School and military service
As early as 1774, Empress Maria Theresa imposed 6 years of schooling. Today, schooling begins at the age of 6, and young Austrians must stay in school until they are 15. Unlike the French, Austrian schoolchildren go to school every day except Sunday, but their days are shorter. Classes start at 8am and generally finish around 1pm. However, this system is criticized by many parents who can't spare the afternoon. Co-education has existed in state schools since 1975. The first school cycle lasts 4 years. Then, at the age of 10, pupils can continue in one of two ways: either a short cycle ending with a one-year polytechnic course followed by a one-year apprenticeship in a company, or a long 8-year cycle leading to Matura, the equivalent of our baccalaureate. However, there are bridges between these two streams, and technical education is much less discredited than in France. The Austrian academic year is divided into two semesters, regardless of the type of degree sought. For a long time, certain courses were reserved primarily for Austrians. Foreign students were admitted on a space-available basis. Since 2005, under pressure from the European Union, this has no longer been the case. This new regulation led to a massive influx of German students, and serious problems in accommodating them that continue to this day.
Moreover, Austria is one of only a handful of European countries, including Cyprus, Denmark, Switzerland and Greece, that are still committed to military service. In a referendum held in January 2013, nearly 60% of Austrians voted in favor of maintaining it. Military service lasts 6 months and involves 22,000 individuals every year. An alternative is offered to those who would like to avoid it, with a 9-month civic service.
A few character traits and the Viennese difference
In both the professional and private spheres, we like things to be clear and rather square. And yet, Austrians benefit from a culture with many influences - Slavic, Hungarian, Italian as well as Germanic. In Austria, people like to take their time and not be rushed. The family plays an important role, as does rigor, and belonging to the Catholic religion is still important. The number of common-law unions is lower than in France, even if the new generation is overturning this state of affairs. In addition, young people's morals are fairly free, and homosexuality is relatively well tolerated. Homosexuality was decriminalized in Austria in 1971. While lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people may encounter difficulties that non-LGBT people do not in Austria, this is much less the case in the capital. Vienna is a tolerant and open-minded city. The success of Vienna Pride is one of the most visible expressions of this. While adoption is open to all, it is still not widely accepted for homosexual couples. In practice, nothing is different from the situation in France or Belgium. What's more, abortion legislation is comparable to that in France.
Xenophobia and sense of identity
The rise of the far right in Austria has caused controversy among the country's European neighbours. The media has been full of it, the judgments have been sweeping and the Austrians have been lumped together, which has not failed to offend many. According to some analyses, this rise in racism could have been halted if, in the aftermath of the Second World War, Austria had taken the full measure of its involvement in the Nazi extermination, just as Germany did. Xenophobia would therefore have remained muted until the 1980s, a decade in which unemployment rose sharply. Is there a more pronounced national identity in Austria than elsewhere? Austrians don't like to be confused with Germans, but they don't overly cultivate their sense of identity. The desire to belong to the same people seems to be much less obvious than the desire to assert one's regional identity.
Green citizens
It is one of the European countries where ecological awareness is the highest, like Sweden or Finland. The political weight of the Greens is also one of the strongest in Europe. The notion of sustainable development is not a fashionable phenomenon, but is well and truly anchored in people's minds. Sorting household waste has long been part of everyday life. Austrians are very careful in their selection of waste. Paper, plastic and everything else is separated. Cardboard packaging with metal foil on the inside, often containing milk or fruit juice, is separated and tied together. For glass, each colour has a special container. The collected waste partly produces the energy needed for district heating. The Spittelau incineration plant in Vienna, an urban art work designed by the artist and architect Hundertwasser, is a good example of this conversion. In addition, Austria has had a very active anti-nuclear policy for many years and has not used nuclear energy for its own consumption since 1978. The quality of life in Austria is remarkable: clean air, clear water, respect for pedestrians and cyclists. The country is definitely ahead in the environmental field, the other major component being its conviviality.
Green, social and exemplary urban planning
Austria's capital is the world's leading green metropolis, with its public transport, natural spaces, pedestrian walkways, incineration plant and much more. One of the world's most livable cities, Austria's capital remains at the forefront of social and eco-responsible housing.
Vienna houses 60% of its population in rent-capped apartments and reserves two-thirds of new construction for subsidized housing. What's more, every building program must comply with a charter of environmental standards.
Multiple roots and rapid urbanization
Vienna's city center features medieval buildings, Gothic edifices, Baroque palaces, Art Nouveau buildings and grand squares. At the same time, skyscrapers rise in the business district and futuristic buildings in the historic MuseumsQuartier. Graffiti artists add their modern, wacky artistic touch along the banks of the Danube.
