Austria

In this jewel of a country that is at the heart of Europe, modern art museums are stunningly built and curated with fat budgets reliant on taxpayer dollars, serving as thriving creative hubs critical to the Austrian experience. Older Viennese treasures like the Freud Museum or Haydn’s house provide fascinating insights (do avoid anything Mozartean at all costs, including all of Salzburg). To hear a performance of an oratorio written near the premises where the music is performed in the native language is riveting. And culture is only the beginning.

The Hapsburgs may have disappeared long ago, but their legacy lives on, in the form of feather-light crystal and an insistence on quality in all things, from the sparkling sekt (an Austrian version of prosecco) to the elegant tracht style of clothes abounding with velvet, suede, ribbons and lace, all elegantly stitched and marketed as “not having been made in Far Asia, which has no place for us.”

This emphasis on superiority with a reluctance to merge with something foreign or of potentially less value seems racist to some and protectionist to others, depending on your viewpoint. Sebastian Kurz took advantage of this and rode to power at the tender age of 27, leaping from Foreign Minister to Chancellor in a matter of years due to his charisma, strategic sense, and success in blocking the Balkan Route. His presence is surprisingly non-existent in the cities, as if he represents a kind of alternate Trumpian reality and an expression of the nation’s darkest angst, not a leader in his own right.

Vienna provides only a glimpse into the inexhaustible greatness of this country, which is linked with trains that run like clockwork. Linz is a marvel of reinvention and a model smart city, with its emphasis on start-ups and maximizing its location on the Danube. It is also a lens into how Austria views its not-so-distant past, which adopts a stance of not being responsible for the history inflicted upon it, but being mindful of its behavior towards it. Leogang, an Alpine play-land in the wintertime, is best visited in the fall, when moss-covered trails beg to be conquered before retreating to destinations like the Forsthofgut’s Waldspa, with its “textilfreier bereich” saunas that reach as high as 105 degrees Celsius. The right to roam applies to people and cattle, and for a short time within this country, there is an absence of the border mentality that has refused entry to so many others.

I met a Syrian refugee working at Ars Electronika in Linz who opted for a terrifying journey rather than face the life of a soldier and a high potential for death. He learned fluent German within four years, and is now retaking his studies, having benefited from programs that are being rapidly dismantled by Kurz. This refugee may have seen the words, painted on a building in the old town, that read “Und was machst du so?” It’s a question that Austria herself must answer in the years ahead.

Here’s my photo essay on Austria.