C/O Vienna Magazine

Mr. Kronthaler

The roots of fashion designer Andreas Kronthaler, husband of Vivienne Westwood, are in the Tyrolean Zillertal valley. We could have asked him what it was like to have tea with Prince Charles. But we didn’t. Instead, we had a chat about his grandmother’s blueberry patties and the fur coats of his old aunt in Graz. This interview was written in the summer of 2022; Vivienne Westwood has since passed away. We have not changed it and have left it as it was held. We send our heartfelt condolences to the Westwood and Kronthaler family.

Text: Antje Mayer-Salvi, Fotos: Andreas Kronthaler

The Butcher

Text: Antje Mayer-Salvi mit Lisa Lugerbauer, Fotos: Christian Anwander

Leopold Hödl got up at one-thirty this morning to personally select “his animals,” from which he will later make sausages, steak, and schnitzel. He isn’t bothered by killing them or the smell of blood. As a little boy he was already helping out his parents Leopold and Leopoldine. Now in its second generation, the butcher’s shop in the 23rd district is the last in Vienna to still slaughter its own animals. His greatest passions are butchering and his wife.

Crafts Food & Drinks Social Photography

Fashion Under Air Raid Sirens

Text: Antje Mayer-Salvi, Elisa Promitzer

While bombs rain down on Kyiv, the second Ukrainian Fashion Week since the start of Russia’s war of aggression took place (February 14–17, 2025). We spoke with its founder and program director, Iryna Danylevska, about an unimaginable feat of strength, prosthetics on the runway, and camouflage nets for the front lines. We translated the interview into English using ChatGPT due to time constraints. We apologize for any resulting errors.

Fashion Social

The Nun

Kirchberg Monastery in Lower Austria may date from centuries past, but not so the nuns who live within its thick walls. We recently spent a few days with them, observing the strict prayer times and enjoying homemade blueberry strudel. In these difficult times, we sought advice from someone who really ought to know: Nun and psychotherapist Teresa Hieslmayr. Who does the virus serve? What gives life meaning? How evil is consumerism?

Text: David Meran

Social Thinking

The Fiaker

Vienna’s Fiaker horse-drawn carriages are a traditional and romantic trademark, but also a source of controversy – cultural heritage or on the road to abolition? We met Marco Pollandt from Fiaker Paul and Riding Dinner in the horse stables and chatted with him on a ride through Vienna’s historic city center about the criticism of the trade, his great love for horses, and the head equerry of Queen Elizabeth.

Text: Julia Bauereiß, Photos: Christoph Saal (Universaal)

Social

The explosive artist

Text: Antje Mayer-Salvi, Fotos: Miro Kuzmanovic

The Swiss Roman Signer (*1938) is one of the most enigmatic European artists of the present day. His works are processual sculptures with a bizarre aesthetic, full of poetry and humor, the result of meticulous planning and unpredictable coincidence. Signer and his wife Aleksandra welcomed us in their studio in St. Gallen. We spoke about childhood, the joy of explosives, about shame and happiness.

Art

All Tips

PIGSTY!

In 2017, Chinese photographer Feng Li stumbled across an abandoned BABY PIG at the airport and thought to himself: “Why not?” The animal has since become an integral part of the family and goes by the name PIGGY FENG. Feng Li documented the CRAZY FAMILY GROWTH photographically and summarized it in his book PIG.
Purchase this one-of-a-kind project here!

Nostalgia reloaded ...

We love this freaky INDEPENDENT ART MAGAZINE from BERLIN, whose editors Jacopo Borrini and Marius Thielmann are driven by a great LOVE OF ART. You can expect real discoveries, fine design and beautiful giveaways such as STICKERS. Big time! Really big! (Photo: © Stuck Magazine)

FONT AGAINST FASCISM

The typeface "Department 161 Type" by designer and photographer Till Kraus aka Trash for Fame is free for everyone fighting against the nonsense that’s ruining the world. Download it HERE and use it for antifascist projects! (Graphic: ©Trash for Fame)

Every Twelfth Sheep Is Gay

Bad news first: Gay sheep often end up at the slaughterhouse because they don’t reproduce. The good news: Shepherd Michael Stücke rescues them and gives them a happy life on his farm. Together with fashion designer Danny Reinke and Tokio Hotel singer Bill Kaulitz, he founded the fashion label Rainbow Wool, which creates clothing exclusively from the wool of gay sheep. Get these colorful statement pieces HERE. And for those with a particularly sheep-savvy heart, you can even sponsor one of the rams.

(Photo: ©Rainbow Wool)

80 PORTRAITS: 73 MEN, 7 WOMEN

... and FACES are nowhere to be found. In his book, artist JONAS HÖSCHL works with photographs of right-wing extremists sourced from ANTIFASCIST research platforms. The obscuring of faces strips them of identity – shifting the focus to gestures, clothing, and surroundings. Between ANTIFA ARCHIVES and RIGHT-WING STREETWEAR, a new way of seeing emerges: documentary photography, originally used for identifying enemies, becomes critical art about POWER, visibility, and the AESTHETICS OF HATE. Buy it here! (Photo: Courtesy Jonas Höschl)

Wurst Case Scenario

Without mustard, it’s all for the wurst! That’s exactly what Sebastian Hackenschmidt and Stefan Oláh think as well. In their book 95 Wiener Würstelstände, they explore the legendary spots that make Vienna what it is. These stands bring together people from all walks of life—who knows, maybe a Würstelstand would even be the perfect place for political negotiations...? The newly revised edition is available HERE, richly illustrated and seasoned with a dash of Wiener Schmäh.

The Lego Player

Jérémie Palacci is a physicist at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) in Klosterneuburg near Vienna. His specialty? Soft matter – everything that is squishy – like Jell-O or shampoos. Palacci's research group, with the onomatopoeic name Materiali Molli Lab, does even more: It makes small Lego machines from building blocks that are a hundred times smaller than a hair. Sounds crazy – and it is! The artworks included in this interview were created by Dutch artist and photographer Viviane Sassen.

Text: Bernardo Vortisch, Fotos: Mia Meus, Artwork: Viviane Sassen

Art Science Thinking

The Unicorn

Text: David Meran

According to a medieval legend, a unicorn will only reveal itself to a virgin. The maiden, as the story has it, must sit alone in a forest clearing until the magical creature jumps into her unsullied lap. We spoke to German language and literature expert Julia Weitbrecht about an animal that many people are not sure really exists.

Science Art

The Turtle Man

Text: Lara Ritter; Fotos: Elodie Grethen

Some collect stamps, the Austrian trauma surgeon Peter Valentin collects turtles: He keeps over 600 of them in his garden in Klosterneuburg near Vienna. The species outlived the dinosaurs, the Neanderthals, and Jesus Christ. Their superpower is their inconspicuousness. The only thing left that could be the demise of the 220-million-year-old reptiles is humans. A conversation about a GREAT PASSION and a CRAZY HOBBY.

Social Photography

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