Spring/Summer 2015
Embassy of Austria
Spring/Summer 2015

Dear Readers,

The pleasant though demanding task of Editor-in-Chief of our long-standing magazine Austrian Information comes with the job of any Director for Press and Information at the Austrian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Spring/Summer 2015
Spring/Summer 2015
Embassy of Austria
Women’s Suffrage in Austria: An Overview

The roots of women’s suffrage movement in general can be found in the 18th century: Olympe de Gouges, widely regarded as being the first champion of female suffrage, published her declaration of rights of the woman and the female citizen (Déclaration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne) after the French Revolution in 1791.

Women’s Suffrage in Austria: An Overview
Spring/Summer 2015
Embassy of Austria
Achievements in Austrian Gender and Social ...

The 1970s in Austria: Times of Change 

The 1970s in Austria were characterized by reform and change both within the Austrian society as well as the Austrian political system. A shift in traditional economic structures led to a greater prosperity and to the formation of a new middle class that exhibited a flexible and unpredictable voting behavior. A new civil society started to emerge. 

Achievements in Austrian Gender and Social Policy
Spring/Summer 2015
Embassy of Austria
“Lay Down Your Arms”

On 21 June 1914, just a few days before the deadly shots fired in Sarajevo set the final stage for World War I, Bertha von Suttner died in Vienna at the age of 71. Having become a well-known figure in the international peace movement after publishing the novel “Lay Down Your Arms,” she was spared not only from living through the horrors and killings of World War I which at its end left around ten million soldiers dead and many more injured, but also from discovering that her long and persistent fight for peace had been, at least as it seemed at that time, futile and pointless.

“Lay Down Your Arms”
Summer/Fall 2014
Embassy of Austria
Meet the Chef Michael Mikusch

Meet Michael Mikusch, Austrian Chef in Chicago.

Meet the Chef Michael Mikusch

Innovation

Innovation and Entrepreneurship - The Austrian Economist Joseph A. Schumpeter

Innovation and Entrepreneurship - The Austrian Economist Joseph A. Schumpeter

"Surely, nothing can be more plain or even more trite common sense than the proposition that innovation [...] is at the center of practically all the phenomena, difficulties, and problems of economic life in capitalist society." So wrote the economist Joseph Schumpeter, who is often called the "father of entrepreneurship" or the "father of creative destruction," about innovation as outlined in his book "Business Cycles: Theoretical, Historical, and Statistical Analysis of the Capitalist Process" which was first published in 1939. Innovation held a key role in Schumpeter's thinking which, again in his own words, "is the outstanding fact in the economic history of capitalist society."

Austrian Innovation

Austrian Innovation

"Hidden champions" as a term was first conceptualized and published in a German journal for business administration in 1990 by Hermann Simon, a German business professor and management consultant. The concept refers to highly sucessful companies, often market leaders in their respective fields and not known to a wider public. According to Simon, three criteria must be met in order to be considered a hidden champion; (1) the company either has to be positioned in the top three of the global market or take the top spot on its continent in terms of market share, (2) the company's revenue must not exceed $4 billion, and (3) the company must have a low level of public awareness.

Innovation @ Upper Austria

Innovation @ Upper Austria

Albeit small in size, Austria, in the heart of Europe, is a country full of diversity and charm. Though it might not first be associated with cutting-edge innovation and technology but rather with classical music and chocolate cake, the Alpine republic has a lot to show for. In 2013, the Australian innovation agency "2thinknow" ranked Vienna as the most innovative city in Europe; on an international level the Austrian capital ranks third behind Boston and New York City.

Smart Urban Development

Smart Urban Development

Today more than half the world's population and two-thirds of Europeans are living in cities or urban areas; the figure for Austria is 64%. The global trend in urbanization is upwards; the process will continue in the future, and the city will become the dominant environment in social and economic terms throughout the world. Europe's cities generate the bulk of our affluence although, at the same time, they face huge economic, ecological, and social challenges.