An obnoxious annoyance? Never! A lovely, sweet, fun and joyous person definitely. But never obnoxious or annoying.

Thank you ddickinson. You always have fun giveaways!
I'm in for Schein. I just found out it's Austrian made.
I'm also in for Lifthrasil.

Austria has no contact to sea. Instead it has high mountains with 13 peaks above 3,000 metres, and 34 above 2,000 metres!!!

Death in Austria is big business, and the Austrian funeral industry is said to be largest per capita in Europe. Austrians plan quite openly for their eventual demise, discussing reserving burial plots, designing headstones, and joining Sterbeverein (“Death Association”) that ensures someone eventually shows up and pays the final bill. Coming back from an Austrian funeral, one is sure to hear that there was ein schöne Leiche (“a beautiful corpse”)

The Austrian flag is one of the oldest national flag in the world. It dates from 1191, when Duke Leopold V fought in the Battle of Acre during the Third Crusade.

Austria is the only European Union nation that is not a member of NATO.

On a more personal note, Vienna is a city I've been wanting to visit for the past 15 years. I've had plenty of chances to hear about Vienna and make virtual tours there but I have never actually visited the city. My brother has made a trip there 4 years ago, my grandmother went there 10 years ago on Christmas, I have even wandered the streets in google street view. I hope one day I finally manage to visit Vienna.

Next should be Netherlands.

Someone is really bad at geography. :p

http://nato.gov.si/eng/topic/national-security/neutral-status/neutral-countries/

Live and learn. My source is : http://www.eupedia.com/austria/trivia.shtml
I don't know what "continental" is supposed to mean, but it seems wrong too.....

I'm being killed by kindness!! AHHHHHHH!!!!!! ;)


I am humbled and honored by your nomination, but I must ask that you choose someone else. I've just won a prize in the "thank the fellows" and would love to see another win. But again, it was very nice to see you thought of me :)

What? You're still not dead after all this kindness! Okay, you asked for it. The super hugging axe of kindness. :-D

Especially its wagnerasied derivations.

Firstly, thank you for the contribution of a second prize! Please be sure to give Ragnarblackmane a +1 for his awesome generosity. I will update the OP with your generous offer as another prize option.

Secondly, thank you for the interesting facts, I was not expecting something on Tolkien, but it is of course very much appreciated. Tolkien's book on Sigurd (Siegfried) is one of my favourite narrative poems.

Not true at all, Tolkien was vehemently opposed to the Wagnerian derivations. In fact:

Wagnerian influences

Some critics have suggested that The Lord of the Rings was directly and heavily derived from Richard Wagner's opera cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen which also centres its plot on a powerful ring.[51] Others have argued that any similarity is due to Tolkien being influenced by the legendary Volsunga saga and the Nibelungenlied, which were the basis for the operas.[52][53]

Tolkien sought to dismiss critics' direct comparisons to Wagner, telling his publisher, "Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceases." According to Humphrey Carpenter's biography of Tolkien, the author claimed to hold Wagner's interpretation of the relevant Germanic myths in contempt, even as a young man before reaching university.[54]

Some researchers take an intermediate position: that both the authors used the same sources, but that Tolkien was influenced by Wagner's development of the mythology,[55][56] especially "concept of the Ring as giving the owner mastery of the world that was Wagner's own contribution to the myth of the Ring".[57] Wagner probably developed this element by combining the ring with a magical wand mentioned in the Nibelungenlied that could give to its wearer the control "over the race of men".[58][59] In addition, the corrupting power of Tolkien's One Ring has a central role in Wagner's operas but was not present in the mythical sources.[60][61]

Some argue that Tolkien's denial of a Wagnerian influence was an over-reaction to the statements of Åke Ohlmarks, Tolkien's Swedish translator, who in the introduction to his much-criticized translation of The Lord of the Rings "mixed material from various legends, some which mention no ring and one which concerns a totally different ring".[62][63][64] Furthermore, critics believe that Tolkien was reacting against the links between Wagner's work and Nazism.[65][66]

Mostly this. It's hard not to see Tolkiens's vulgarised post-romanticism deeply rooted into the culture and mentality prior to WW I.

Also, Wagner's damnatio memoriae after World War II surely played a significant role.

+1. Good on ya doing another contribution :)

@OP: Not in, but thanks to you as well!

Bump

Thanks, you should enter!

Alas, I have no amusing stories about going through customs to pee in Austria. I will have to think about this.