Walk through Vienna's Favoriten or Ottakring and you'll hear it quickly: the Albanian language, laughter in the cafés, conversations outside football pitches. The Albanians in Austria are one of the most vibrant diaspora communities in the country — and one that carries its identity with pride, no matter how many years they've lived here.
Numbers and History
Around 100,000 to 120,000 people of Albanian origin live in Austria today. The majority in Vienna — the city that has become a second home for many Albanians. Many came in the 1990s: after the collapse of Yugoslavia, after the Kosovo War, after the economic crisis in Albania. They came with the desire for a better life — and stayed because they built one here.
What characterises this community is its diversity: people from Albania, from Kosovo, from North Macedonia and other Albanian-speaking regions. Different backgrounds, but a shared language and a shared sense of belonging.
Vienna — The Heart of the Albanian Diaspora in Austria
Austria and especially Vienna have developed into a real centre for the Albanian community. Albanian restaurants, clubs, cultural events and football teams shape the cityscape in certain districts. There are Albanian mosques, Albanian schools and informal networks that catch newcomers and help them integrate.
But outside Vienna too: Graz, Linz and Salzburg have growing Albanian communities. Austria is no longer just a transit country — it's home. For many already in the second or third generation.
Between Two Worlds — My Perspective
I'm Edison Luta. I was born in Kosovo, moved to Germany at the age of one and grew up between Herne and Pristina. I know the feeling that connects this community: that strange mixture of homesickness and pride, of adapting and preserving.
When I'm out in Vienna doing street interviews, I keep encountering the same stories. The father who has lived in Vienna for 25 years and still says: "One day I'll go back." The daughter who grew up in Vienna, speaks perfect German and still cooks Albanian food every weekend — because food is memory. The young man looking for a partner — someone who understands both worlds.
dua.com — For the Albanian Diaspora in Austria
That's exactly who dua.com exists for. The Albanian dating app — founded in 2019 by Valon Asani, himself a diaspora child from Kosovo — understands what it means to look for someone who doesn't need an explanation for why family dinners are sacred. Who laughs when you quote an Albanian proverb. Who knows what it means to live between two cultures.
Today dua.com has over 1.1 million users — in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and all around the world where Albanians live. As brand ambassador I'm proud to represent a platform that doesn't simply connect people — but truly understands who it's connecting.
A Community That Stays
The Albanians in Austria don't disappear into the anonymity of the big city. They organise themselves, celebrate their culture, support one another. Albanian cultural associations hold concerts and dance performances. Albanian entrepreneurs build networks. And Albanian families hold onto traditions — not out of stubbornness, but out of conviction that these roots are valuable.
That's what fascinates me again and again: this community isn't afraid of the future. It takes the best from both worlds — and makes something of its own from them.
If you're part of this community or want to learn more about it, follow me on Instagram. I'm wherever you are — on the streets of Europe, between Vienna and Pristina, between past and future.