We extend our sincere thanks to Austrian Parliament members Ms. Fiona Fiedler and Mr. Andreas Minnich for personally accompanying VIS faculty and students on a two-and-a-half-hour guided tour of the Austrian Parliament. Following the tour, we had the pleasure of sharing lunch with Ambassador Chang during which we also celebrated Mr. Minnich’s birthday.

我們衷心感謝奧地利國會議員Fiona Fiedler女士和Andreas Minnich先生，親自陪同VIS師生進行了兩個半小時的奧地利國會導覽。導覽結束後，我們有幸與張小月大使共進午餐，同時也為Minnich議員慶祝了生日。

Student Insight from Grade 10 Autumn Lin:

As the VIS 2024 European Educational Trip progresses, VIS students visited Parlament Österreich (Parliament of Austria) in the morning of Oct 2 and followed a tour by the parliament member Fiona Fiedler of the NEOS party. Inside the spectacular parliament building was a total of 1.600 rooms. What is greater than the number of rooms in the parliament is the number of details contained; the handles of the doors were the shapes of lions and snakes, sometimes with the carved words of “FJI” (stands for Franz Joseph I) on the ceilings. While following Ms. Fiedler scurrying around the building, I was amazed by the rooms that all served distinct functions, as well as the small “backstory” behind each room.

For instance, the Hall of Pillars, which contained 24 marble pillars supporting the ceiling, was rebuilt while two “imposter” pillars sneaked in. During WWII, the hall was damaged by bombing, when the reconstruction started, two pillars had to be transported from other regions by carriages, a rather immense process. Escaping the historical context, it is a popular “background” selection for politicians when conducting interviews.

The highlight of the parliament building is none other than the “parliament” where people discuss issues from past to present. After the renovation in 2018, a more modernized facility was added with practicality and entertainment. Yet the old parliament is preserved. We were told how parliament members used to shout out their thoughts in the room because of a lack of a speaker system. Furthermore, people were allowed to bring instruments with them to disrupt other MPs’ speeches, the situation could only be described as chaotic. Today, the new parliament was rebuilt diligently with a transparent observational deck on top for the local students to visit and listen to the lecture on democracy while waving at the MPs below.

Walking through the the hallways of the parliament, I saw the country’s effort in introducing new features aim for the new generation and enhancing the publicity of the government to the citizens. Upon all innovative designs towards the general public, the parliament emphasizes convenience of their members as well. After all, the parliament serves a chief function in the country’s decision-making, and while the building itself is admirable, we should not forget the impressive congressmen and congresswomen working within it.