Vienna International Culture Guide
Find the best cultural and inter-cultural activities in Vienna and Austria
New Timetable for European Capitals of Culture
The Covid-19 pandemic also affects the timetable for the European Capitals of Culture. Postponements and extensions are made in order to guarantee proper planning for the selected cities. In 2024, Austria should be hosting another Capital of Culture in Bad Ischl.
August 19, 2020
"Vienna City Card" for Vienna Lovers
The new feature of the "Vienna City Card" provides locals, expats and tourists with exclusive activity offers and discounts in certain restaurants. It is issued by "Wien Tourismus" and provides the opportunity to get to know the capital city better.
August 17, 2020
Austria's Foreign Minister: Hagia Sophia To Be Turned Into a Mosque Is the Latest Link in a Chain of Provocations
Turkey is moving further and further away from European values and is simply not a reliable partner for Europe. The EU must conduct a policy towards Turkey with a strong edge and clear language, based on a solid foundation of values. The EU should also make a clear cut when it comes to accession negotiations.
July 13, 2020
Museums of the City of Vienna Open Again
After eleven weeks of closure, the museums of the City of Vienna have reopened their doors. These include the Kunsthalle Wien, Wien Museum MUSA and Hermesvilla as well as the Architekturzentrum Wien, Kunst Haus Wien, Jewish Museum, Haus der Musik and Mozarthaus Vienna. Only from July onwards will the Beethoven Museum, the Roman Museum, the Virgil Chapel and the Neidhart Festival Hall be open again.
June 1, 2020
Life in Vienna Has Awakened again - The Giant Ferris Wheel Is Turning again
The Giant Ferris Wheel - a symbol for Vienna and tourism - has been turning without interruption since the end of the Second World War and had to be switched off for the first time in over 70 years due to the Corona pandemy. After 80 days, the wheel turns again.
May 31, 2020
Austria Has New Secretary of State for Art and Culture
Andrea Mayer, former Head of the Arts and Culture Section and current Cabinet Director of Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, was presented to the public at a press conference today as the successor to Ulrike Lunacek as Secretary of State for Arts and Culture.
May 19, 2020
COVID-19: Overview of the Current Measures of the City of Vienna
The coronavirus crisis has had Austria in its grip since mid-March. Now the measures are being gradually eased again. Current information on all measures and restrictions in Vienna. Restaurants, church services, outdoor animal parks, outdoor sports, etc. will be reopened from 15 May, hotels from 29 May.
May 14, 2020
Churches and Religious Communities after Corona: New Measures and First Public Services
After two months without public services, it will be possible to attend public services again. This is what all 16 churches and religious communities recognized in Austria have agreed upon together with Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs Susanne Raab.
May 14, 2020
Postcorona Future: American and Austrian Artists Engage in Virtual Dialogues
Austrian diplomatic institutions in the USA have joined forces under the auspices of the Austrian Cultural Forum Washington in order to give artists on both sides of the Atlantic, whose existence is threatened by the Corona crisis, the opportunity of a virtual vernissage "No-Place like the Future", because artists have to be connected with other people, with their artist colleagues and with the world as a whole in order to be themselves.
May 14, 2020
Corona Package of EUR 500 Mio to Relief the Catering Industry
The Austrian coalition government today introduced a bill in the National Council that specifies the tax relief for the catering and restaurant industry. The tax on sparkling wine will fall and the value added tax on non-alcoholic beverages will be reduced.
May 13, 2020
City of Vienna Gives Away 40 Million Euros for Gastronomy Consumption
This is how the second wave of the coronavirus will be boosted. After two months of corona lockdown, the gastronomy industry is opening up again this Friday, May 15. In order to boost the new start of coffee houses, pubs and restaurants, the City of Vienna is "giving" the 950,000 Viennese households gastronomy vouchers worth 25 or 50 euros (depending on the size of the household). Mayor Michael Ludwig (of the Social Democratic Party of Austria) declared on Wednesday "Yes, we can afford it!
