Many people were so interested in these inner stories this year that they subscribed to the KURIER.
For the sake of transparency: If this list were about the most-clicked stories, it would contain a much higher coronavirus load.
When it comes to which stories the most subscriptions were made thanks to, the picture is more varied. However, an old acquaintance makes the start: a pre-leaked regulation from the Ministry of Health.
1. Corona regulation: The complete draft for the November lockdown
On November 3rd, Austria went into lockdown for the second time. The new regulation was eagerly awaited, the KURIER got hold of the draft in advance and reported on all the details on October 31st. Almost all events were banned again, restaurants and hotels had to close, and a night curfew was introduced from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
2. Why Rendi-Wagner is now threatened with the end of the SPÖ leader
In second place: a story from times before Corona. When SPÖ chairman Pamela Rendi-Wagner announced in February that 160,000 party members would vote on their whereabouts as party leader, it was raging. A successor model with Michael Ludwig was under discussion. Three pandemic months later, with an astonishingly high participation of 41.3 percent of the members, Rendi-Wagner received 71.4 percent of the votes and thus survived the survey.
3. Rumors as to why Harald Vilimsky is leaving as General Secretary
On January 8, it was clear: Harald Vilimsky and Christian Hafenecker are giving up their posts as General Secretaries of the FPÖ, Michael Schnedlitz will be their successor. Rumors made the rounds that Vilimsky could join the DAÖ and Heinz-Christian Strache instead. It stayed with the rumors.
4. Strache's expenses as minister: more than half a million euros
The expense affair surrounding ex-Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache was also a long-term hit in 2020. The conversion of his office, the refurbishment of the sanitary facilities and a “security concept” alone cost around 500,000 euros, reported the KURIER. It is the presumption of innocence.
5. Anger teacher Wiesinger messes up everyone – and has to go
At the beginning of January, Susanne Wiesinger was still ombudsman in Heinz Faßmann's Ministry of Education. Turquoise politicians also saw themselves confirmed in Wiesinger's first printed work, “Kulturkampf in the classroom – How Islam changes schools. Report by a teacher”. When the anger teacher then published a new book entitled “Power Struggle in the Ministry. How Party Politics Destroys Our Schools” and handed it out against almost everything and everyone, her political career quickly came to an end.
6. 14 years in the judiciary: “I won't get my time back by acquittal”
Are the procedures taking too long in Austria? No, this is not about Karl-Heinz Grasser, but about Internet pioneer Werner Böhm. In 2001 he went bankrupt. It wasn't until 2015 that he was found innocent. A KURIER interview with Böhm, “about the defendant's impotence”, caused a sensation in mid-February.
7. Van der Bellen at halftime: “I had to exercise power”
The Federal President talks about his wife's career, his relationship with Kurz and the Greens, about his pissiness and which law he discreetly objected to. This interview took place before Corona.
8. Sebastian Kurz: This is how it continues after Easter
Perhaps you still remember the long lines in front of the hardware stores in mid-April? This is what it looked like, gradually starting up after Easter. It was previously announced in the KURIER as follows: “If everything goes according to plan, after Easter, retail will be ramped up first. Gradually, other easing will follow. Only later will the schools take their turn, because it is difficult for children to distance themselves.”
9. Pictures show Gudenus suspected of drug use: Was he susceptible to blackmail?
Possibly “yesterday's news”, but it moved our readers: A photo of Johann Gudenus suspected of drug use, part of the 378-page interim report by SOKO Ibiza. The alleged drug consumption was explosive and worth reporting for several reasons: The FPÖ in particular committed itself to the fight against illegal drugs, and Gudenus could also have been blackmailed because of the photo.
10. Integration Minister: “Girls never wear headscarves voluntarily”
At the beginning of the year, Susanne Raab (ÖVP) said: “One thing is clear: every child who is forced to wear a headscarf is one too many.” She called for the ban to be extended to compulsory schools, which sparked heated discussions. In the meantime, the Constitutional Court has taken the subject out of the sails and even overturned the headscarf ban on primary schools.
