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LIVING IN AUSTRIA

Where to find English-language books in Austria

It can be hard to find English books in Austria, but not impossible. Here are some top recommendations without having to resort to ecommerce websites like Amazon.

Published: 18 October 2022 14:09 CEST
Where to find English-language books in Austria
Finding English books in Austria is easier in the bigger cities. (Photo by Burst / Pexels)

For many English-speaking international residents in Austria, buying books in English often means ordering from places like Amazon. Especially for those that live outside of the main cities.

But for people that live in Vienna, Graz and Salzburg, there is a variety of places where you can find English books.

Here’s a selection of some of the top spots for English-language books in Austria.

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Book shops

In Vienna, a popular bookshop is Shakespeare & Company, which has been located on Sterngasse in the first district since 1982.

It sells a variety of books ranging from classic and modern fiction to science fiction and graphic novels. The store also stocks academic and children’s books. Plus, if you can’t find what you’re looking for, the owners are happy to order it.

Shakespeare & Company is open from Monday to Saturday, 9am to 8pm. 

Thalia is a chain of book shops in Austria, Germany and Switzerland with a large store in Vienna on Mariahilfer Strasse. 

This store has a section dedicated to English-language books, including top-selling novels, non fiction, thrillers and children’s books.

Thalia is open from 9am to 7pm Monday to Wednesday, from 9am to 8pm on Thursday and Friday, and from 9am to 6pm on Saturday. Thalia stores can also be found in Salzburg, Linz, Graz and several other cities across Austria.

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In Vienna, another popular shop selling English books is Morawa on Wollzeile.

Morawa is predominantly a German-language book shop, but does have a section of foreign language books (Fremdsprachiger Bücher), including books in English.

At the time of writing, their top ten English books included bestsellers like Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney, and Never by Ken Follett.

In Salzburg, The English Centre has a focus on educational reading material for children, but it also stocks adult and young adult books.

Additionally, The English Centre runs events like flea markets and roundtable discussions, as well as regular book clubs and English courses for adults and children.

The English Centre is located on Haunspergstrasse and is open from 11am to 5pm on Monday to Friday, as well as 9am to 1pm on Saturday.

Book fairs

The International Women’s Association of Graz (IWA) holds an annual English Book Fair. 

The next event takes place on Saturday October 22nd from 9am to 2pm in an event space next to Heilandskirche on Kaiser-Josef-Platz. 

The IWA says there will be a range of books from non-fiction novels to children’s literature and illustrated books.

Anyone wishing to sell books at the fair can drop them off at the venue before the event.

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Libraries

Most towns and cities across Austria have libraries with a section dedicated to Fremdsprachiger Bücher – even in rural areas.

And in Vienna, around 47,000 of the 1.3 million books in the city’s libraries are foreign language books (not just English).

Then there are honesty libraries, where residents leave books in phone boxes, at leisure centres or in other public places for other people to take. There are often English books available, so keep an eye out for them.

Book clubs and subscription services

Adventurous Ink is a book club and subscription service. It specialises in books written about adventures (hence the name) and offers subscriptions ranging from two months to one year.

Adventurous Ink is a British company but also ships books to the EU. However, expect to pay extra for shipping costs.

Hand Me Down Book Club is another UK-based club, but this one specialises in distributing second hand books to reduce waste. It has a variety of subscriptions including Surprise Me and Historical Fiction.

Although Hand Me Down Book Club is a British company, it ships to most of mainland Europe, including Austria. At the time of writing, the shipping fee was £11.99. 

Do you have any recommendations for finding English-language books in Austria? Let us know at [email protected].

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For members

HEALTH

Patients in Vienna face long waits for specialist health appointments

Waiting times to get appointments with health specialists in Vienna have increased significantly, a new study has revealed.

Published: 17 May 2024 09:56 CEST
Patients in Vienna face long waits for specialist health appointments

Accessing essential healthcare within a reasonable timeframe is becoming increasingly difficult for Viennese residents.

The Vienna Medical Association presented their new study this week which shows that waiting times for appointments with health specialists have increased significantly in recent years.

The study, which involved contacting over 850 doctors’ practices via so-called “mystery calls,” revealed that child and adolescent psychiatry currently had the longest waiting times in the city.

Patients can expect to wait an average of 90 days for an appointment.

Other specialisations where patients have to wait long to receive help include radiology (57 days), neurology (45 days), ophthalmology (44 days), pulmonology (36 days), internal medicine (33 days), and dermatology (28 days).

The waiting time for seeing a gynaecologist has increased fourfold since 2012, with patients now waiting an average of 32 days.

READ MORE: Why are there fewer public sector doctors in Austria?

No new patients accepted

In certain specialist areas, there is no capacity to accommodate new patients. The situation where no new patients are accepted occurs particularly often in paediatric practices, where more than half of the public healthcare practices have put a freeze on admissions.

In child and adolescent psychiatry, 40 percent do not accept new patients, and among gynaecologists, it is almost a third (30 percent). Family doctors also struggle with welcoming new patients, and many of their practices have already reached full capacity.

The Medical Association calls for immediate action, urging the health insurance sector to become more attractive and receive better funding. This could involve measures to incentivise doctors to work within the public system, potentially reducing wait times and improving patient access to care.

During the study presentation, Johannes Steinhart, president of the association, described the increased waiting times as the result of neglect within the established health insurance sector. He said he believes that the public health system is massively endangered.

Naghme Kamaleyan-Schmied, chairwoman of the Curia of the resident doctors in the association, pointed out that while the population of the federal capital has grown by 16 percent since 2012, the number of public doctors has fallen by 12 percent in the same period.

The association now wants to make the public healthcare system more attractive to doctors, which could cut down waiting times and make it easier for patients to receive care. The association’s demands for this to happen include increasing flexibility in contract options, integrating health and social professions in individual practices, reducing bureaucracy, and improving fees.

ÖGK, Österreichische Gesundheitskasse, Austria’s largest public healthcare fund, is currently creating 100 additional public health positions, with almost two-thirds of the positions already having applicants, as well as planning for another 100 positions. They also aim to create a central telemedicine service and a platform for making appointments by phone and online, which is meant to reduce waiting times and improve access to care.

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