May 13, 2020
The Corona Crisis has the City in a Stranglehold, but Meanwhile You Can Experience Vienna Through Virtual Tours
Even though their doors are closed, Vienna's countless attractions are still worth a virtual visit. The portal wien.info, a project of the Vienna Tourist Board (WienTourismus) has compiled an up-to-date link collection of virtual guided tours and exhibitions in Vienna's most beautiful and important institutions. Worth to be viewed.
April 7, 2020
Vienna Rainbow Parade and Vienna Pride 2020 Cancelled
The most important event of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender movement in Austria, the Viennese version of the Rainbow Parade, a political demonstration and a colourful parade, which is held annually on the Ringstrasse and promotes equal rights for gays and lesbians, had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
March 24, 2020
COVID-19 Measures in Vienna: Impact on Public Life
Nothing's the way it was. In order to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the freedom of movement in public spaces has been massively restricted. There are new rules for social contacts, sports fields, events, gastronomy, food supply, municipal supply, public transport, driving cars and dog owners. What remains allowed? What am I still allowed to do, what is no longer allowed?
March 18, 2020
Security at the Vienna Opera Ball: 300 Police Officers on Duty
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the security concept and the security measures in and around the Vienna State Opera are impressive. In total, up to 300 police officers are deployed at the Opera Ball. These include two Dutch shepherd dogs which searched the State Opera for explosives and other suspicious objects.
February 20, 2020
Vienna Opera Ball 2020: The World's Most Famous Ballroom
At the Vienna Opera Ball on February 20, 2020, the Vienna State Opera will be transformed into possibly the most famous ballroom in the world. The so-called "Ball of Balls" is an Austrian society event and creates encounters between artists, politicians, business people and diplomacy.
February 17, 2020
UNWG International Festival - Charity Bazaar 2020 at the Austria Center Vienna
Once again this year, 20,000 visitors from all nations are expected at the 52nd Bazaar of the United Nations Womens Guild Vienna (UNWG) at the Austria Center Vienna. With the sale of culinary delicacies, products and handicrafts from over 80 countries, the UNWG collects money for needy children. The proceeds will again be donated to charitable organizations.
February 4, 2020
IAEA Staff Association Ball at Hofburg Palace Vienna 2020
The latest IAEA Staff Association Ball was held on Saturday, 1 February 2020 at the Hofburg Palace, the former imperial palace in the centre of Vienna. It's a unique breathtaking celebration, displaying a kaleidoscope of diversity in music and dance culture, national costumes, food and wine.
February 3, 2020
Schwarzenegger's Interest in the Jewish History of Vienna
During a visit to the Jewish Museum Vienna (Jüdisches Museum Wien) together with his partner Heather Milligan, the former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, expressed great emotion.
January 30, 2020
Ludwig van Beethoven, the Immigrant, Turns 250
In 2020, the City of Vienna will celebrate the 250th birthday of a Viennese by choice, Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born in Bonn on 17 December 1770.
December 16, 2019
Outstanding Artist Awards: International Flagships of the Art Scene
The awards are presented annually to artists of the younger and middle generation for outstanding achievements. At this year's presentation of the awards in the Federal Chancellery, Minister of Art and Culture Schallenberg stressed that the aim of this award was to highlight the extraordinary achievements of Austrian artists, "especially those who have a particular influence on the current art scene", i.e. who are " outstanding".
December 9, 2019
Vienna Expects Lucrative Ball Season 2020 with 151 Million Euro Turnover
At the Viennese balls, 520,000 ball guests are expected this season, one of whom will spend an average of 290 euros.
November 21, 2019
Hedy Lamarr: Most Beautiful Woman in the World and Inventor Returns to Vienna
The Jewish Museum Vienna presents the new exhibition "Lady Bluetooth. Hedy Lamarr". Hedy Lamarr, born in Vienna in 1914, made a career in Hollywood as an actress and was crowned "the most beautiful woman in the world". In addition, the world owes her one of the most far-reaching inventions without which mobile telephony, WLAN or Bluetooth would be unthinkable today.
November 19, 2019
Schallenberg in St. Petersburg: Art, Culture and Human Rights
Alexander Schallenberg travelled to Saint Petersburg to sign a declaration with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Medinsky on the programme of the "Year of Literature and Theatre Austria".
