• croatiantimes.com
• romaniantimes.at
• salzburgtimes.at
• viennatimes.at
• austrianindependent.com

Today

• Vienna - Pub Quiz at Charlie Ps
• Vienna - Unknown Underground
• Vienna- January and February at the Austrian Film Museum
• Vienna - Art by Petronilla Hohenwarter.
• STOMP at the MuseumsQuartier

© europics.at

30. 07. 09. - 17:00

• more Panorama news
• RSS Feed Panorama

30. 07. 09. - 17:00

Kampusch to auction off horror house items

By David Rogers

Cellar kidnap girl Natascha Kampusch is to auction off items from the home that was her prison for eight years, it emerged today (Thurs).

Kampusch was snatched aged ten by pervert Wolfgang Priklopil and held captive in a cellar below his garage in Strasshof near Vienna. Priklopil committed suicide hours after she escaped in 2006.

Now the 21-year-old is selling off her jailer's furniture and personal items in a bizarre auction after buying the house a year ago.

Neighbours say she has moved into the home and can often be seen lounging in the garden or taking broken furniture to a skip outside the house, Austrian magazines and newspapers report.

Kampusch originally claimed she'd bought the house to stop it becoming a sick shrine to her kidnapper. But, speaking to Vienna daily Der Standard, her spokesman Dusan Uzelac confirmed the planned sale and said the money would go to "good causes."

Kampusch also bought the BMW Priklopil fled in before jumping under a moving train on the day she fled.

Speaking about her life today, Kampusch said: "My main and favourite activity is reading. Apart from that, I love to breed cactuses. I have even managed to reproduce them."

As for her personal situation, she said: "Misinterpreted people often feel lonely."

Austrian Times

Vienna ÖVP endorses proposed district cuts
Vienna People’s Party (ÖVP) Josefstadt district head Veronika Mickel suggested continuing to speak about a reduction of positions in the city's administration.

Skiing starts in Vienna
Over this winter holiday week, Vienna’s residents will once again be able to make a trip to the slopes without venturing out of the city. The capital’s very own ski slope, "High Hills", will be open daily to the public from 4 February until 11 February.

Vranitzky appreciates tuition fees discussion
Former Social Democratic (SPÖ) Chancellor Franz Vranitzky has said he welcomes the current debate about a reintroduction of tuition fees.

Wiener Linien records rising demand for annual passes
The number of people opting for annual Wiener Linien tickets is soaring.

Many Austrians mistrust jurisdiction
Almost four in 10 Austrians had a worse opinion of the country’s juridical system today than a few years ago, a new survey shows.

Ice wine harvest later than ever
The grapes for ice wine production have been harvested later than ever this year in Austria. The fruit for the popular dessert wine are normally picked in December at the latest but only now have the temperatures been cold enough for the harvest.

Westbahn welcomes 6,000 a day
Westbahn manages to sell one in two of the overall number of tickets it offers, a spokesman said today (Fri).

Vice chancellor refuses to exclude FPÖ
The People’s Party (ÖVP) keeps refusing to disassociate itself from the Freedom Party (FPÖ) following FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache’s controversial comparisons with the Nazi era.

Austrian and German terrorists hid plans in their underpants
Two alleged terrorists including one Austrian hid plans in their underpants to hack off heads, burn bodies and then send the videos back to their al-Qaeda bosses in Afghanistan, a German court has heard.

Vitamin D linked to fertility
Austrian scientists have found a link between a lack of vitamin D and fertility. Graz-based endocrinologist Barbara Obermayer-Pietsch and her colleague Elisabeth Lerchbaum compared data from several vitamin D studies and say there is a clear link between vitamin D and the production of testosterone and sperm quality.