Vienna’s horse-drawn carriages – often seen carting tourists around the Austrain capital – have been given new purpose during the coronavirus pandemic.
They are now helping deliver food to the elderly.
The carriages or ‘Fiaker’ have been spotted taking part in food delivery operations in one of the city’s central districts. The move was set up by the InterContinental Hotel, which itself has been severely affected by the lockdown.
Instead of cookig for tourists, the hotel’s kitchens have been producing 200-300 meals a day for senior citizens in the area.
Deliveries are handled by volunteers using all manner of vehicles, including Fiaker driver Christian Gerzabek.
Speaking to AFP, he said, “the horses still have to be moved, they want to get out after the winter,” he says.
“I thought that we should combine that.. with doing something good for people who need it.”
InterContinental general director Brigitte Trattner said that carriage drivers were one of the first to respond for the call for delivery volunteers.
Other deliveries are being handled by drivers and cyclists.
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