November 18, 2019
Upper Austria's Bad Ischl Becomes European Capital of Culture 2024
Together with two other capitals of culture, Tartu in Estonia and Bodo in Norway, Bad Ischl (together with 20 other municipalities of the Salzkammergut) was elected European Capital of Culture 2024.
November 12, 2019
Opening of the 57th Viennale at the Gartenbaukino in Vienna
The largest international film festival in Austria, the Viennale was opened in Vienna's Gartenbaukino in the presence of Federal Chancellor Bierlein. The role of women in society is of the highest relevance.
October 25, 2019
Strategic Objectives of the Vienna Visitor Economy Strategy 2025: Premium, Cosmopolitan, Digital
Vienna is already setting international standards in the holistic analysis of data for the development of destinations. The achievement of the goals of the Visitor Economy Strategy 2025 can be measured by six target indicators, which reflect the effects on turnover and added value as well as the satisfaction of residents and guests and ecological developments.
October 22, 2019
A New Age for Vienna Tourism
Following the tourism concepts of previous years, the City of Vienna, under the auspices of the Vienna Tourist Board, is for the first time presenting its "Visitor Economy Strategy" until 2025.
October 22, 2019
Salzburg Festival: Awarded Festival of the Year by Musical America
The specialist journal "Musical America" has named the Salzburg Festival "Festival of the Year". The Musical America Awards will be presented for the 59th time in December at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
October 17, 2019
Austrian Art and Culture as a Means of Foreign Policy
Austrian reception on the occasion of the Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse) 2019.
October 17, 2019
Writer Peter Handke Awarded Nobel Prize for Literature 2019
The Swedish Academy has awarded the Austrian writer Peter Handke the Nobel Prize in Literature 2019 "for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience". The prestigious award is endowed with more than 800,000 euros.
October 10, 2019
Billionaire Heidi Horten Unveils Her Contemporary Museum Concept
Heidi Goëss-Horten has announced the winning architectural office, which will design the new museum of the Heidi Horten Collection in the Palais Goëss-Horten (Hanuschhof / Stöcklgebäude) until the beginning of 2022.
October 9, 2019
Cooperation between New York's 'Met' and Austrian Museums: Maximilian I - The Last Knight
The exhibition "The Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York on the significance of the European armaments trade at the beginning of the Renaissance will be held on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Maximilian I's death. 180 objects from more than 30 private and public collections were collected for this purpose.
October 3, 2019
Resident Alien Traces the Contributions of Austrian-American Architects
During his visit to the UN General Assembly in New York, Foreign and Culture Minister Schallenberg opened the exhibition "Resident Alien: Austrian Architects in America" at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York.
September 26, 2019
Reception on the Occasion of the Jewish New Year Festival Rosh Hashanah
The two-day Jewish New Year festival Rosh Hashanah lasts from the evening before 30 September to 01 October 2019 and is always celebrated 163 days after the Passover. At a reception at the Austrian Federal Chancellery, Chancellor Bierlein and Foreign Minister Schallenberg thanked the guests for coming, in particular the Ambassador of the State of Israel for her tireless bilateral commitment.
September 23, 2019
Expats in Austria Give Host Country Its Worst Ranking Yet
Expats in Austria enjoy a healthy life with great opportunities to travel, however, finding friends or even love can be a struggle. Hence Austria became 3rd from the bottom (56th out of 64 countries) in the Ease of Settling In Index.
September 20, 2019
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Russian Embassy Vienna
The Russian Embassy in Vienna is the diplomatic representation of Russia vis-à-vis the Republic of Austria. Since 1891 it has been located in Reisnerstrasse in the 3rd district of Vienna, in the former palace of the banker Israel Simon and the Duke of Nassau. The two most important meetings that took place there were those between Nikita Khrushchev and John F. Kennedy, and between Leonid Brezhnev and Jimmy Carter.
September 19, 2019
The Majlis - Cultures in Dialogue: Exhibition Opening at the Weltmuseum Wien
President of the National Council Sobotka opened the exhibition "The Majlis - Cultures in Dialogue" at the World Museum Vienna, which deals with intercultural dialogue in the Arab world. The travelling exhibition shows the collection of the museum of Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al-Thani in Doha.
