Vienna – October 29, 2026 -- Anyone heating with a wood stove in Austria needs a chimney sweep's assessment first, and usually has to register the stove with the municipality and get the landlord's consent. Energy provider Grünwelt Energie has outlined what households should know about the rules and the environmental side of heating with wood.

Munich/Vienna – October 29, 2026 -- Shoppers in Germany and Austria can now ask an AI chatbot where to find nearby supermarket deals and whether a price is actually good. The feature, called "Frag den Guru" ("Ask the Guru"), is built into the free marktguru app for Android and iOS.

Chatbot opens with one tap and accepts text, voice or photos

A blue marktguru icon at the bottom right of the app opens the chat. Users can type a request or speak it. They can also upload a photo of their fridge contents or a handwritten shopping list to start the conversation.

Tübingen – October 29, 2026 -- Children who brush twice a day from their first milk tooth get one of the most regular taste experiences of early childhood, and many kids' toothpastes are deliberately intensely sweet. A dental prevention researcher now asks whether that daily routine could influence which flavors children prefer later.

Hall-Wattens – October 29, 2026 -- Visitors to Tyrol's Hall-Wattens region can see the three oldest nativity scenes in Austria this Christmas season, and from about December 22, 2026, locals will guide them through private crib displays.

Tulfes shepherds wear Lederhosen

The village crib in Tulfes features carved wooden jointed figures with movable arms and feet. Its shepherds wear traditional Tyrolean dress, including Lederhosen, instead of Middle Eastern clothing.

Styria – October 29, 2026 -- Dog owners in Austria and Germany can now add a daily herbal supplement to their pet's bowl: Styrian company Hanfred has launched its Daily Dose herbal sticks, available immediately.

The line comes in four variants: Gut, Joints, Relax and Sensitive. Each contains a selected herb blend in an individually portioned sachet that mixes straight into the dog's regular food. The packaging comes in colored metallic designs.

Kufstein – October 28, 2026 -- Kufstein Fortress in Tyrol, named one of Austria's nine most beautiful places for 2026, offers a 21-station tour, a daily organ concert at noon and a concert arena for up to 4,200 people. The ORF programme "9 Plätze – 9 Schätze" gave the award. The fortress now ranks among Tyrol's most visited sights.

St. Ulrich bei Steyr – October 27, 2026 -- Austrian company Al's World GmbH makes shoe insoles from felted alpaca wool, offering a natural alternative to purely synthetic materials in places where heat and moisture build up.

Cologne – October 27, 2026 -- Interior insulation can raise the wall surface temperature in winter by around five degrees Celsius, cutting the risk of condensation and mold in older buildings without touching the facade.

Graz – October 07, 2026 -- XPENG's Next-Gen AI Flagship SUV G9L has completed its first production trial at Magna's vehicle facility in Graz, Austria, becoming the fourth XPENG model built in Europe alongside the G6, G9 and P7+.

The pre-production G9L will drive 1,324 kilometers from Graz to Paris before its global launch

The journey, undertaken ahead of the vehicle's global premiere at the Paris Motor Show on October 12, is designed to test the SUV's charging capability, safety systems and driving performance under real-world conditions.

Gleisdorf – September 13, 2026 -- Artificial intelligence can now solve homework, write full essays, and answer complex questions within seconds, prompting education economist Ludger Wößmann to warn that children risk losing the motivation to build knowledge on their own.