Austria. Media News.

Dear friends of Austria and fellow travelers,

We know. It’s been a long two years. It does - sometimes - look like there is light at the end of the tunnel, though, so we thought we’d start the year off on a positive note with a host of things to get you excited about Austria in 2022.

First off, there is a fresh wind blowing in Vienna's cultural scene, with many powerful leading ladies shaking up venerable cultural institutions. Then there is a new coffee and cake shop that is successfully challenging Vienna’s traditional coffee house concept with an amazing, socially responsible idea, and lastly, we’ll take you on a ski tour with the Emperor himself, because, well, who doesn’t love to learn from the best.

With warmest regards,
Sigrid Pichler

Manager of Public Relations
Austrian Tourist Office New York City
sigrid.pichler@austria.info
tel 212 575 7723 x 119

www.austria.info 

These days, it is a delight to spend time in Vienna, because the city not only knows how to celebrate its glorious past, it also keeps reinventing itself in numerous ways, keeping things fresh and exciting.

Case in point: over the past year, some important cultural leadership positions were filled by successful women with significant international experience and big plans for their institutions.
Most notably, Lilli Hollein, co-founder of the Vienna Design Week was appointed as the new director general of the Museum of Applied Arts, one of the city’s foremost cultural institutions, in September 2021. The daughter of Pritzker-Prize winning architect Hans Hollein shows a penchant for good design and a willingness to engage with unusual formal language.
Lotte de Beer is set to become the first woman ever to lead Vienna’s Volksoper starting with the 2022/2023 season. And right now, the Albertina Modern is running the pop art exhibition The 80s, which addresses the birth of Postmodernism and is curated by the new Director of the Albertina Modern, Angela Stief.
Another way female power is currently manifesting itself in Vienna’s cultural scene is through the eagerly awaited opening of an entirely new museum in the existing Leopold Museum in early 2022. It will house the Heidi Horten Collection, and feature works by Klimt, Schiele, Warhol and Picasso, among others, brought together by Heidi Goëss-Horten, one of just a handful of female museum founders worldwide.
 

Another project that celebrates female power - or should we say empowerment - of a completely different kind, and has been a hit with patrons from the get-go. Recognizing the dual problems of loneliness and poverty among senior citizens, a young enterprising trio set out to find a creative solution: At the Vollpension, grannies are showing off their baking skills, while patrons get to enjoy coffee, cake and the cozy atmosphere of what feels like your favorite grandma’s living room. The concept was so successful, that within a very short period of time, Vienna had not one but three locations to sample delicious family recipes. While the pandemic is raging, an online cooking course keeps the grannies busy and connected to an enthusiastic younger audience eager to master new baking skills. The “BackAcademy” is now looking for grandmas all over the world for their campaign ‘baking against poverty,’ in the hopes of extending this popular e-learning program.

Alpine skiing is to Austrians what baseball is to Americans. Many ski racers have achieved legendary fame, but there are few as revered as Franz Klammer, who also loves to share a laugh and his passion for his home resort Bad Kleinkirchheim.
With hard work, lots of determination and even more charisma, Klammer totaled 25 downhill wins and five World-Cup downhill titles in the 1970s and 80s. The Kaiser (Emperor) of downhill racing is also busy managing his own charity helping injured athletes on their paths to recovery.
Every winter, he also leads small exclusive groups of early risers around his favorite mountain slopes in Bad Kleinkirchheim and down the World Cup run named in his honor. There is no one better to give expert advice on skiing techniques or give you a unique perspective on the region you are exploring. Book in advance, though, as skiing with the Kaiser is akin to tea with the Queen.
 

If you are still looking for a dreamy winter and ski vacation, the Hotel Edelweiss, located in the Grossarl Region of the Salzburger Land, is an Alpine Skier’s dream-come-true.
The region is smack in the heart of the Alps, guaranteeing snow for the entire season, the ski lifts are literally outside the door and slopes range from easy to challenging, satisfying skiers of all levels.
Even non-skiers will be happy at a hotel that features all kinds of luxuries for those who’d rather have their feet firmly on the ground: How about a soak in the infinity pool with views over the entire Grossarl region? Or four-course gourmet menus in the evening?
Needless to say, the family owned hotel is also open during the summer and offers e-bike rentals and hiking equipment so everyone can enjoy the spectacular natural landscape, summer and winter.