Established on September 25^th, 2006, the Confucius Institute at the University of Vienna was jointly built by Beijing Foreign Studies University and the University of Vienna. It is the first Confucius Institute in Austria.

To meet the Austrians’ demand of Chinese learning and to improve their understanding of Chinese language and culture, the Confucius Institute at the University of Vienna have, since its establishment, taken actions according to local conditions by opening various Chinese language courses at different levels and organizing different levels and types of Chinese proficiency tests and nearly hundreds of colorful cultural activities every year. It has thus become one of the important windows for Austrian people to know about China. Since 2009, the Confucius Institute at the University of Vienna has won the honor of global “Advanced Confucius Institute” many times.

The Confucius Institute at the University of Vienna focuses on Chinese language teaching and tries to attract different Chinese learner groups. It pays attention to the needs of local institutions and seeks cooperation with all types of schools, government departments and enterprises in Austria. The Confucius Institute makes overall plans of the scale and structure of the Chinese language teaching and opens different types of courses for all kinds of schools, such as Austrian National Defense University, University of Technology, Austria Vienna Foreign Affairs College, some well-known tourism secondary schools, music middle schools and multilingual elementary schools. The Chinese language courses have gained great popularity among these students. We set up two schools in Linz and Salzburg in Austria with 2,800 enrolled students every year. Courses include daytime intensive training class, high-level reading and writing class and different levels of Chinese language courses in the evening, etc. In addition, the Confucius Institute organizes various types of tests, such as HSK, Chinese proficiency oral exam (HSKK), Business Chinese Test (BCT) and Youth Chinese Test (YCT) for those students who are interested in Chinese and who need to learn Chinese. More than 500 people a year take these tests. We also organize the student summer camp every year to help outstanding Chinese learners to apply for scholarship to study in China and provide training for local Chinese teachers on a regular basis and the opportunity to study in China.

Nearly a hundred of cultural activities held by Confucius Institute and the diversity of Vienna’s urban culture bring out the best in each other. These activities not only introduce the extensive and profound Chinese traditional culture, but also focus on contemporary changes of China, covering music, painting, literature, film and television, architecture, customs and lifestyles, etc. Confucius Institute organizes various culture lectures, international seminars and exhibition activities about China’s politics, economy, society, law, international relations and other themes. Many famous experts and scholars from China and abroad have been invited to these activities. Confucius institute also regularly organizes lectures on Chinese traditional culture, including traditional Chinese painting, calligraphy, tea art, paper cutting and traditional Chinese medicine, which are popular among Austrians.

Confucius Institute issues new publications almost every year including academic journals, literature and Chinese teaching materials, such as German-Chinese bilingual books Austria and China, Confucius Said, Chinese textbook Bye-bye, Everyone Speaks Chinese, Chinese teaching reference book Chinese Learning Dictionary as well as the Chinese language and culture magazine Wen Xin and so on.

The characteristic of the Confucius Institute at the University of Vienna lies in its policy of laying equal stress on localization and internationalization. As one of the official residences of the United Nations, Vienna is an international city. Confucius Institute and University of Vienna jointly hosted “UN Chinese Language Day” and “UN Peace Day”. Together with the UN Department of Public Information, Confucius Institute held a painting exhibition themed “the World Family and Me”. The exhibitions were the colorful paintings of the children from five continents. Austrian senior politicians also highly appreciate Chinese culture. Teachers from the Confucius Institute once played traditional Chinese musical instrument, Chinese zither, for the Austrian President Heinz Fischer couple. Confucius Institute opens Chinese language courses for Austria Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Defense University, Foreign Affairs College, etc. In addition, in order to cope with Austrians’ growing need for Chinese learning and understanding of Chinese culture out of career development, Confucius Institute set up Chinese learning center for career development, offering personalized courses for people from various fields such as politics, economy and academy, which has gained great popularity. At present the number of the students of personalized courses continues to grow. Moreover, some Chinese cultural activities, such as traditional Chinese medicine and tea art, are gradually transformed into special courses. All these courses are well received.

The Confucius Institute at the University of Vienna is to improve its ability in cross-cultural, localization, specialization and innovation areas in the future, creating a comprehensive Chinese cultural exchange organization and an integrated platform for the culture and education exchanges between China and Austria. Here we exchange ideas, make friends and promote healthy and sustainable development of Confucius Institute.

Address: Konfuzius-Institut an der Universität Wien, Universitätscampus Alserstraße 4, Hof 1, Eingang 1.3, A 1090 Wien

Contact: Richard Trappl, Austria Director; Ma Xiaoyan, Chinese Director

Email:konfuzius-institut@univie.ac.at

Tel: +43-1-4277-241-50 /+43-1-4277-241-52

Fax: +43-1-4277-241-59

(As of December 31^th, 2014)