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LIVING IN AUSTRIA

What you need to know about parking in Austria

Parking in Austria can be challenging and, especially if you live in Vienna, expensive or time-consuming. So what key words do you need to know if navigating Austria and trying to find somewhere to park? 

A view of Innsbruck
Sometimes you get to park in a street with a view in Austria. Photo: Patrick Robert Doyle/Unsplash

The first thing you need to know about parking in Austria is the different German terms for stopping, loading and parking. 

Confusingly there are two words for ‘stopping’: halten and anhalten.

Halten is a temporary stop of up to ten minutes or while loading the car, while anhalten is a forced stop due to traffic conditions or other important circumstances. While halten can be forbidden in some areas, anhalten cannot be forbidden. 

Useful vocabulary 

Halten/anhalten – stopping
Parken – parking
Ladetätigkeit – loading
Halteverbote – stopping forbidden
Parkverbote – parking forbidden
Parkpickerl Zonen – residents’ parking zones.

General parking 

If parking outside a car park, the car should be parked as close as possible to the edge of the road so that passing vehicles are not obstructed. Diagonal parking is only permitted if there are diagonal parking regulations, which is shown by road markings or traffic signs. 

Stopping and parking in bus stops, and in the area of ​​15 metres in front of and after bus stops is also forbidden during public transport operating hours. Stopping and parking is prohibited in narrow areas of the roadway, on blind bends, as well as on bridges, in underpasses and in road tunnels.

Useful vocabulary

Fahrbahnrand – roadside
Schrägparken – angled/diagonal parking
Haltestellen – bus stops
Haltestellenbereich – bus stop area

Electric cars

Purely electric cars (E-Autos) benefit from free parking in many cities and towns in Austria. However, it’s not a rule that is universally applied, so it’s always worth checking before you park up. 

Disabled parking spaces

Only people displaying a parking permit to show they are disabled on their windshield can park in disabled parking spaces. Otherwise you risk fines or being towed. 

Useful vocabulary

Behindertenparkplatz – disabled parking space
Behinderte – disabled 
Parkausweis für Behinderte – disabled parking permit

Parking in driveways

Parking in front of house and property entrances is prohibited, unless you are the only person authorised to use the entrance. According to Administrative Court case law, this right cannot be transferred to third parties, such as friends or family. However, if the entrance to your house is situated in a short term parking zone, you should still pay any short term parking fee, even if you are parking in front of your own house. You are allowed to stop in front of entrances, as long as you stay in your vehicle and can move if the entrance needs to be kept clear. 

Useful vocabulary

Einfahrten – driveways
Kurzparkzone – short term parking
Kurzparkgebühr – short term parking fee 

Shopping centres and private car parks

If you are parking at a shopping centres or a private car park, the regulations of the company managing the car park must always be complied with. You should park your car within the specified floor markings, buy a ticket and ensure you are allowed to park there, or face penalties. According to the motorists’ association ÖAMTC, only minimum signage is required by the courts to designate a parking lot as “private”.

However, the towing of cars by private companies is rarely permitted. The ÖAMTC offers legal advice for motorists who believe they have been tricked into paying large fines for parking illegally — you can call them at 01 711 9921530.

Useful vocabulary
Abschleppung/Abschleppen – towing (of cars).
Private Parkplätze – private parking.

Parking in Vienna can be challenging Photo by Arno Senoner/Unsplash

Parking in Vienna

Many car parks in Vienna’s city centre are expensive. Free on-street parking can be hard to find, especially large zones are given over just to residents’ parking (Anwohnerparken), which cannot be used by visitors even at weekends. However, there are short-term parking zones (Kurzparkzonen) throughout the city.. 

If you live in Vienna and have a car, it’s worth getting a parking permit (Pickerl) which will allow you to park for as long as you want in your district in the comprehensive short-term parking zone.

If you do not have a residents’ permit you have to buy a parking ticket to stop in any short-term parking zones in the city, even if you are just stopping to unload your suitcase. Many hotels offer 15-minute parking vouchers for this purpose.

