The Florentine Diamond is one of Europe's most famous missing jewels—or at least, it was. In this episode, we trace the extraordinary journey of a 137-carat diamond from Renaissance Florence and the Medici dynasty to the Habsburgs, the collapse of empire, and a century-long disappearance that turns out not to have been a disappearance at all.

Along the way, we meet Empress Zita, who doesn't just have one of the best Habsburg names, but also ran one of the tightest ships in imperial history—successfully keeping a world-class secret for over 100 years. Carmen and Stephen also question the wisdom of transporting priceless crown jewels across the Atlantic in a cardboard suitcase, and are scandalized at the purported price of the diamond.

For more, check us out on social media at viennapastandpresent or at viennapastandpresent.com. Reach out to us at viennapastandpresent@gmail.com. We love hearing feedback and ideas. Danke!

If you saw some nuns escaping a retirement home to return to their former castle, what would you do? If you're at all unsure, you should hear the story of the nuns of Castle Goldenstein, the recent *darlings* of Austrian and international news. With low-speed car chases, hugging police officers, Stephen's stuffy sick voice, and social media stardom -- this episode really has it all. And the youngest nun is 81! Feel lazy yet? Yes... we do, too.

Follow their instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nonnen_goldenstein/

For more, check us out on social media at viennapastandpresent or at viennapastandpresent.com. Reach out to us at viennapastandpresent@gmail.com. We love hearing feedback and ideas. Danke!

In our first Halloween episode, we sink our teeth into the true story of the vampire panic that swept through the Habsburg borderlands during the Age of Enlightenment—because nothing says "reason and progress" like mass fear of the undead. It all begins in 18th-century Serbia, where a shoeless peasant was said to have crawled out of his grave to reclaim his footwear… and maybe a little blood. From there, the hysteria spread across the empire, reaching even the court of Empress Maria Theresia herself. Her response? A vampire decree based on reports by her Dutch physician, Gerard van Swieten—the very man who would later inspire Bram Stoker's legendary vampire hunter, Professor Van Helsing. Join us as we trace how the Enlightenment tried (and mostly succeeded) to drive a stake through superstition—and how bats somehow ended up taking the blame.

For more, check us out on social media at viennapastandpresent or at viennapastandpresent.com. Reach out to us at viennapastandpresent@gmail.com. We love hearing feedback and ideas. Danke!

LINKS

Klenk+Reiter podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/74Ib9NB1WM4KdImJBWaiHD?si=14d7e9ebf36f4258

Arnold Paole - Wikipedia

Petar Blagojević - Wikipedia

The Theological and Esoteric Debate on the Existence of Vampires (17th–19th centuries). 2. An Epidemic of Vampirism in the Austro-Hungarian Empire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_van_Swieten

https://www.onb.ac.at/mehr/blogs/untot-seit-dem-18-jahrhundert-der-erste-vampirhype

https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=wrz&datum=17250721&seite=11&zoom=33

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1369848612000313

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250630-serbian-village-stakes-claim-to-the-first-vampire

https://www.br.de/radio/bayern2/sendungen/kalenderblatt/maria-theresia-verkuendet-den-vampir-erlass-100.html

https://www.thegreatprojects.com/blog/bats-associated-with-vampires

This week, we're freefalling into the story of Felix Baumgartner, Austria's very own daredevil skydiver who leapt from the stratosphere (literally). Along the way, Stephen valiantly attempts some German words with mixed results, Carmen learns a few things she probably should have already known, and together they try—and mostly fail—to understand what drives someone to jump out of perfectly good aircraft for fun. Is it bravery, madness, or just another day in the life of a man who redefined "living on the edge"? Join us as we parachute straight into the world of Felix Baumgartner.

For more, check us out on social media at viennapastandpresent or at viennapastandpresent.com. Reach out to us at viennapastandpresent@gmail.com. We love hearing feedback and ideas. Danke!

LINKS

Felix Baumgartner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000280012/felix-baumgartner-obduktion-soll-todesursache-klaeren

https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000279972/felix-baumgartner-ein-teufelskerl-mit-eigenem-kopf

https://www.redbull.com/int-en/felix-baumgartner-in-numbers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASE_jumping

https://felixbaumgartner.com/base-jumper/

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2012/oct/16/felix-baumgartner-from-the-vault

https://www.redbull.com/int-en/red-bull-stratos-contribution-to-science

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/hall-of-fame/felix-baumgartner-first-person-to-break-sound-barrier-in-freefall

In this episode, we uncover the strange and fascinating life of Wilhelm Reich, a once-promising Vienna-trained psychoanalyst whose career took a sharp turn into uncharted territory. From a scandalous youth and mentorship under Freud to his unorthodox theories on "orgastic potency," Reich's ideas often teetered between groundbreaking and eyebrow-raising. We follow him across the Atlantic, where he invented the Orgone Accumulator (a.k.a. the cosmic orgasm box), clashed with the FDA, tried to win over Einstein, and even claimed to battle UFOs in the Arizona desert. Visionary, eccentric, or both? Either way, his story is a wild ride through sex, pseudoscience, and space energy.

