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VIENNA ATMs, BANKS,
MONEY, MONEY EXCHANGE, AND PRICES The Euro is Austria’s legal tender. Most
credit cards are widely accepted for cashless payment, so are debit cards
(Maestro, Cirrus). For cash withdrawal you can also use both type of cards at
ATMs which are widespread throughout the city. Money exchange is best done at
banks (opening hours see below). Prices for
food and drinks depend very much on the establishment. You can buy food and
drinks cheaply in supermarkets, and at reasonable prices at bakeries,
cafeterias or the University canteens. Restaurants, even better ones, offer a
daily special or a set lunch from Monday to Friday, usually including a soup
and a main dish, for around 5-15 Euro. Prices for dinner and on weekends are
more expensive (starting at 7 Euro for a main dish in cheaper restaurants),
but you will still be able to find main dishes at Oriental and Chinese
restaurants for around 6 Euro. Drinks in restaurants are not cheap (count
with c. 2 Euro for a soft drink and c. 3 Euro for fruit juice), but most
establishments offer the possibility to buy 750 ml bottles of water as well
as soda water at a moderate price. You will even be able to order tap water
for free, although frowned upon. BUSINESS
HOURS Bank opening hours are from Monday to Friday from 8am to 12.30pm and from
1:30pm to 3pm (to 5:30pm on Thursdays). In the city centre banks are usually
open during lunch time. Restaurants will generally offer their service daily from noon to 2 pm (usually
with a set lunch at discounted rates) and for dinner from 6pm to 10pm. It is
not easy to find dinner after that time, but a few Turkish and Oriental
restaurants will be opened until midnight. Snacks, however, are readily
available throughout the night at the typical Würstelstände (Viennese sausage
stalls) where different types of sausage specialities as well as Kebab,
cooked Chinese style noodles and sweets are sold. Shops, including supermarkets, will be opened from Monday to Friday
from 8am to 7pm (to 5pm on Saturdays). In addition, you will find shops
opened on Sundays at the most important railway stations (especially at
Praterstern – Northern railway station) as well as at the airport. The
opening hours of pharmacies are
from Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm as well as on Saturday from 8am to noon. In
addition, a 24-hours emergency service is provided at a rotation system. If a
pharmacy is not open at night, there will be a posting of the address of the
next available pharmacy. Post offices will serve you from 8am to 6pm, sometimes closed during lunch time. CITY OF
VIENNA Vienna (German: Wien) is the
capital of the Republic of Austria.
It is located in Eastern Austria on the Danube River – one of Central
Europe’s main water ways – at the intersection between the Alps and the
Vienna Basin, a plain being the door to the Pannonian or Carpathian Basin and
thus the westernmost extension of the Eurasian Steppe Belt. In addition to
Vienna’s strategic position on a part of the Danube easy to wade and cross
due to creeks and islands, the site developed also as crossroad between the
Danube and the ancient Amber Road, once an important trade route between the
Mediterranean and the North Sea as well as the Baltic Sea.
Vienna
woodcut from the Nuremberg chronicle, Michel Wolgemut, Wilhelm Pleydenwurff
1493 The site
was first settled by the Celts around 500 BC. During Roman times, it was
called Vindobona, was fortified 15 BC and served as frontier town. In 1155,
Vienna was made capital by Duke Henry II of Austria, finally receiving the
rights of a city and staple port in 1221. It was neglected in the early 14th
century when Prague became the residence of the Emperors of the Holy Roman
Empire with the House of Luxembourg. The founding of the University of Vienna
as well as the making of the church St. Stephen a duomo by Duke Rudolph IV in
1365 paved the way for Vienna as a residence of the Holy Roman Empire under
the Habsburgs in the early 15th century. This was the time when also one of
the most barbarous extermination of Jews in Viennese history took place.
Vienna became seat of a bishopric in 1469 and eventually the capital of the
Holy Roman Empire in 1556 – and as such one of the most important (Christian)
strongholds against the (Muslim) Ottoman Empire. During the Congress of
Vienna, the city was the capital of the Austrian Empire and the largest
German-speaking city in the world.
Vienna
seen from the North, Claes Jansz Visscher1640 (unmodified, based on the
version from 1609) Today,
Vienna counts more than 2 million inhabitants. Its city centre was declared a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. Vienna was ranked repeatedly the city
with the best life quality in the world, a UN-survey considered Vienna the
wealthiest city in the world in 2012. Vienna’s heritage as birthplace of
modern diplomacy is still reflected in the presence of international
organisations such as the United Nations (Vienna is one of the four major UN
office sites), the OSCE and the OPEC. CLIMATE The
temperature in mid September is usually fairly warm. However, you should be
prepared for cool and breezy nights with average temperatures around 8-14
degrees Celsius. Vienna’s elevation is 171 m above sea level. Traditional
Viennese cuisine is the result of Vienna’s role as capital of one of the
vastest European empires until 1918 and thus a magnet for subjects migrating
from all parts of the Habsburg Empire which once included (at different times
and at least parts of) present-day Belgium, Bosnia, Croatia, Czech Republic,
Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Ukraine.
