Greetings
Grüß Gott / Servus
grooss GOT / SER-voos
The formal and informal hello. Styrians use both heavily and 'Pfiat di' for goodbye — Graz speech is noticeably broader and slower than Vienna's.
Daily life
Meldezettel
MEL-de-tset-el
Residence registration, due within three days of moving in at a Graz Bürgerinnen- und Bürgeramt, and signed by your landlord. Everything else waits behind it.
Wohnunterstützung
VOHN-un-ter-shtoot-sung
Styria's means-tested rent subsidy, replacing the old Wohnbeihilfe. It is a state scheme with its own rules — Vienna's housing benefits do not exist here.
Richtwert
RICHT-vert
The per-square-metre base rent for regulated old buildings. Styria's is €9.30 from April 2026 against Vienna's €6.74 — the same law, a very different ceiling.
Feinstaubalarm
FINE-shtaub-a-larm
Particulate pollution warning. Graz sits in a basin that traps winter inversions, and measures on solid-fuel stoves and motorway speeds follow from it.
Bim
bim
The tram. Graz's network is small, frequent and covers most of what you need — the city is genuinely walkable and cyclable on top of it.
Food
Buschenschank
BOO-shen-shank
A grower's own tavern serving their own wine and cold plates — the Styrian counterpart of Vienna's Heuriger, and the reason for a weekend on the Weinstraße.
Kernöl
KERN-url
Styrian pumpkin seed oil, thick, dark green and protected by origin. On salad, on vanilla ice cream, and unmistakably on any shirt it reaches.
Backhendl
BAHK-hen-dl
Breaded fried chicken, the Styrian house dish. Order it at a Buschenschank with Kernöl-dressed potato salad and you have ordered correctly.
Culture
Jänner / Paradeiser / Erdäpfel
YEN-ner / pa-ra-DYE-zer / ERD-ep-fel
January, tomatoes and potatoes in Austrian German. Using the German words is understood everywhere and marks you instantly.
Emergency
Notruf: 133 / 144 / 122
NOHT-roof
133 police, 144 ambulance, 122 fire. 112 reaches all of them, and 1450 is the national health advice line for 'is this an emergency?'.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.