Information about the country

AUSTRIA



Austria (Österreich)  is situated in central Europe and its territory covers 83,835 km2 with a population of 8.47 million (Kwintessential, 2013). Austria, as a landlocked country, borders with Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland, Slovakia and Lichtenstein (Kwintessential, 2013). Austria is a predominantly mountainous country, particularly due to the presence of the Alps; this influences its climate (temperate and alpine) and defines its image as a mountain and skiing destination (Austrian National Tourism Office, 2013a).

Austria's territory is organised in nine federal states (Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Voralberg and Vienna) , all responding to the central administration in the capital, Vienna      ( Everyculture, 2010). Austria has been part of the European Union since 1995 and since 1999 adopted the European currency (EURO); the country is nowadays recognized as having  one of the best standard of living and as being one of the richest in the world for GDP per capita (Bundeskanzleramt Österreich, 2012, OECD, 2013).

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Austrian is a really multi ethnic country: even though the 84.8% of the population is represented by Germans, the remaining 15.2% is constituted by various different ethnic groups (Bundesministerium für Inneres, 2013a).

Road sign in Hungarian in Austria

The biggest single ethnic minority are the Turks which, alone make up the 4% of the Austrian population; among the others Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Slovenes, Albanians, Polish, Hungarians, Slovaks, Romanians can be identified (Kwintessential, 2013).

The official language is German, spoken natively by the 88.6% of the population; the 4.2% speaks Croatian/ Bosnian/ Serbian, the 2.3% speaks Turkish, the 0.5% Hungarian and another 0.5% Polish. In some regions, where the presence of this ethnic group is particularly consistent these languages often accompany German in public places and signs (Bundesministerium für Inneres, 2013a).

Despite German being Austria's official language, some differences in vocabulary and usage can be identified between Austrian German and the German spoken in Germany. An example of this can seen in the use of the Austrian "Na", which acquires different meanings in relation to different contexts (Kwintessencial, 2013).

Other examples are:

- Marillen instead of the German Aprikosen

- Stiege instead of Treppe

- Jänner instead of Januar

etc. 

In addition to this the use of regional dialects, in particular in the Tyrol region is consistently widespread so that it is often preferred over High German.

Austrians are generally straight talkers and appreciate frank and direct communication, even though they can become sometimes quite reserved and they tend to avoid personal matters in the discussions, especially when the relationship is at the beginning (Kwintessential, 2013).

GREETINGS AND COMMUNICATION

Austrians tend to be quite direct and frank communicators and, even if this might seem brusque, politeness is always prioritized. However honest and straighfoward communicators, Austrians tend to avoid talking about personal matters unless they feel confident with the other person and at the beginning of a relationship they might be quite reserved Kwintessential, 2013, Culture Crossing, 2012). Austrians's style of cummication tend to be formal and the use of titles like Herr and Frau accompanied by the person's surname it's common habit until invitation of using firt names is recieved (Everyculture, 2010). Greetings are as well quite formal and generally, when entering a room, a person is supposed to shake hands with all the present, including children (Everyculture, 2010). Some older Austrian men traditionally kiss a woman's hand when firstly introduced, clicking their heels together (Kwintessencial, 2013).

DAILY ROUTINE AND HABITS

It is generally the case that the Austrian daily routine starts quite early in the morning: Austrians like having an early start and they get up early in order consume a considerably substantial breakfast; lunch, on the other hand, is  normally quite small and snack-size  to allow an early (6pm)  abundant  dinner (Everyculture, 2010). Austrians  cuisine  is  famous for its dishes of meat as for example  the Wiener Schnitzel or the Schweinsbraten (Everycutlture, 2010).  Austria has also a remarkable tradition in terms of patisserie: worldwide known examples include the Sachertorte and the  Apfelstrudel.; coffee tradition (drink with milk and cream) is also remarkable (Austrian National Tourism Office, 2013b). Different varieties of beer are also produced:  lager (known as Märzen),  unfiltered and unpasteurized Zwicklbier and wheat beer.

