European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 29, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A u s t r i a the charms of Vienna it Cetera a special Way to see the sights in downtown Vienna by horse and buggy. A sikh plan taxis Are expensive in Vienna consider using the subway. Architecture just walk about and look but some things must riot be missed. The Post office savings Bank Georg Coch Platz by Otto Wagner the father of 20th-Century architecture is superbly severe go inside and look at the Cashiers Hall. More of his work is in the Karls Platz twin a Bahn pavilions one of which is now a cafe. In -. Joseph Olbrich s secession building on the Friedric Strasse surmounted by the Golden cabbage and housing Klimt s Majestic Beethoven frieze seems gloriously Avant Garde even today. You May notice dotted round the City bulbous Ceramic pillars painted in primary colors. Go to unters Weissgerber Strasse 13 and you will find the Kunth Aussien whence these artefacts emanate an exhilarating architectural fantasy by Friedenreich Hunder Wasser the Haas House arrogantly facing the Cathedral sharply divides local opinion but has helped its architect Hans Hollein gain global status. The museum of applied keep warm with roasted chestnuts. Art is a Mecca for design students and a Fine piece of Neo florentine Renaissance building. Musical shrines one ticket of 80 schillings will get you into 10 City museums which most of the following Are. Schubert s Birthplace Nussdorfer Strasse 54 is Art Oasis of Rural peace. The Beethoven Eroi Kauhaus Hau str 92 and the House of the Heiligenstad testament Probus Gasse 6 Are full of atmosphere. Haydn s Wohnhaus haydngasse19which he built for himself and lived in until his death is As elegant As you d expect and contains a roomful of Brahms Memorabilia Brahms sown apartment in Hamburg was bombed in 1945. The  5 is the most charming of All. The whole lot of them barring Mozart whose grave is unknown Are buried in a group in the Centra Friedhof. Take Tram no. 71 to Gate 2, find group 32a, and add your Flowers to the Heap. Shopping the Kartne Strasse Isi Vienna s Bond Street the  with its big department getting around Vienna on Bike. Stores js4& Oxford Street. At the Bottom end of the Nasch Markt where you can Sample a huge variety of traditional snacks is the Flo Markt where hard faced vendors try to convince you that their Bric a Brac is cheap. Don t be fooled count the noughts and beware pickpockets. Getting around no matter How Short your stay get a net Karte from any tobacconist. For 50 schillings you get 24 hours unlimited travel on bus Tram or a Bahn 130 schillings buys you 72 hours. Taxis Are exorbitant and have to take circuitous routes. The town Center is ringed by tramways in both directions the a Bahns Are clean and Quick. Even country excursions Are possible with these cards for example the u4 takes you to Heiligenstad and the 38a bus from there straight up to Kahlenberg in the Middle of the Vienna Woods. Bicycles can be hired at the main railway stations and Are allowed on the a Bahns except during Rush hour. Michael Church tourist in the Bytho Maybrey Deutsche Presse Agente fewer foreign tourists Are visiting the land of Mozart and edelweiss. In the first eight months of the year alone hotel bookings in Austria were Down 5 percent compared with the same time last year. Statistics showed that in August bookings went Down 12,5 percent. In Tirol the most popular tourist destination in the Alpine Republic bookings Over the first eight months fell 14.5 percent. A doomsday mood prevails Over tourism wrote the Vienna newspaper die Presse describing the plight of an Industry responsible for 38 percent of the country s Revenue earnings. Where Are the germans is the question on everybody s lips because two thirds of the tourists who visit Austria Are German. German arrivals have receded by 4.7 percent. State tourism authorises blame the recession in Germany but German travel agencies see it differently. Austria has become just too expensive they say. Even the local austrian press reports that a Quarter of the country s Domestic tourists Are complaining about the High prices. As a result the Industry is even going to lose that amount of Domestic tourism warned the newspaper Salzburger a Schrichten. Meanwhile the austrian hoteliers association is ringing alarm Bells. The state is responsible for this Downside said association Secretary general Eifriede Krempl. He said the government should have spent at least an additional $8.2 million on publicity last summer. The hoteliers also believe there s a surplus of hotel Beds in Austria and they want Public Money to be invested in converting unprofitable establishments into old people s Homes. But tourism authorities in Vienna Rule out halting the construction of new hotels. Distributed by Scruppi Howard news str la december29, 1994 stripes Magazine