This city is built in layers. After the joyful, flamboyant Art Nouveau style that emerged at the end of the 19th century, the red Vienna of the 1930s under the Social Democrats experienced galloping urbanization. In just a few years, 60,000 dwellings were built, including the emblematic Karl Marx Hof, stretching over a kilometer in length, with 1,325 comfortable apartments averaging 40-45 m² - a dream for working-class families of the time! The large courtyards and communal rooms are places for meeting and exchanging ideas - a model of urbanization that is still studied and inspiring today. In this way, Vienna succeeds in harmoniously blending centuries, populations and artistic trends. In the same way, the city's achievements have given rise to new forms of citizenship.
Hundertwasser, utopian and visionary
Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000) is another reference that attracts tourists and urban planning students alike, adding color, conviviality and an environmental component to the originality of his style, which is free of straight lines. A pioneer in the defense of sustainable development, Hundertwasser denounced consumer society in his own way of life and through his works. The building, which housed Austria's first Green Museum, inaugurated in 1991, is in itself one of the artist's works. Hundertwasser rehabilitated the former Bugholz furniture factory into a warm, open space. And it's an enchantment of cheerful, original and colorful architecture, with planted spaces, flowing water, undulating floors, colors that pop, gold and silver, wood and ceramics, glass, bricks, stones, metal, spaces for dreaming and resting, and a roof terrace with trees, vegetable garden and beehives. Today, this Kunst Haus Wien, Vienna's Artists' House, hosts a retrospective of his works and programs contemporary art exhibitions that denounce the threats to biodiversity.
To complete your discovery of Hundertwasser, you'll need to visit the famous "Hundertwasser House" nearby. Commissioned by the municipality of Vienna, this experimental, humanist and ecological collective dwelling was designed in 1983. On stage, colors, waves and gilding. Nothing regular or symmetrical, but curves to imitate nature, vegetation and communal spaces. Something of the Viennese art of living remains.
MuseumsQuartier and eco-neighbourhoods
Inaugurated in 2001, the MuseumsQuartier, a new cultural and popular space, harmonizes the centuries and is the result of a monumental construction project with a phenomenal budget. But what a success! Close to the city center, this international arts complex sees young locals and Viennese families enjoying the immense inner courtyard with its large, colorful designer benches. Renovated buildings from the Baroque era, such as the former stables and the imperial courtyard, structure the complex, while new constructions such as the futuristic Mumok Museum of Modern Art are in harmony.
And new districts are always springing up to accommodate 10,000 to 20,000 new residents a year. Nordbahnhof, for example, was built in 2014 on a former railway site around a green area. Each block has its own architect and project (see box). The residents of a building without cars or parking spaces were able to free up space for their bicycle garage and communal areas. In the Aspangbahnhof station area, Europe's largest complex of positive-energy homes is currently under construction.
Wohnprojekt, an inspiring participatory housing project
In the new Nordbahnhof district, the most famous building is the Wohnprojekt, an 8-storey wooden participative housing project with bay windows, roof terrace, guest rooms, kitchen, barbecue and communal vegetable gardens, district heating and photovoltaic panels. Inaugurated in 2014, the multi-award-winning project comprises 39 affordable apartments (around €570 perm2). Residents devote a dozen hours a month to collective work. Decisions are taken not by democracy, but by "sociocracy", a form of governance based on consensus. The formula works, and the hundred or so residents, aged 2 to 76, are delighted. Erich, retired, is one of its initiators: "The result is even better than I imagined. We're a village within the city, and we don't have many problems. During the health crisis, the 40 resident children attended school in our seminar room
Aspern Seestadt or the suburb rethought
But Vienna's latest major urban development project, which has won awards for its environmental quality and originality, is Aspern Seestadt, an eco-neighbourhood for housing, business and leisure, accessible by underground. All the streets are named after women, to restore a certain parity. A peaceful atmosphere around a large artificial lake, parks, pedestrian squares, shared gardens, playgrounds... Here, the residents leave the car behind. In addition to the soft roads, a small experimental electric shuttle without a driver runs through the district. Many innovative and inspired architects have been involved. The most original building is the elegant Hoho eco-building, the tallest wooden building ever built, with 24 floors of offices, a hotel and a restaurant. Romane Hofman, who worked with Günter Gerbler on this project, explains: "It is a hybrid eco-building, made of prefabricated elements, combining spruce and larch, supported by solid wood pillars and a concrete framework, with a photovoltaic roof, very well insulated and connected to the district heating Another construction that one comes to see from afar!