In terms of  opening and closing times , general pattern for the majority of shops and activities is  9am-7pm  Mondays to Fridays; 9am-5pm on Saturdays with closing day on Sundays (MCI, 2013). Banks have different opening times: Mondays to Thursdays 9am-12 and 2pm-4pm;   banks close  at 3pm on Fridays and remain closed at the weekends. I also needs to be reminded that, despite some of the shops offering the possibility of carrying out card transactions, the commonest mean of paymante and the most accepted is cash (MVI, 2013).

TRANSPORTS

Austria has one of the most developed and efficient transportation network among the European countries (Bundesministerium für Inneres, 2013b) . The interregional transportation via train networks is provided by the ÖBB and offers reasonably priced fares with the possibility to purchase a railcard that allows the access to discounted fares (ÖBB, 2013). Within the Austrian cities public transportation is also quite efficient in the form of buses and tram lines: the frequency and the punctualiy of the service make theis form of travel preferrable in Austria and the avarage cost of a single ride is generally between 1.08/2.20 euros Bundesministerium für Inneres, 2013b). For these means of transport is normally possible to purchase a monthly or annual pass with discounted promotions for students and concession card holders. If travelling by car, it is important to remenber that to access the Austrian motorways every vehicle is required to display the motorway sticker ("Autobahnvignette"), purchasable either at the entrance of the motorway or in town at every tobacconist''s or post office (Bundesministarium für Inneres, 2013b). In terms of the approach towards the access of public forms of transportation, Austrians tend to not embrace the concept of queing applied however in other formal circumstance like a the banks or at the post office. For public transports, ski lifts, bars and ticke offices, Austrians do not observe the practice of queing and, sometimes this can create tensions between those people alighting and those trying to get on the bus or tram (Kwintessencial, 2013). The same concept is applied to restaurant and cafès contexts, where here is no queue to be seated at a table but the customer is allowed to pick his/her own place (Kwintessecial, 2013). 



References and bibliography

Austrian National Tourism Office (2013a), Climate, [Online] Available at: http://www.austria.info/us/about-austria/climate-1140678.html, (accessed )

Austrian National Tourism Office (2013b), Coffehouse culture in Austria, [Online] Available at: http://www.austria.info/us/people-and-traditions/coffeehouse-culture-in-austria-1145698.html, (accessed )

Bundesministerium für Inneres (2013a), Languages, Culture and Religion, [Online] Available at:  http://www.migration.gv.at/en/living-and-working-in-austria/austria-at-a-glance/languages-culture-and-religion.html, (accessed ) 

Bundesministerium für Inneres (2013b), Transport, [Online] Available at: http://www.migration.gv.at/en/living-and-working-in-austria/austria-at-a-glance/transport.html, (accessed )

Bundeskanzleramt Österreich (2012), Presse, [Online] Available at: http://www.bundeskanzleramt.at/site/3388/default.aspx, (accessed )

Culture Crossing (2012). Austria. [Online] Available at: http://www.culturecrossing.net/basics_business_student_details.php?Id=15&CID=14 ( accessed 07/03/2013). 

Everyculture (2010), Austria, [Online] Available at: http://www.everyculture.com/A-Bo/Austria.html, (accessed )

Kwintessential (2013), Austria: language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette, [Online] Available at : http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/austria-country-profile.html,  (accessed )

MCI (2013). Welcome Guide for International Exchange Students,  [Online] Available at: http://www.mci.edu/en/international/students/exchange-students ( accessed 10/03/2013).

ÖBB (2013), Vorteilscard, [Online] Available at: http://www.oebb.at/en/Customer_cards/VORTEILScard/index.jsp, (accessed )

OECD (2013), Better Life Index, [Online] Available at: http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/austria/ ( accessed 12-03-2013)