Parking tickets for use in short-term parking zones are available from

  • Tobacco shops
  • Cigarette machines
  • Gas stations
  • Wiener Linien advance booking offices
  • Wiener Linien ticket machines
  • By mobile phone

The cheapest way to park in Vienna if you don’t have a resident’s parking permit is to park at Vienna’s Park and Ride garages which are listed here. It costs around €3.60 per day, and the garages are all close to underground line (U-Bahn) connections.

Useful vocabulary 

Anwohnerparken – Residents’ parking
Kurzparkzonen – short-term parking zones
Parkpickerl  – residents’ parking permit

Shopping streets

Even people with residents’ parking permits are not allowed to park for long periods in Vienna’s shopping streets (Geschäftsstraßen). With a residents’ parking permit, you can park in shopping streets for a maximum 1.5 hours free of charge if you display a parking disc, with the black dial set to the nearest quarter of the hour from when you park.

You can only get one parking permit for your primary residence in Vienna. An exception is made for people with their secondary residence in an allotment garden in Vienna, who can apply for a seasonal second residents’ parking permit. However, this only applies to people with their main residence in Vienna.

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For members

LIVING IN AUSTRIA

How can I move into affordable cooperative housing in Vienna?

If you are looking for affordable, high-quality housing with a community feeling in Vienna, applying for a Genossenschaftswohnung, cooperative housing, is a great idea.

How can I move into affordable cooperative housing in Vienna?

Vienna is considered the most liveable city in the world, and one of the reasons why is its affordable rents, which stand out when compared to rental prices in other European capital cities. Even though the concept of social housing is present all over Austria, its presence is strongest in the capital city.

In Vienna, it is not uncommon to hear about people living in gorgeous and spacious flats while paying less than the monthly rent of a room in cities like London or Paris. However, to be one of the fortunate tenants, you need to know the conditions.

READ ALSO: The essential articles to read if you are moving to Vienna

Genossenschaftswohnungen (cooperative housing) is one of the forms of social housing in the city, aiming to create affordable and high-quality housing for its residents.

The concept of Genossenschaftswohnungen

Cooperatives are spread all over the city and receive housing subsidies from the Austrian state, making affordable living for tenants possible. Cooperative flats are an option for anyone who wants to avoid privately financed rental flats, wishes to belong to a community, be part of decision-making, and cannot or does not want to buy a property.

A strong idea behind the concept of cooperative housing is to create social communities where members engage with each other and develop a sustainable living situation where everyone is involved in making decisions regarding the property.

Decisions are typically made collectively through voting, ensuring all residents have their voices heard.

READ ALSO: The verdict: How family friendly is Vienna?

As a member of cooperative housing, you live at lower running costs but have to pay a significant entry fee as a financial contribution (Genossenschaftsanteil) at the start of the tenancy. 

This payment serves as a form of membership fee and helps with funding the cooperative’s construction, land use, maintenance, and other related costs. The fee is usually reimbursed if the tenant decides to move out.

Requirements needed

To be eligible for cooperative housing, you need to fulfil specific requirements:

  • Depending on the number of people in the household, the annual net income can not exceed the following maximum limits:

One person: € 57,600

Two persons: € 85,830

Three people: € 97,130

Four people: € 108,420

Each additional person: plus € 6,330

  • You need to be over 18 years old when the contract starts.
  • It is necessary to be an Austrian citizen, EU citizen, EEA citizen or non-EU citizen who either has a residence permit or is a refugee under the Geneva Convention.
  • You need to have lived in Vienna for two years when you apply.
  • The financial contribution (Genossenschaftsanteil) needs to be paid. The amount varies but is typically around € 50-500 per square meter. If necessary, you can apply for a loan at MA 50, the municipal department that deals with housing in the city. 

How to apply

If you want to live in a cooperative flat, you need to make a reservation for the specific housing project you are interested in. You can do this online, but since the waiting lists could be long, your chances may increase if you remain persistent and express your interest in the community – knowing people who already live in the building you are interested in may also help as some contracts allow apartments to be “passed on” to a person chosen by the renter.

READ ALSO: How much does it cost to live in Vienna in 2024?

Usually, you have to fill out a form when you register before applying to a residence. Many cooperatives consider your income and living situation. They might prioritize your application if they find that you are in particular need of a flat, such as if you have a family, low income, or a disability.

Various websites offer cooperative flats in Vienna genossenschaften.immo and Wohnservice Wien are two of them.

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