Austria’s Hills Are Still Alive, 60 Years Later

THE NEW YORK TIMES: In Salzburg, an anniversary of “The Sound of Music” looks grand through a child’s eyes, even if the locals are gazing elsewhere

The little girl peered out the train window at the green, rolling hills of Austria, the country she had visited in her mind every day for months.

“Dad,” she said, “Maria was on one of those mountains!” Her eyes lit up.

The Austrians around us did not stir.

It has been 60 years since the Julie Andrews classic “The Sound of Music” opened in movie theaters. It still enchants American viewers, but, despite bringing millions of dollars in tourism revenue to their country each year, it befuddles many Austrians.

For all those Austrians: The film tells the story of a nun who becomes a governess to seven Austrian children, brightens their lives with song, marries their father and helps everyone flee the Nazis. It is oh-so-loosely based on the lives of the singing Von Trapp family, who escaped Hitler and settled in Vermont, where they still run a cozy lodge with excellent pretzels. » | Jim Tankersley | Visuals by Laetitia Vançon | Jim Tankersley traveled with his family to Salzburg, Austria, to report this story. | Thursday, August 28, 2025

Beautiful Salzburg City Centre Day & Night | Ein Spaziergang durch die Getreidegasse

June 14, 2025 | Salzburg in Austria is famous for being the birthplace of Mozart . It is a beautifully preserved baroque city with many important buildings.

This video is a brief walk along the main street, the Getreidegasse, to show the contrast between the night and the day when Salzburg is overrun with tourists.

Salzburg is the fourth largest city in Austria.

The video is intended to give an impression of the atmosphere in the town centre. It is not a travel guide.

Oberösterreich und Salzburg verhängen Lockdown für alle

CORONA-LAGE AUSSER KONTROLLE
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Lange hat sich die österreichische Kanzlerpartei ÖVP gegen Einschränkungen für Geimpfte gestemmt. Jetzt preschen zwei ÖVP-regierte Regionen vor.

In Österreich haben die Bundesländer Salzburg und Oberösterreich wegen drohender Überlastung der Krankenhäuser angekündigt, von kommender Woche an einen allgemeinen Lockdown zu verhängen. Bislang gilt dort wie in den anderen Regionen der „Lockdown für Ungeimpfte“. Der hat sich als nicht ausreichend wirkungsvoll erwiesen, um eine unmittelbare Besserung der Lage herbeizuführen. Die Kliniken in den beiden Bundesländern haben Alarm geschlagen und teils Vorbereitungen für Triage-Entscheidungen getroffen. » | Von Stephan Löwenstein, Wien | Donnerstag, 18. November 2021

Österreichs Ex-Kanzler Kurz verliert die Immunität: Der ehemalige österreichische Kanzler Sebastian Kurz hat seinen Schutz vor Korruptionsermittlungen verloren. Das Parlament hob am Donnerstag einstimmig die Immunität des 35-jährigen konservativen Politikers auf. »

Murati: "No Deal Means Something That Brits Haven't Really Understood"

"A no deal means something that people haven’t really understood, the general public and in business too" says Klisman Murati from PANGAEA WIRE as Angela Merkel reveals that the EU will not compromise on integrity of single market.

EU Rejects Theresa May’s ‘Chequers’ Brexit Plan

A summit that started with warm mood music ended up with Theresa May and Britain out in the cold. EU leaders didn't budge an inch and Mrs May is headed home clutching a Chequers plan in tatters, already savaged by her MP's - and now rejected by Europe. All hope now rests on reaching a deal by the next summit in October.

EU Leaders React to May’s Brexit Deal

Theresa May's having dinner tonight at the Felsenreitschule, an old theatre in Salzburg well known from the closing scenes in 'The Sound of Music'.

She's got a ten-minute slot to make her Brexit pitch and convince the EU leaders present to back her Chequers plan. But the path seems far from clear, with the European Council President, Donald Tusk, warning the UK's proposals will need to be reworked. So how will the EU's major players go about solving a problem like Theresa?

Austrian Town Produces Guide for Arab Tourists: 'Don't Haggle, and Don't Eat on the Floor'

The Austrian ski resort of Zell am See

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Austrian holiday town has produced a special guide for Middle Eastern visitors including advice to avoid haggling and not eat on the floor in hotel rooms

Austria's alpine towns of Zell am See and Kaprun have been criticised for producing an eight-page guide for Middle Eastern tourists, featuring "cultural advice" on how to behave.

The booklet, in English and Arabic, features tips such as the idea that Austrian shopkeepers do not expect haggling over prices, and that eating on the floor in hotel rooms is a "no-no". Drivers are informed that wearing seatbelts is compulsory, and they will be given guidance on understanding road signs, to reduce their risks while driving.

Visitors are also advised not to wear burkas, and to "adopt the Austrian mentality".

The guide states: "Austrian women are free to choose their own dress style, and this is visible in their choice of modern, colourful clothes. Here the colour black symbolises mourning, and is rarely worn in daily life.

