One in two Austrian Times readers thinks Austria can be most proud of its beautiful nature, the website’s latest poll reveals. A smashing 49.3 per cent of people giving their opinion praised the country’s forests, lakes and mountains.
Austria attracts the sixth-most tourists worldwide in part because of its wonderful landscape and clean environment from the Alps in the western part of the country to the lake district in Burgenland in the east.
In second place are the 29 per cent who think the small Central European country can be most proud of its “creative geniuses from Mozart to Freud”.
Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and psychiatrist Sigmund Freud are two of the most-popular Austrians, while Gustav Mahler, “the king of waltz” Johann Strauss, author Arthur Schnitzler or Oscar-award-winning director Billy Wilder certainly also has a place on a list that could be continued at some length.
At 19.4 per cent, almost one in five readers thinks the country’s sights and architecture are the thing that Austria can be most proud of. Vienna’s Habsburg-era buildings but also newer architectural achievements like the Haas-Haus opposite St. Stephen’s Cathedral or Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s virtuous achievements have played a key role in the capital’s success in attracting millions of tourists each year.
Klosterneuburg Monastery in Lower Austria and Hohensalzburg Castle in Salzburg are other tourist magnets in the country – let alone sights such as Vienna’s Riesenrad Ferris Wheel, Schönbrunn Castle and Innsbruck’s Golden Roof.
Only 2.3 per cent say Austria can be most proud of its sporting legends – despite that the country is the most-successful skiing country in history.
Apart from its dominating position in winter sports, athletes such as Thomas Muster, Niki Lauda, Werner Schlager and Thomas Vanek stand out.
Muster was one of the most-successful clay court tennis players and world number one in 1996.
Niki Lauda won the Formula One Championship three times before successfully focusing on the airline business.
Werner Schlager is one of the few table-tennis cracks who managed to break Chinese players’ dominance. He was World Champion in 2003 – and voted the Most Popular Foreign Sportsman in China the same year.
And NHL star Thomas Vanek is one of the best – and best-paid – hockey players in the world.
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