Coining it in

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General News

Austrian hotel manager Rainer Ogrinigg is booked out after offering to allow guests to pay in Austrian Schillings and German Marks rather than Euros. Ogrinigg, who owns the Seehotel Grundlsee in Ausseerland in the Austrian lake district the Salzkammergut, confirmed it is now possible for guests to pay in German Marks. The offer was made […]

Crow hunting

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General News

Officials in Styria are taking matters in hand over the massive number of crimes in Austria and have authorised hunters to shoot 17,000 of the birds. The decision comes after a record number of complaints from farmers about the birds – and will mean that the crows can be shot between 1 July and 31 […]

Police investigate Bavarian curling tragedy

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General News

An Austrian man was left in a serious condition after a Bavarian curling game got out of hand during a tournament in Liebenfels, Austria. Police are investigating allegations that the curler aged 43 who was not named for legal reasons had been heckling his rivals when he was reportedly pushed by an opposing player – […]

Giveaway millionaire exposed as conman

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General News

An Austrian millionaire who became an Internet sensation when he revealed he had given away everything in order to help the poor is really a conman who simply wanted to get publicity to sell his house and pay off his debts. Media around the world rushed to cover the story of Karl Rabeder when he […]

Billionaire Billa founder to marry aged 94

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General News

Billionaire supermarket and property tycoon Karl Wlaschek, 94, has unveiled plans to marry in a few days, saying jokingly that he hopes to have more children. Wlaschek, who according to Forbes is worth an estimated 4.4 billion euros from the founding of the Billa supermarket chain and a property business, announced at the weekend that […]

End of winter tyres rule despite snow forecasts

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General News

The compulsory use of winter tyres rule ends this weekend on Sunday when spring officially arrives for the road transport authorities. The fact however that people will no longer be obliged to wear winter tyres does not seem to have been observed by mother nature – with snowfalls predicted on Monday in many parts of […]

Mystery SMS may help solve murder

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General News

Austrian police are hoping that the mystery SMS sent claiming to be from the woman who was already dead might help them track down her killer. The 58-year-old woman was found dead with massive head injuries in her flat in Schwechat outside Vienna after a neighbour raised the alarm. The neighbour said that the woman […]

Man killed in traffic accident

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General News

A tragic accident claimed the life of a 22-year-old Austrian this week. The young man from Oberndorf, in Flachgau, was travelling in Bavaria when he pulled into the lane used by oncoming traffic to overtake a row of cars. But he smashed into the side of another car driven by another Austrian driver, a 45-year-old […]

Firemen tackle crematorium fire

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General News

Firemen were called out to deal with an unplanned blaze in an Austrian crematorium at a cemetery in Graz this week. The blaze was caused when a filter overheated and was difficult to bring under control because of the thick isolation around the filter. The filter was fixed to one of the ovens used to […]

Builders feel the competition from abroad

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General News

Austrian builders are starting to feel the pressure of competition from abroad. Since the opening of the domestic market to firms from EU countries more and more foreign firms are setting up business in Austria. Spokeswoman for the builders Maria Epple said: “It is not just the lower wage costs but also the fact that […]