Category Archives: Austria
Mauthausen
Zur deutschen Fassung dieses Berichts. My hosts in Linz are exceptionally gracious hosts. On the morning of the farewell, they cook, bake, puree, flambé and prepare food as if I weren’t a humble little fellow, but a horde of a … Continue reading
Journey to the Center of Europe – Kruhlyi, Ukraine
Zur deutschen Fassung. For the project “Journey to the Center of Europe”, I am going to visit all the places that have ever laid claim to being the geographical center of Europe or the European Union. And write about them. … Continue reading
Journey to the Center of Europe
Zur deutschen Fassung. It is July 15th, 2022. The early hours of the day are still morning-pleasantly fresh, although it will turn into a very hot day. There is even a bit of a drizzle in between. The kind of … Continue reading
One Hundred Years Ago, the Habsburg Empire was finished for good – April 1922: Emperor Karl I
Zur deutschen Fassung. In April 1922, so much stuff happened that, as earth-shattering as each of the events may have been, I can only devote a cursory glance to some of them. Like the death of his beloved majesty, Emperor … Continue reading
One Hundred Years Ago, an Ex-Emperor wanted to have another go at it – October 1921: Karl of Austria-Hungary
Zur deutschen Fassung. After World War I, four empires lay in ruins. The former rulers dealt with sudden unemployment in very different ways. The Russian Czar Nicholas II got himself shot. The Ottoman Grand Vizier Talât Pasha got himself shot. … Continue reading
Austrian Border Control
When you’re smuggling Italian cigars while hitchhiking across the Alps, the imposing Austrian customs checkpoint near Nauders will give you a brief scare. But it was Sunday morning and the soldiers were apparently attending church. Or they didn’t want to … Continue reading
Hitchhiking against the Skeptics
“Nobody will give you a ride during a pandemic”, people said. Well, I had to find out for myself. Continue reading
A Chinese in Vienna
During some meeting of some committee of some sub-organization at the United Nations in Vienna, I got to know a young lady from China. Qian was doing an internship as a simultaneous interpreter for Mandarin and English. Simultaneous interpreters are … Continue reading
Strangers in the Park
Hier geht es zur deutschen Fassung dieser Geschichte. I had two days left in Boston before returning to Germany, and I didn’t know anybody in the city. The year was 2009 and, as far as I knew, the internet hadn’t … Continue reading
How to cope with the Heatwave (3 steps)
This is Sisi, my friends’ cat that I am currently watching in Vienna. She is clearly suffering from the heatwave, too. Her advice in this kind of weather: “Don’t move. Sleep as much as possible. And don’t go to work.” … Continue reading
The Happy Hermit 