September 19, 2019
Oh Vienna: Austria's Capital Remains the World’s Most Liveable City
Vienna has successfully defended its leading position in the Economist ranking of the most liveable cities in the world. On the index Vienna scores a near-perfect 99.1 out of 100, putting it just ahead of Melbourne.
September 5, 2019
Cultural Policy is a Cornerstone of Austrian Soft Power
The BMEIA Federal Ministry for Europe Integration and Foreign Affairs presented the achievements of Austrian foreign culture in the Vienna Konzerthaus (Auslandskulturtagung). In addition to the highlights of the past year, such as the Year of Remembrance 2018, the Cultural Programme during the Austrian EU Presidency and the bilateral Cultural Year with Albania, the central areas of activity of Austrian foreign cultural work were highlighted.
September 4, 2019
Open House: Discover Vienna's Unique Architectural History
Part of Vienna's rank as the city with the world’s best quality of livingis is its outstanding architecture and design. On 14 and 15 September 2019 about 100 buildings - many of which are normally inaccessible - will open their doors for the general public, free of charge.
September 3, 2019
International Research Institute Opens its Doors
For the first time in many years, the IIASA at Schloss Laxenburg will be accessible to external visitors on the National Heritage Day (Tag des Denkmals) on 29 September 2019, who will have a unique chance to learn all about the history of the castle and IIASA.
September 2, 2019 · Sponsored Content
Sensation: South Gate of Roman Fortress Vindobona Discovered within the City of Vienna
The foundation of the missing main gate Porta Decumana of the Roman legionary camp Vindobona came to light during construction works.
August 12, 2019
Vienna Museum on Tour in Japan
In the year of the 150th anniversary celebrations of Japanese Austrian relations, the Vienna Museum (Wien Museum) is moving from Tokyo to Osaka on its tour through Japan with its large-scale exhibition "Vienna on the Path to Modernism".
August 8, 2019
Austria for Africa: Celebrating the Continent and Building Bridges Between Peoples
The organizers intend to show the beauty, but also the reality of the entire continent and at the same time set a sign for tolerance and understanding between the cultures. With the slogan "Africa moves us all" a festival with African esprit, a lot of music, dance, international artists and a colourful bazaar will be celebrated.
August 2, 2019
Film Festival at Vienna's Town Hall Square 2019
The Film Festival at Vienna's Rathausplatz is an open-air event taking place on the square in front of the Vienna City Hall. During the summer months, it shows film recordings of classical music concerts, operas, operettas, ballet, musicals and jazz.
July 31, 2019
Opening of the Salzburg Festival in the Context of the Climate Crisis
The Salzburg Festival (Salzburger Festspiele) is the world's most important festival of classical music and the performing arts. The opening speeches in 2019 were dominated by the themes of climate change and environmental protection. The keynote speaker was US director Peter Sellars.
July 30, 2019
8 Reasons why Vienna is an Ideal Destination for Expats
Home to imperial architecture, masterpiece-filled museums and inspiring music, it’s no wonder that Vienna is a desirable destination for tourists and expats alike.
July 26, 2019
Bregenz Festival: Austria's Artistic Showpiece all over the World
On the occasion of the opening of the Bregenz Festival 2019 (Bregenzer Festspiele) Alexander Van der Bellen reminded the audience that many challenges can only be solved together and with great efforts, and Alexander Schallenberg pointed out that the festival is like big multilateral meetings, where people from different backgrounds meet for a few days and exchange ideas.
July 22, 2019
Vienna's City History: Red Vienna from 1919 to 1934
Vienna’s first free municipal election, held in May 1919, results in an absolute majority for the SPÖ - Social Democratic Party (at that time SDAPDÖ - Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Deutschösterreichs). A reform project commences. The goal is a far reaching democratization of society as well as the dramatic improvement of workers‘ living conditions. A revolutionary fiscal policy, built around a luxury tax, provides funding for the creation of over 60,000 apartments along with numerous social, leisure, and cultural facilities by 1934.
July 9, 2019
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