- Architecture M.Sc.
- Austria, Vienna
- AllesWirdGut Architektur ZT GmbH
- 09/2022 – 02/2023
In September 2022 I started my 6-month long internship at AllesWirdGut Architekten in Vienna, Austria. As Austria’s capital and its largest city Vienna offers a multitude of diverse activities. Its stunning historic architecture and impressive offer of culture and art made the city so appealing to me.
Before I moved to Vienna, I researched different architecture offices in the city. Finding the right office for me was at first a bit overwhelming, as it was my first experience
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working in an actual office and I wanted to gain insight into various parts of the office life. Furthermore, I wanted to be able to identify with the office’s style. When searching for offices to apply to, I recommend checking out their social media presence. Most offices have an Instagram page, which not only shows their projects but often also gives an insight into the daily work environment and the general atmosphere.
After finding an internship, I started looking for a room to rent on WG-Gesucht. From my friends I know that finding a room can take some time but I found that after investing some time in writing an informative message about yourself and taking part in a few WG-Castings I was able to find a nice room in a great location quite easily. I found a room in the 3rd district, close to the Belvedere and with a great public transport connection to my office. Compared to ot
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her large cities rent in Vienna is quite low and there are many beautiful his toric apartments available for rent. However, I recommend looking for an apartment with roommates, as single apartments tend to be more expensive and as an added bonus, living in a shared apartment is a great way to make friends when moving to a new city. There are also many possibilities to rent an already furnished room as I did. That definitely made moving much easier. Another important factor when looking for an apartment is the location. In general Vienna’s public transport system is very reliable and well connected, which makes it possible to also move to the outer districts. Nonetheless I would recommend looking for places with in the first 9 districts, they all offer different cultural sights and are very lively and well connected. The 10th district is known to be unsafe and not the most desired living area however over all Vienna is a very safe city and as a woman I never once felt unsafe, even when walking home alone at night.
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After finding a place to live, there are a few more things that need to be taken care of. The first thing after moving into the new apartment should be a visit to the closest municipal district office to register the new address. My health insurance was covered by my employer and all I had to do was to apply for my Austrian E-Card with my Austrian social security number, however even without an E-Card there are no problems when going to the doctor, they also accepted my German insurance card.
I arrived in Vienna a few to days before my internship started, to get settled and to explore the city. Besides seeing all the major sights, I really enjoyed just walking around and exploring the city away from crowds. Another great way to see Vienna’s sights is taking the tram or Bim as it is called by the locals, the lines 1, 2 and 71 drive by the opera, the city hall, the parliament, the Volksgarten and the Hofburg. While the 1st district is often overcrowded by tourist
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s, checking out the Stephansdom and the Hofburg are mandatory. Besides that there are many famous cafes, bars and restaurants located here. The best Schnitzel is served by Figlmüller, which has three locations in the 1st district. It’s usually booked weeks in advance and a reservation is recommended. In general but especially on the weekend reservations are mandatory to explore Vienna’s diverse cuisine, not only restaurants but also bars, are usually booked fully from Thursday to Sunday. I also recommend trying a piece of Sachertorte or some traditional Kaiserschmarrn at Café Demel, one of the oldest Coffeehouses and bakeries in Vienna. Personally, I prefer the Sachertorte at Café Demel over the one at Café Sacher, but there are entire guides about finding the best Sachertorte in the city. It’s a thing. Also ordering a “coffee” in a Viennese Coffeehouse will get you a concerned look from the waiter and a lecture on coffee, so I recommend ordering a mélange, the viennese version of a cappuccino. However the fact that Vienna besides being voted the most livable city repeatedly is also supposedly the unfriendliest city, cannot be confirmed. Unless you count the waiters in a traditional coffeehouse.
I experienced the people in Vienna as very open and welcoming. I found it was quite easy to make new friends, however I was also very lucky, as there were quite a few interns at the office I worked at, which made it easy to connect with new people.
In general, I had a great experience in Vienna. I really enjoyed working in an architecture office and learned a lot. During the last 6 months a made amazing new friends and fell in love with the city a bit more everyday. Even though I used every free minute after work or on the weekends to see more of the city, there is still so much left to explore. That and the fact that I instantly felt at home in Vienna led to my decision to stay and finish my Master in Architecture at the TU Vienna.
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