Neighbourhood rules
A few rules and tips for a good neighbourhood:
As soon as you move into your apartment, you should go from door to door through the whole house to introduce yourself to the neighbours with your name and apartment number. This is to ensure the neighbours know about you and maybe even a friendship can develop with one or two neighbours.
- Read the house rules – you should have received them with your contract from your landlord. Often the house rules are also displayed in the entrance foyer of the house. This is where you can find the most important rules for ensuring a nice atmosphere and where many questions are answered:
- Where can I put the baby stroller or leave my bicycle?
- Where can I do my laundry and leave it out to dry?
- Am I allowed to barbeque in the garden or on the balcony?
- Am I allowed to have a cat?
- Where can I smoke?
- … and many other things. It is worth reading the house rules at least once.
- In Austria we have a ‘night-time peace’. This is valid every day – also on a Friday or Saturday – and means that in between 10pm and 6am it should be quiet in the house. If you really want to have a party, you should ask your neighbours beforehand and get their permission. If you are too loud, they might call the police and you have to pay a fine.
- Recycling is very important. If garbage is regularly put into the wrong container, the whole house has to pay a fine. If you do not know which garbage goes into which container, just knock at your neighbour’s door and ask.
- Sign up at FragNebenan. This page is similar to Facebook – but only for your neighbourhood.
- Attend a course:
- Go to the nearest centre of the Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF) and sign up for an integration workshop on the topic of “Environment and Neighbourhood”.
- If you live in Vienna, sign up to an information event of MA17 on the topic of “Living Together”.
Do you have problems with your neighbours?
- Knock on your neighbours’ door and talk about your problem with them in a friendly way. Most problems can be solved that way.
- If the problem does not go away, go to your neighbour again and try talking to him again.
- If that does not help, talk to the building management.
- If you have urgent problems, you can also call the police using the telephone number 133.