Erasmus - Kultur und Landeskunde Österreichs

Nowadays, Christmas seem to be international family event that does not have much to do with religion (I've even seen new, modern name of this fest - Xmas). I would like to take a look on the topic of Christmas customs in Austria and find out where they actually came from. Let's start from the begining of December, so called Advent. Adventskranz It is an evergreen wreath with four candles; each sunday before Christmas a new candle is being lightened. This custom was probably invented in 19th century by a Protestant pastor in Germany, who worked with children from poor families and wanted to make their time of waiting for Christmas easier. The first wreath contained more candles: 20 small and 4 read - each for each day of Advent. In 1920s Roman Catholics adopted this custom. Saint Nicholas Day I suppose this person is well known for everyone. He comes on 6th of December and brings gifts. In Austria, gifts are usually small (for example sweets) and Nicholas...

Well, that was exactly my case. After 10 years of having some German lessons at school, at the university and in Goethe-Institut in Poland I thought it would be beneficial for my language skills to make a further step and 'dive' into German-speaking country. I've chosen Innsbruck. I was very excited to practice my German but after first conversation with the locals I was totally confused. What is that? It doesn't sound like German at all! I'm not talking about the difference in words; even though there are many typical Austrian words (f.e. Semmel, Sackerl), people in Austria have no problem to understand German equivalents (OK, maybe they would love to hear 'their' words but since you are a foreigner you will be forgiven). The real problem is that Austrian dialect doesn't seem to be similar to Hochdeutsch. However, there are some rules that can help you to understand it. According to local people, these rules are unwritten and there are m...

Let's start from the beginning... Austria is relatively small country located in the middle of Europe ! Thanks to souvenirs shops in Innsbruck I found out that there are some people, who mistake Austria with Australia. Quite interesting in todays world but OK. The population about 8,85 mln and area of 84000 km² gives about 105 people per 1 km². In Australia it is 3,3 people per 1 km² (pleople have to use helicopters to get to the other side of their farm by the way). When it comes to climat, the average temperature in Austria is about 9,9 °C, while in Australia it is 25,0 °C. There are absolutely NO SIMILARITIES, except from the name maybe.  Austria is divided into 9 provinces, each one is specific for different reason. Vienna - the capital city of Austria. Is considered as one of the best cities to live in. Styria - region rich in iron deposits. Upper Austria - mostly covered by forests and farms. Salzburg - mountain region, also associa...