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| Austin | ||
| State | Texas | |
|---|---|---|
| Residents | 912.791 (2014) | |
| height | 149 m | |
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| location | ||
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Austin is the capital of Texas. It is the fourth largest city in the state, home to the prestigious University of Texas and the American capital of live music.
background
The city was founded in 1835 and was initially called Waterloo. In 1838 the name was changed to Austin in honor of Stephen F. Austin, the founder of the Republic of Texas, which at that time was still independent and not a member of the United States. Austin has been the capital of Texas since 1839 and joined the United States in 1845. The connection to the Houston and Texas Central Railway in 1871 made Austin an important hub in the cattle and cotton trade. The huge State Capitol was built from 1882 to 1888, at the time the seventh largest building in the world.
Austin had fewer than 20,000 residents by the late 19th century. Since then, the city has grown continuously. There was a particularly large population boom in the 1920s to 1940s, during which time the population rose to over 100,000. In the 1990s, the half-million mark was exceeded. Austin is still one of the fastest growing cities in the US, but it is now scratching the million mark.
The University of Texas at Austin was founded in 1883 and is now one of the largest and most prestigious state universities in the United States. The more than 50,000 students give the city a young, intellectual and culturally diverse image. Nowhere in the US is there such a high density of music clubs and concerts, which is why Austin is called the capital of live music. The population of Austin is considered very liberal, progressive and non-conformist by American standards. The slogan corresponds to this Keep Austin Weird - "Austin should stay weird". But this also expresses the fear that Austin could lose its special character due to the rapid growth and the influx from other, more conservative parts of the USA. Politically, Austin is a Democratic stronghold and thus an exception in otherwise Republican-dominated Texas.
Austin is a major center for the semiconductor and IT industries. Freescale Semiconductor and National Instruments are headquartered here; other important local employers are Dell, IBM, Apple, Facebook, Google and Samsung. Austin is therefore nicknamed "Silicon Hills", based on that Silicon Valley in California.
getting there
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By plane
The 1 Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
(IATA: OUT) is a category C international airport, the fourth busiest airport in Texas with around 14 million passengers a year. The airlines with the most connections to / from Austin are Southwest, American, United and Delta Air Lines.
There is a direct connection with Lufthansa of Frankfurt to Austin. Another intercontinental connection is with British Airways from, to London. In addition, there are transfer connections via Atlanta, Chicago or Dallas at. Within the USA, the most frequented connections are with Atlanta (Southwest, Delta, Frontier), Dallas (American), Denver (Southwest, United, Frontier), los Angeles (American, Delta, Southwest, United) and Houston (United).
Bus number 20 runs every 15 minutes from the airport to the city center. The journey takes about 35 minutes and costs $ 1.25 one way. Alternatives are rental cars (all major American rental companies are represented at the airport), taxis (around $ 25 downtown), app-based paid ridesharing (Uber, Lyft, Wingz and the local app RideAustin; around $ 15) and shuttles, which are several Drop off passengers at the desired address (e.g. Super shuttle, about $ 19).
By train
At the 2 Austin Railway Station stops once a day in each direction Amtrak-Long-distance train Texas Eagle (Chicago–St. Louis–Dallas–San Antonio–Phoenix–los Angeles). It is a 2½ hour drive from San Antonio and 6½ hours from Dallas El Paso 18 hours, 22½ hours from St. Louis, 28½ hours from Chicago, 33½ hours from Los Angeles.
By bus
Greyhound-Long-distance buses connect Austin several times a day San Antonio (Travel time 1½ – 1: 45 hours; from $ 7), Waco (1:40 hours; from $ 21), Houston (2: 50–3 hours; from $ 10) and Dallas (3–3: 40 hours; from $ 14). Coming from New Orleans and Baton Rouge you have to change trains in Houston.
- 3 Austin Bus Station, 916 E Koenig Lane. Tel.: (512) 458-4463. Located on the northern outskirts, 8 km north of the city center. Bus line 7 takes you to downtown.
In the street
By boat
mobility
Public transportation in the greater Austin area is operated by the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (short Cap Metro) operated. This includes the Capital MetroRail, inaugurated in 2010, a regional train that connects the city center and Plaza Saltillo with the northern suburbs of Crestview, Lakeline and Leander (a total of 51 km, travel time a good one hour). Most of the traffic is handled by buses: There are 49 regular city bus routes, 12 special lines that only run at certain times of the day or at night, eight express lines that only stop at a few stops and 19 shuttle lines for the University of Texas.
If you only use the regular bus routes, a single trip costs $ 1.25, a day ticket $ 2.50, and a 7-day ticket $ 11.25. If you also want to use the express bus routes and MetroRail, the single trip costs $ 3.50, the day ticket $ 7, the 7-day ticket $ 27.50. Children and young people up to 12th grade (with appropriate ID) travel free of charge.
