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TOURISM

In Austria, Vienna’s horse-drawn carriages feel the heat

As much of Europe stifles under record high temperatures, Vienna's "fiaker" horse carriage drivers fear for their future with animal rights activists turning up the heat.

Published: 21 July 2022 15:34 CEST
A coachman of horse driven carriages (Fiakers) passes by Hofburg palace in Vienna on a hot day. (
A coachman of horse driven carriages (Fiakers) passes by Hofburg palace in Vienna on a hot day. Photo: JOE KLAMAR / AFP

At the stables of one of the Austrian capital’s leading fiaker businesses, driver Marco Pollandt explains how the animals are coping with increasingly hot weather and how much time off they enjoy.

Rights activists want horses to stop work as soon as temperatures hit 30C (86F) and not 35C as under current rules — a demand that fiaker or carriage drivers say will destroy their centuries-old profession.

“We can all live with the 35C but going down more is actually not good for the horses, and we also have to discuss the economic results of this,” Pollandt tells AFP.

The 28-year-old Viennese says horses trained to pull carriages need the exercise, while their caretakers need the income.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Will Austria ban horse-drawn carriages?

On hot days, fiaker drivers ensure the horses drink enough, while the places where they wait for customers are shady in the afternoon.

“The climate is changing and it’s getting more and more hot,” Pollandt says.

“And of course it makes a difference if we have seven days a year that we are not allowed to ride or if we have 30 days a year we are not allowed to ride.”

High demand

Pollandt — who used to work in gastronomy and started to offer dining in a fiaker five years ago — has been running a website to inform people about the horses and the carriage driving profession. He also runs stable tours offering a glimpse behind the scenes. 

A coachman of horse driven carriages (Fiakers) prepares his horse at the stables of a leading fiaker business prior leaving stables for daily tourist tours in Vienna, Austria, on July 13, 2022.(Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP)

Three hundred horses still pull carriages through Vienna, past the town hall and other tourist sites, generating thousands of jobs, he notes.

“I realised no one actually explains to people how everything works,” says Pollandt pointing to strict regulations and regular veterinary checkups to keep the horses fit.

READ ALSO: One day in Vienna: How to spend 24 hours in the Austrian capital

Hurt by Covid lockdowns and travel curbs since 2020, business has picked up again swiftly this year.

But activists say the animals suffer in the big city especially in scorching temperatures.

“This work is clearly linked to animal suffering. The horses are sometimes in the sun at 34.5C and working.”

Buckets of water, rest in the shade and caring coachmen but no summer break for the famous cabs of Vienna, despite the heat wave and the pressure of animal defenders. (Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP)

“They are exposed to noise, exhaust fumes, traffic and of course stress,” says David Fenzl of the Association against Animal Factories.

In June, city officials considered the demands to enforce stricter regulations, but in the end decided to delay lowering the temperatures under which horses are not allowed to work, pending a study to be carried out next year.

READ ALSO: Austria bans ‘senseless’ killing of chicks with new animal welfare rules

So for now, fiakers can ride on — unless temperatures exceed 35C, as predicted later this week.

Scientists say heat waves are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change.

Britain and France went on unprecedented heatwave alerts this week as southwest Europe wilted and ferocious wildfires devoured more forests.

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WEATHER

After mini tornado and floods should Austria expect a summer of extremes?

Extreme weather events have become more common and more dangerous worldwide. This week Austria experienced some of its own extreme weather with thunderstorms and even a 'small' tornado hitting the country.

Published: 22 May 2024 17:27 CEST
After mini tornado and floods should Austria expect a summer of extremes?

Heavy rainfall led to flooded cellars and muddy roads in Lower Austria on Tuesday afternoon.

In Styria, Graz residents recorded what seemed to be a tornado in the city (the head of the Styrian meteorological agency later confirmed a “small” tornado there), with large amounts of rainfall causing havoc.

Austria’s meteorological institute Geosphere Austria had already warned of thunderstorms, some of them heavy, moving north through the country—an alert that included the possibility of landslides and flooding. 

The warnings have been plentiful. Recently, experts alerted that global warming would make extreme weather events much more frequent and stronger, as The Local reported.

Summers, in particular, could see torrential downpours, hail storms as well as heat waves. 

Four heatwaves occurred in 2023, two of which lasted an unusually long time, lasting up to 18 days (July) and 16 days (August).

READ ALSO: How to protect yourself during storm season in Austria

So what about this summer?

There is nothing to indicate that people in Austria will have some relief this summer.

In fact, it has been a warmer than average year so far, with record temperatures throughout. According to Geosphere Austria, the recent winter was one of the two warmest on record.

February followed the trend, and it was the hottest in Austrian history. Parts of Austria also saw record heat in March, while there was “summer in April” in the Alpine country. GeoSphere Austria expects the country to be heading towards a hotter summer season also in 2024. 

Already in June, the probability of above-average temperatures is 60 percent.

In July, above-average temperatures will occur in about 60 percent of the cases. The probability of average temperatures is 20 percent, the same as the chance of below-average temperatures. 

The probability of above-average temperatures in August is just under 80 percent. Average temperatures occur in about a quarter of the cases, and the likelihood of below-average temperatures is less than 10 percent.

READ ALSO: What is Austria’s official emergency-warning phone app and do I need it?

The institute does point out that a seasonal forecast is not an exact forecast in the sense of a 3-day overview but a “rough estimate of the average temperatures conditions in the Eastern Alps”. 

It may seem counterintuitive to think that Austria could be heading for a summer of drought and heavy rains. Still, experts explain that the hotter temperatures make extreme events more likely.

And Austria is more affected by warming than the global average, mainly because it is located in the middle of the continent, and land masses warm up faster than oceans. 

Because of that, the Alpine Republic has already been 2C warmer on average over the last 30 years, almost twice as much as the global temperature increase compared to pre-industrial times.

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