Wackelkontakt by Wolf Haas, 2026. A good read. Here’s the English blurb:
A clever, electrifying puzzle of a novel, inspired by MC Escher’s optical illusions, in which two mirrored plots—a man waiting for an electrician and a mafia informant entering witness protection—delightfully converge.
Franz Escher is waiting for the electrician. His power outlet has a loose connection. To pass the time, he buries himself in a book about a Mafioso-turned-informant Elio Russo. Elio is in jail, awaiting his imminent release into witness protection. He has betrayed so many people that he fears for his life. Unable to sleep, he lies awake at night reading a book about a man named Franz Escher who’s waiting for the electrician. His power outlet has a loose connection. . .
Talk by Julia Winckler on Wolfgang Suschitzky – life and photography. Father founded a social-democratic bookshop in Vienna. His sister, Edith Tudor-Hart, was a photographer too. She died at the age of 64, whereas Wolf was 104 when he died. Edith was also involved in recruiting Soviet spies, including the Cambridge Spy ring, and eventually photographed less as she was constantly being followed by MI5.
Wolfgang went to London in 1934 but could not earn anything from photography till 1938, when he was given a work permit.
The story came to my attention because it was widely reported, originally in Österreich, then in Der Standard, in a joky way, and thereafter in the New York Times and The Guardian.
Sie haben den öffentlichen Anstand verletzt, indem Sie vor Polizeibeamten laut einen Darmwind haben entweichen lassen.
You offended public decency by loudly breaking wind in the presence of police officers.
The newspaper articles are classic examples of wordplay. Wikpedia too has articles on Blähung and Flatulence, and on Blowing a raspberry – apparently the latter went into US usage despite their lack of rhyming slang.
Ein Wiener muss für einen “lauten Darmwind” vor einem Polizisten 500 Euro Strafe zahlen. Wie die Tageszeitung “Österreich” online berichtet, soll sich der Vorfall in der Nacht des 5. Juni in Wien-Josefstadt zugetragen haben. Die Polizei sprach auf Twitter von “voller Absicht”. “Und anfurzen lassen sich die Kollegen dann doch eher ungern.”
A man in Vienna has been fined €500 (£447) for breaking wind loudly in front of police in a move the Austrian capital’s police force was at pains to defend.
The Österreich newspaper reported that the penalty stemmed from an incident on 5 June and that the offender was fined for offending public decency.
City police wrote on Twitter that “of course no one is reported for accidentally letting one go”.
It seems there have been earlier cases, sometimes with a fine of 50 euros. In this case, the fart was only one part of wider conduct, and is described as fully intentional. (ORF) The man can appeal, but would probably be safer not to.
As mentioned by my commenter AMM under the last entry (thanks, Adrian), a team at Graz University are working on putting the ABGB into language which is easier to understand.
The Austrian Civil Code dates from 1811, and parts of it have not been changed since then, while other parts have been updated in rather formal language.
The ABGB (Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch für die gesammten deutschen Erbländer der Oesterreichischen Monarchie) can be found here.The Graz project is online.
And here is an example showing a useful discussion of the language aspects of the existing text in sections 285 et seq.
Definitionen/Einteilungen von Sachen:
− zT etwas willkürlich (Bedeutung hier oft noch nicht zu erkennen) − später Wichtiges fehlt, so zB die vertretbare Sache, die in § 983 (Darlehen) vorkommt, oder die verkehrsfähige Sache; eine Ergänzung von § 291 wäre insofern wohl wünschenswert − etwas genauere Regelung der unbeweglichen Sachen fehlt, nicht einmal die Grundstücke werden in § 293 genannt
The small German-language dictionary of Austrian Law, Österreichisches Rechtswörterbuch by Heinz G. Russwurm and Alexander P. Schoeller, published by Juridica Verlag (2nd ed. 1997, ISBN 3-85131-067-5)
has been updated as Österreichisches Rechtswörterbuch, by Ute Svinger and Katharina Winkler, published by Manz Verlag (2014, ISBN 978-3-214-17586-3)
I completely missed this in 2014!
The new edition still has “1600 Rechtsbegriffe”. One difference is that the relevant statute reference is placed in brackets after each term it applies too.
I have done PDF scans of one double page of each and I am trying to add them – I absolutely hate this new WordPress version – can I go back to the old one? how do I add media? and what good does the change do? OK, you will have to download these PDFs if you are interested. I may replace them with an iphone shot when the light is better.
Ausländische Gefangene in österreichischen Justizanstalten und Polizeianhaltezentren (PDF) (the work of a multinational group) gives some information on the various forms of imprisonment you might enjoy in Austria: Verwahrungshaft, Untersuchungshaft, Strafhaft, Unterbringung im Maßnahmenvollzug, Verwaltungsstrafhaft, polizeiliche Haft, fremdenpolizeiliche Haft.
Fair Trials (via Prisoners Abroad) tells you what’s what if you’re imprisoned in Austria, but it doesn’t tell you you might find yourself acting as an interpreter for other speakers of your language.
Verbesserungsbedarf gibt es vor allem im Bereich der Kommunikation. Das Sprachproblem ist in Gerichtlichen Gefangenenhäusern viel größer als in Strafvollzugsanstalten, wo Insassen meist erst hinkommen, nachdem sie bereits einige Zeit im Gefängnissystem verbracht haben. Vor allem mit Leuten aus dem osteuropäischen und ex-sowjetischen Raum gibt es oft keine gemeinsame Sprache, was Misstrauen, Ängste und Unverständnis erzeugt. Manche Beamte differenzieren wenig und bezeichnen Moldawier, Tschetschenen, Georgier, Armenier, etc. pauschal als „die Russen“, eine Gruppe, der zahlreiche negative Eigenschaften zugeschrieben werden.
Auf Dolmetscher wird im Alltag nicht zurückgegriffen, das sei zu aufwendig und teuer. Meist übersetzten andere Insassen oder Justizpersonal. Sogar bei Ordnungsstrafverfahren wird kaum je ein professioneller Dolmetscher eingesetzt.
An article in Heute, Justiz setzt Häftlinge im Häf’n als Dolmetscher ein, gives examples from a prison in Styria – the photo shows the prison governor. One of the interpreters is a member of the Pink Panther jewel thieves gang.