Austin is one of the most bike-friendly cities in the United States. The city is also relatively pedestrian-friendly, at least if you are moving around Downtown, West Campus, and East Austin.
Tourist Attractions
Buildings
- 1 Texas State Capitol.
Massive Texas State Parliament and Government Building. It was built from 1882 to 1888, and architecturally it is based on the Italian Renaissance. At 92 meters tall, it is taller than the United States Capitol in Washington.
- 2 Texas Governor's Mansion, 1010 Colorado St.Residence of the governors of Texas, built in 1854 in a neo-classical style.
- 3 Driskill Hotel, 604 Brazos Street.Built in neo-Romanesque style in 1886, it was considered the finest hotel south of St. Louis at the time and is now the oldest hotel in Austin still in operation.
- Main building of 4 St. Edward's University.Representative, castle-like building in neo-Gothic style, built 1887–88 and rebuilt in 1903 after a fire.
Museums
- 5 Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.The Presidential Library and Museum are dedicated to the life and work of the 36th President of the United States, who ruled from 1963 to 1969 after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Streets and squares
- 6 Sixth Street (Pecan Street).Historic high street and the main nightlife and entertainment area in Downtown Austin. It is lined with numerous bars, clubs, music venues and shops. This is particularly true of the section between Congress Avenue and Interstate 35, which is usually closed to car traffic on the weekend evenings and is then populated by the partying crowd. The street is also worth seeing in daylight, after all, it is lined with some listed commercial buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Parks
- 7 Texas State Cemetery.Texas State of Honor Cemetery where the founding fathers of the Republic of Texas (including Stephen F. Austin), governors, other distinguished politicians and soldiers, and prominent figures are buried.
- 8 Mount Bonnell (Covert Park).Park and lookout point above the Colorado River, around 9 km northwest of downtown, with great views of the city.
- 9 Zilker Park.142 hectares of recreational area in the south of the city, at the confluence of Barton Creek in the Colorado River. There are sports fields, picnic areas, running and biking trails, a botanical garden and a sculpture garden, a year-round swimming pool fed by natural springs (Barton Springs) and a park railway (12 inch gauge). You can also canoe on Barton Creek. During the Christmas season there is a 47 meter high tree of lights here.
- 10 McKinney Falls State Park.300 acre nature park in the southeast of the city on Onion Creek. The tree population is i.a. characterized by pecan, ebony and cedar trees, bald cypresses, American plane trees, elms and oaks. There are also various types of cactus, especially opuntia. A variety of wildflowers can be seen in the spring, most notably the blue flowering Texan Lupine, which is a symbol of this state. In this habitat you can find white-tailed deer, raccoons, coyotes, fox squirrels and armadillos, mockingbirds, road cuckoos, red cardinals and blue jays, various species of turtles and rattlesnakes.
- 11 Hippie Hollow Park (on the north-western outskirts, 27 km from the city center).Located on Lake Travis, it's the only park in Texas where clothing is officially optional. From the 1960s onwards, the spot was popular with hippies who bathed here naked. Although there were complaints from the local population, the sheriff decided that there were worse offenses and tolerated the goings-on. In 1985, an official clothing-optional park was set up and appropriate warning signs were put up. Since the prudish youth protection laws of the state of Texas also apply in Austin, the park is only allowed to be entered by adults.
activities
- Texas Longhorns.This is the name of the sports teams at the University of Texas. You play in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I.
- Texas Longhorns Football.Home games are played at the Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium ("DKR").
- Texas Longhorns men's basketball.The home venue is the Frank Erwin Center.
- Texas Longhorns womens basketball.The home venue is the Frank Erwin Center.
Regular events
- South by Southwest. A highlight on the Austin calendar is the annual South by Southwest music and film festival SXSW or South By), which takes place in March during the university's spring break and around St. Patrick’s Day. More precisely, it is a whole conglomerate of festivals and conferences taking place in parallel from various music, film and media scenes. Numerous prominent artists then come to Austin to present their works and to exchange ideas. Over 50,000 participants have been registered in each of the last few years.
- Republic of Texas Biker Rally. End of May or June (after Memorial Day) - large motorcycle parade with 35,000 participants and 200,000 spectators.
- Austin City Limits Music Festival. On the first and second weekend in October - big music festival in Zilker Park (rock, indie, country, folk, electro and hip-hop).
shop
kitchen
nightlife
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accommodation
Learn
Work
security
health
Practical advice
trips
literature
- Jakob Strobel y Serra: What is very strange rarely remains unexplained for long. Travel report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, June 22, 2019.
Web links
- http://www.austintexas.gov/ (en) - Austin Official Website