Wiener
Schnitzel (photo credit: Kobako) and Sachertorte (photo
credit: David Monniaux) Most
popular dishes include Rindsuppe
(clear beef broth served e.g. with semolina gnocchi, thinly cut pancakes,
tiny noodles, Backerbsen - small drops of deep-fry batter -, bread dumplings,
or Leberknödel made of liver), Wiener
Schnitzel (deep-fry cutlets of veal or pork in a breadcrumb batter,
served with potato or mixed salad), Tafelspitz
(tenderly cooked lean beef served with onion roast potatoes, chives sauce,
horseradish and apple), and Gulasch
(a Hungarian style hotpot made of beef or pork stewed in a spicy paprika gravy
served with rolls, gnocchi or dumplings). Besides,
Vienna is famous for its delicious desserts (sometimes also served as main
dish) and pastries like Apfelstrudel
(apple strudel), Milchrahmstrudel
(strudel filled with a mixture of sour cream and quark, baked in vanilla
sauce), Kaiserschmarrn (thick
pieces of ripped pancake usually served with Zwetschkenröster – a kind of plum compote, or with wild cherry
compote), Marillenknödel (an
apricot filled dumpling served in melted butter, breadcrumbs and icing
sugar), Germknödel (a boiled,
fluffy yeast dumpling filled with Powidl
– plum jam – served with melted butter, ground poppy seed and icing sugar), Palatschinken (thin, crêpe style
pancakes filled with jam, hot chocolate sauce, quark, nuts, or ice cream), or
Sachertorte (a chocolate covered
chocolate cake, filled with apricot jam and served with whipped cream). Don’t
forget to try ice cream sold in small parlours throughout the city. Last but
not least, two types of famous Viennese institutions should be mentioned: the
Viennese coffee house and the Heuriger, a kind of wine-tavern.
While the former is serving coffee and tea specialities, savoury snacks and
sometimes include a Konditorei (a
patisserie), the latter is specialised in wine (pure or mixed with soda water
called G’spritzter), often
accompanied by gypsy-style live music. Heurigen will offer a buffet with
Viennese food, such as cold meat cut, hot dishes like Stelze (ham hock) or Schweinsbraten
(roast pork) as well as a variety of side dishes, especially different types
of salad (e.g. potato salad or black salsify salad), Kren (freshly grated horseradish), and breads. Bread is also
served as snack together with spreads like Liptauer (quark, seasoned with paprika and pickles), and Grammelschmalz (lard with pieces of
fried pork skin, seasoned with paprika). EMERGENCY
NUMBERS Fire
brigade: 122 Police:
133 Ambulance:
144 Emergency
doctor: 141 Emergency
(deaf): 0800-133-133 (SMS or fax) or e-mail: gehoerlosennotruf@polizei.at
HOW TO
REACH VIENNA See >>
Transport LANGUAGE German is the official language of Austria. Besides, there are six recognised
minority languages: Burgenland Croatian, Czech, Hungarian, Romani, Slovak,
and Slovenian. English, at least at a basic level, is widespread. OFFICIAL
TIME Central
European Time (CET), one hour ahead UTC; please note that in September
Austria uses Central European Summer Time (CEST), two hours ahead UTC PARKING If you are
planning to travel to Vienna by car, please note that car parking in the
centre of Vienna is expensive and can be difficult. Although there is no
public car parking on the university premises, there are several underground
car parks nearby, all of them pricey. PHONE
PREFIX +43-1 ... from outside Austria 01 ... phone prefix of Vienna from inside Austria PUBLIC
TRANSPORT Vienna’s public
transport system is excellent and fairly safe. The service is offered,
roughly speaking, daily between 5am and midnight. On Fridays and Saturdays
underground service is provided 24 hrs, on all other days so-called
nightlines provide their service during midnight and 5am. A single ticket
costs 2.10 Euro. A ticket valid for one week (unlimited journeys within
Vienna) will cost 15.80 Euro. How to
reach the venues by public transport, see >> Transport RESTAURANTS In addition
to Viennese cuisine described above, restaurants will also serve tasty
regional Austrian cuisine as well as international standard fare. The number
of restaurants serving other than Austrian cuisine is considerable and will
range from German beer gardens, French Brasseries, Italian Trattorias,
Spanish Tapas Bars, Greek Tabernas, Mexican Cantinas, Brazilian Churrasco
Grills, US-American Steak Houses, Nigerian, Oriental and Middle Eastern
Restaurants, Indian and Sri Lankan Curry Temples to Japanese Sushi Bars. Most
will offer at least one vegetarian choice. Conference delegates will be
provided with a list of restaurants both in the vicinity of the university
and in the vicinity of Hotel Prinz Eugen. TAP WATER Tap water
in Vienna is perfectly safe to drink and comes via aqueduct straight from the
Alps. Besides, you can buy bottled water in any supermarket or restaurant. TIPPING For
service, such as in restaurants, cafés, taxis, hairdressers etc., tip is
expected. It is usually 5-10% of the total amount and will not be added
automatically to your bill. USEFUL
ADDRESSES AND PHONE NUMBERS Centre for Information on Intoxication (24 hrs
emergency service) Stubenring
6, 1010 Wien Phone:
406-43-43 General Hospital (AKH – 24hrs emergency service) Währinger
Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Wien Phone:
40-400 Motorway emergency phones If you are
planning to travel to Vienna by car, please note that all Austrian motorways
are equipped with emergency phones. Taxi service Phone:
40-100 or 31-300 Vienna International Airport Phone:
7007-0 VACCINATIONS For
immigration, no vaccinations are required. Nevertheless you should be up to
date with your tetanus, polio, and hepatitis inoculations. VOLTAGE 230 volts,
at 50 hertz frequency, German-type (F) plugs are used WEIGHTS
AND MEASURES Metric |
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Secretariat ADHILAC Conference c/o Centre for Continental American and Caribbean Studies KonaK Wien |
Address Arthaberplatz 4 1100 Vienna Austria Europe |
Contact T/F: +43-1-941-08-78 F: +43-1-602-374-85 |
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