployment rate in Europe (4%), after the Netherlands
No skilled labour in Austria? In Hungary, Csorna hangs in there
A Vienna-based company was looking for skilled workers. Since it failed to find any in Austria, it moved to a small town in Hungary. Here, locals are hoping to find new prosperity
Voting aged 16: are the Austrians Europe's most mature?
The Austrians will be the youngest voters in Europe during the upcoming European elections in June 2009. 'At 16 they’re grown up enough,' says a resolute Andrea Kdolsky, the Austrian MP in charge of health, family and youth. Making young people take responsibility for others may seem a bit off the wall for some, or is it more a tactical response in the face of an ageing population?
elections, vote, politics, youth, society, european elections 2009
Austrian tabloids make global headlines with Joseph Fritzl, incest father
Shortly before the incest trial begins on 16 March, the Vienna theatre production of 'Pension F.' is bringing the oppressive atmosphere surrounding the Fritzl case onto the stage, meaning it is not only 'the man on the street’s paper' who is discussing what happened in that cellar
Film review Austria: The Bone Man is rootsy, rank and riotous
The world premiere of Der Knochenmann took place at the Berlin film festival on 9 February. The bittersweet crime caper, starring the unfortunate private detective Simon Brenner, provides an in-depth insight into rural Austria and its relationship with its European neighbours east of the Danube. In the Alpine republic, Brenner is something of a folk hero. Here’s why
film review, berlinale, film festival, film, wolf haas, vienna, culture, cinema
Austria’s ban on cultivating genetically modified sweetcorn
But is Europe's 'sweetcorn of discord' a great triumph with barely any consequences for Austria?
eudebate2009, international trade, genetically modified organisms, gm sweetcorn, agriculture, health, world trade organisation, european elections 2009
The Bone Man’s Josef Hader & Wolfgang Murnberger: ‘Intelligent nastiness is our speciality’
As it comes out in cinemas, ‘Der Knochenmann’ is the third film adaption by Austrian crime author Wolf Haas. Josef Hader reprises his role as unemployed private eye Brenner, while the film is directed by Wolfgang Murnberger. cafebabel.com meets up with both in glittering Vienna
