Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Austria Today
Despite recent financial and currency crises in Europe, most Austrians today remain
buoyant about the future. The country has held up well so far and has one of the
world's highest standards of living. Continuing political stability and social and eco-
nomic equality are what people think about most. Fear of the widening gap between
the well-off and poor was a strong underlying issue in the most recent national elec-
tions, held in late 2013.
Stable but Fragmenting Politics
Austria's national anthem, 'Land of Mountains
and Flowing Rivers', is a song of praise for the
spectacular landscape, but what goes for the
natural landscape cannot really be said of
politics, which is among Europe's least spec-
tacular. This is not necessarily a bad thing:
Austria is one of the world's most stable coun-
tries. Stability partly comes from the astound-
ing degree of consensus, with the two largest
parties, the Sozialdemokratischen Partei Öster-
reichs (SPÖ; Social Democratic Party of Aus-
tria) and Österreichische Volkspartei (ÖVP;
Austrian People's Party) having ruled together
in grand coalitions 18 times out of 27 govern-
ments since 1945.
Best in Print (Travel)
A Time of Gifts (Patrick Leigh Fermor; 1977)
First volume of trilogy about an epic walk from
the Hook of Holland via Austria to Con-
stantinople in 1933-34.
Vienna: The Image of a Culture in Decline
(Edward Crankshaw; 1938) Travel description
and history.
Danube (Claudio Magris; 1986) Mid-1980s
Italian travel journal covering the river's length.
Last Waltz in Vienna: The Destruction of a
Family 1842-1942 (George Clare; 1982) Auto-
biographical account of a Jewish family's fate.
Best on Film
The Third Man (1949) Classic film noir set in
Vienna.
The Piano Teacher (2001) Masterpiece direc-
ted by Michael Hanecke about a masochistic pi-
ano teacher.
Metropolis (1927) Industry and prescient futur-
istic grunge by director Fritz Lang.
Amour (2012) Michael Hanecke directed and
wrote the screenplay of a film about an old
couple's tested love.
The Counterfeiters (2007) A Jew whose re-
markable skill in counterfeiting puts him in the
service of Nazis.
Changing Coalition Landscape
Austria's characteristic consensus is gradually
giving way to fragmentation and greater di-
versity, with the growth in support for smaller
parties breaking the stronghold of the SPÖ and
ÖVP on federal office. Die Grünen (Green
Party) has gained political momentum and
support, while the more established populist
 
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