do not panic, we are all safe.
Oh vienna.
how safe is Vienna? have you ever felt anxious about walking through dark alleys all by yourself? has something bad ever happened to you in our wonderful morbid city?
Coming from a little town in lower austria, Vienna always seemed to be glamerous. glamerous, safe, and full of interesting temptations.
When i first came here, as a little kid, i asked my parents “is this still austria?”. i remember how fascinating the old houses in the first district were,
how clean the first district was. of course i was confused by the homeless people there, begging for money, but at the same time
i stood in awe for hours wondering about the street artists.
Now that i lived in different districts (now it is Josefstadt, and hopefully i wont move anymore.) i saw the drastic differences between each part of Vienna. While always feeling quite safe here in The Emporer Joseph’s City District i still feel quite angsty in the 21st one. The viennese “i dont give a fuck” attitude towards people that seem to need their help is quite irritating for a girl coming from a town where everybody knows everyone.
One thing concerning this attitude is always keeping me on guard when going out alone at night (or returning alone from clubbing):
I was waiting for the train in Floridsdorf, rather late at night. there were quite a few people around, and i felt safe enough to lean against the wall and read while listening to Danko Jones on my good old MD player. Suddenly someone grabbed my neck and kissed me rather harshly while another hand was trying to move under my coat. needless to say that i screamed and tried to hit the guy several times. after one good placed fist in the guy’s face he finally gave up and ran away (after leaving a rather bad scratch mark on my neck). When i asked the people that stood around and didnt do anything, why they didnt interfere i got answers like: “oh. i thought this was your boyfriend.” or “i didnt hear you screaming.” or “well, your fault.” “i dont know you, why would i help you then? he could have killed me or something.” err, yeah right.
of course such things happen everywhere. it never happened to me in the couple of months i lived in Copenhagen, Denmark though. or in my parents town.
i am just mad at people that constantly tell us how safe that city is. how beautiful it is, how friendly viennese people are. i am not saying Vienna is hell and full of junior Jack The Rippers, but its an european city. not more or less safe.
Post Scriptum: This rant is proudly presented after being produced (or provoked. fits too!) by an old friend who told me that Vienna is boring and nothing ever happens. its full of butterflies and flowers and fairies. (you’d better beware, some of the fairies carry guns.)
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Hi, Daniela,
Most crime in London is opportunist. You put that case containing your laptop down at your feet while you order your meal (especially at pavement places) and a couple of people are going to sneak up to the next table just waiting until you’re offguard and enjoying yourself.
All the police have a mantra: vigilance; vigilance - in other words, especially if you’re on your own you have to be alert and you can’t really let your guard down.
All cities must be the same in this respect. People look out for the vulnerable (men or women). Don’t let it be you who’s looking vulnerable.
Vienna’s flowers and butterflies sound nice. I’m not actually sure about the fairies; the metaphysical and the poetic certainly . . .
;) Sally
most people don’t look (or smell) so scary that large dogs will run away just when they go near them. risking your health for another person is one thing; risking your health for a lowly creature that shits on our sidewalks, when even the owner isn’t doing anything about it (why didn’t she just pick her small dog up from the ground?), is very different. you can risk being reported to the police for kicking a dog in the gonads, but it’s optional.
I think of Vienna as safer that most places I have been, but the unhelpful attitude I may have noticed. I saw a woman walking a dog with a leg in a cast, get attacked by a larger dog that new her pet was leashed and weak. She yelled for help so much - that when NOBODY would help her after 30 or more seconds of the attack - I made up my mind to stomp the rogue dog to death and face whatever local laws (im American), because the whole scene pissed me off.
I was halfway to the rogue when it broke off the attack and went running…
I don’t get the point… due to statistics, Vienna is a very safe place to live. Europe’s safest cities (2002):
LuxembourgBernGenevaHelsinkiZürichViennaStockholmCopenhagenDublinDüsseldorf
based on personal experience, I would name Nürnberg as the least safe town in the world, cause I got shot there (only the arm, so I survived :-). Single evidence never says anything at all, as bad as it is for oneself.