"In our culture, we are accustomed to look into the smiling face of the person opposite us in order to gain a first impression and establish mutual trust. It would be a great pleasure for us if you could join us in celebrating the uniquely joyful Austrian mentality and show us your colourful scarves and dresses and, in this way, show us your smile." » | Harriet Alexander | Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Salzburg under fire for leaflet to Arab visitors telling them to stop haggling over prices, eating on hotel floors and wearing burkas »

Religionsfreiheit in Salzburg – Islam in Österreich

Hochwasser in Salzburg: Aufräumarbeiten sind im Gange
Das Schlimmste scheint in Salzburg überstanden zu sein: Die Pegelstände an Salzburgs Flüssen sinken stark. Im Pinzgau wird weiter nach zwei Vermissten gesucht.

Den Salzburger Nachrichten Artikel hier lesen | Von Sn, Apa | Montag, 03. Juni 2013

Un Klimt volé par les nazis restitué
LE FIGARO: Le musée d'Art moderne de Salzbourg en Autriche doit rendre à un héritier canadien un tableau de l'artiste, spolié par les nazis.

Il aura fallu attendre 70 ans avant que Georges Jorisch récupère son dû. Petit-fils et unique héritier d' Amalie Redlich, une Autrichienne juive déportée en 1941 et décédée en camp de concentration, il a été reconnu comme étant l'unique propriétaire d'une oeuvre de Klimt, appartenant actuellement au musée d'Art moderne de Salzbourg. » | Par lefigaro.fr | Vendredi 22 Avril 2011

Fears of Hitler’s Childhood Home in Braunau-am-Inn Becoming Fascist Shrine
MAIL ONLINE: The owner of the house where Adolf Hitler was born wants to put it on the market with a likely asking price of over £2million.

But the local authority in Braunau-am-Inn, Austria, has vowed to try to find a way of blocking any sale because it fears it could land up in the hands of extreme right-wingers who would turn it into a grotesque shrine to his memory.

The mayor of Braunau, Gerhard Skiba, said ideally the town council would like to purchase it and so control its future fate.

But there is not enough money in the town coffers to buy the property, Salzburger Vorstadt 15.

He says he will appeal to the government in Vienna to help the town purchase the property if the owner goes ahead with the sale.

It was in a room on the first floor of the three-storey, 2,000 square foot house – the ground floor of which was a pub called Gasthof Zum Pommer – that Hitler’s mother Klara gave birth to her infamous son on April 20, 1889.

She and her husband Alois, a stern local customs official, rented a suite of rooms above the pub and continued to live in it until 1892 when they moved to Linz.

Alois, a drunkard, often availed himself of the beer on sale in the saloon downstairs before returning to the family home to abuse his timid wife 24 years his junior.

The house is still owned by the family after which the pub took its name. Owner Gelinde Pommer says she wants to sell because the tenants for the past two decades, handicapped people who worked and lived there under the care of a disabled organisation, are moving to more modern premises in January, and she no longer wants to have the responsibility for it.

She has not yet advertised it, but estate agents have suggested it will have an asking price of about £2million. She was not available to comment. >>> Allan Hall | Thursday, November 05, 2009

Österreich: Jörg Haiders Partei triumphiert bei Wahl in Kärnten
WELT ONLINE: Die in Wien regierenden österreichischen Sozialdemokraten haben Hochrechnungen zufolge bei Landtagswahlen in Kärnten und Salzburg kräftige Verluste erlitten. Die Haider-Partei BZÖ baute ihre Position als stärkste Partei in Kärnten aus. In Salzburg behauptete sich die SPÖ trotz Verlusten um die fünf Prozent als stärkste Partei.

Foto von Stefan Petzner und Gerhard Dörfler dank der Welt
Viereinhalb Monate nach dem Tod des österreichischen Rechtspopulisten Jörg Haider hat das von ihm gegründete rechte Bündnis Zukunft Österreich (BZÖ) einen triumphalen Sieg bei der Landtagswahl in Kärnten errungen. Das BZÖ kam nach einer stabilen Hochrechnung des ORF-Fernsehens vom Sonntagabend auf 45,6 Prozent der abgegebenen Stimmen.

Damit gewann die von Haider 2005 gegründete Partei sogar noch 3,2 Prozentpunkte dazu. Die rechtsgerichtete Freiheitliche Partei FPÖ, mit der Haider 2004 gewonnen hatte, verpasste mit rund 3,5 Prozent der abgegebenen Stimmen den Einzug in den Landtag. Haider hatte die FPÖ2005 nach innerparteilichen Querelen verlassen.

Ein schweres Debakel erlitten Kärntens Sozialdemokraten (SPÖ), denen Meinungsforscher kurz vor der Wahl noch ein Kopf-an-Kopf-Rennen mit dem BZÖ prognostiziert hatten. Die unter innerparteilichem Streit leidende Landespartei verlor mit 28,8 Prozent knapp 10 Prozentpunkte. Dagegen legte die konservative Volkspartei ÖVP mit 15,8 Prozent um 4,1 Punkte zu. BZÖ-Parteichef Uwe Scheuch sagte am Abend, der triumphale Sieg seiner Partei sei nicht allein ein Ergebnis des „Mitleid-Effekts“ der Bevölkerung. >>> dpa/fsl/lha | Sonntag, 1. März 2009

THE TRUMPET:
Far-Right Landslide in Austria >>> | March 3, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch) – Deutschland & Österreich >>>
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