For more, check us out on social media at viennapastandpresent or at viennapastandpresent.com. Reach out to us at viennapastandpresent@gmail.com. We love hearing feedback and ideas. Danke!

LINKS
https://www.nytimes.com/1971/01/04/archives/back-into-the-old-orgone-box.html

https://projectmailer.net/pm/The_Mailer_Review/Volume_10,_2016/Mailer%E2%80%99s_Use_of_Wilhelm_Reich

https://www.meduniwien.ac.at/web/en/about-us/history/

https://www.wilhelmreich.at/wp-content/uploads/Hebenstreit_Diplomarbeitsauszug-2.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgone

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich

https://www.scribd.com/document/409496302/brady-the-strange-case-of-wilhelm-reich-pdf

https://oe1.orf.at/artikel/328444/Film-Der-Fall-Wilhelm-Reich

https://www.lennygibson.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Reich-review.pdf

Movie about Reich (Apple+): https://tv.apple.com/at/movie/the-strange-case-of-wilhelm-reich/umc.cmc.4d5kpivmlampf1bsyguxnu6my?l=en

NYTimes article : https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/12/07/87342935.html?pageNumber=20

This week, we're headed to the seaside! Or at least, as close as Vienna gets— we're talking about the Gänsehäufel, the beloved island in the Danube that's been offering sun, swims, and skin (lots of it) for over a century. We dig into the evolution of this uniquely Viennese summer escape: from its early days as a kind of naturist commune founded by Florian Berndl, to a city-led takeover (with a surprise return of good old Sexy Karl), to its glory days in Red Vienna and post-war nudist boom. We also reminisce about our experiences with Japanese baths and KOA—yes, Kampsites of America. Why the K? And how do you pronounce it? Sunburns, socialism, and public nudity—it's all here.

For more, check us out on social media at viennapastandpresent or at viennapastandpresent.com. Reach out to us at viennapastandpresent@gmail.com . We love hearing feedback and ideas. Danke!

LINKS

https://www.filmarchiv.at/de/filmarchiv-on/video/f_030HDAllma6h1gTTStWtQ0

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A4nseh%C3%A4ufel

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florian_Berndl

https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/G%C3%A4nseh%C3%A4ufel

https://www.falter.at/zeitung/20210831/ums-nackte-ueberleben

https://geschichtsgreisslerei.at/gaensehaeufel/

https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000061895606/kabane-und-liebe-sommerresidenz-im-gaensehaeufel

https://www.wien.gv.at/freizeit/baeder/uebersicht/sommerbaeder/gaensehaeufel.html

https://www.travelportland.com/culture/sauvie-island/

Try as we might to talk about literally anything else, Eurovision keeps pulling us back in. Are we closet fans? Maybe. Probably. OK, fine—yes. In this Zeitgeist episode, we set out to cover a range of current topics... but then Austria won Eurovision again, and suddenly we're back, clumsily covering a topic we know little about. But we do know that JJ has officially captured our hearts. Stephen watches the winning entry live on air and—shockingly—realizes he might actually enjoy the whole dramatic spectacle. Resistance was futile.

For more, check us out on social media at viennapastandpresent or at viennapastandpresent.com. Reach out to us at viennapastandpresent@gmail.com. We love hearing feedback and ideas. Danke!

LINKS

https://dietagespresse.com/damit-oesterreich-teuren-esc-2026-nicht-ausrichten-muss-marterbauer-ruft-3-000-mal-fuer-schweden-an/

Wasted Love, Austrian Eurovision entry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coGaxAWtp58

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/arts/music/eurovision-how-to-win.html?unlocked_article_code=1.JE8.MzUg.jbIOX3S6CkWM&smid=url-share

'It's going to be expensive': Austria frets about price tag of hosting Eurovision

'There is anxiety' - RTE 'fears' winning Eurovison & facing huge staging costs, claims Ireland's first winner Dana | The Irish Sun

JJ & Conchita Mashup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaTvgfopHkU

This week, we step onto one of Vienna's most curious bits of street furniture: the humble street scale. Scattered across the city in over 150 locations, these coin-operated relics have no real reason to still exist—yet somehow, they do. We dig into their surprisingly rich history, from imperial times to today's random encounters with your own body weight on the sidewalk. Along the way, Stephen and Carmen have a small (but passionate) spat about the proper unit of weight (spoiler: it's kilos), and we can't help but wonder just how much Emperor Franz Josef's muttonchops might have tipped the scale.

For more, check us out on social media at viennapastandpresent or at viennapastandpresent.com. Reach out to us at viennapastandpresent@gmail.com. We love hearing feedback and ideas. Danke!

LINKS

https://wien.orf.at/stories/3301198/

https://www.numismatikforum.de/viewtopic.php?t=20435

https://www.derstandard.at/story/1231152644414/stadtteil-poppscher-kampf-gegen-die-fadesse

https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000124660026/ewige-schwergewichte-die-oeffentlichen-personenwaagen-in-wien