An angry Austrian lumberjack used his chainsaw to reduce his boss's furniture to matchsticks. After the fight at work, the 37-year-old drove to his boss's flat in the town of St. Johann. After cutting a rectangle into the door with his chainsaw to get in, he then destroyed a table, armchair, corner seat, the complete kitchen furniture and the wardrobe. Neighbours who heard the noise of the chainsaw called the police. When they arrived, they found the man sitting peacefully amongst the remains of his boss's furniture.

A chestnut seller who tried to drum up trade by ringing police and sparking a bomb alert to get people out on the streets has been jailed in Austria.
Wolfgang Ziegler, 39, claimed a bomb had been hidden in a Vienna shopping centre, causing the evacuation of 66 shops, several restaurants and a doctors' surgery. But after no bomb was found police traced the call to his mobile and he was arrested. He was jailed for six months by a regional court in Vienna after admitting making a hoax call because he was "really bored". 23/10/03

Dozens of women have asked to be made pregnant by a prehistoric iceman who died 5,000 years ago. The body of "Otzi the Iceman" was discovered by hikers in 1991 as ice melted in the Schnalstal glacier, high in the Italian Alps. Alex Susanna, director of the Bozen Museum where his body is exhibited, says requests have been received by many women wanting to have Otzi's babies. All of the requests had been turned down, not least because Otzi's penis had decayed away. 20/04/03

A 91-year-old Austrian man has been called up for National Service. The pensioner, from Bad Ischl, was told he had to show up at the Wals army barracks to start his eight month military service. But the man, who served in Hitler's Wehrmacht during World War II, said: "I refuse to join the army again as I have already partaken once." Army spokesman Colonel Alexander Barthou said the letter had been supposed to go to an 18-year-old, also from Bad Ischl, with the same name. He said: "We have already assured the pensioner that he certainly will not be drafted."

An Austrian man cut off his toes, fried them up and ate them between two slices of bread after getting high sniffing butane gas. When ambulance men arrived he offered to share his meal with them, passing over a toe and saying: "It tastes like chicken, do you want some, there's a few still left over."
Police said the 35-year-old from near Vienna suddenly became very hungry after sniffing the gas and had searched all his kitchen cupboards, but found nothing to eat. The man's sister called the police when she walked into the kitchen and saw him making the toe sandwich. A police spokesman added: "He told the ambulance men that he had more toes than he needed and didn't think he would notice if he got rid of a few." 

An Austrian couple with 12 children have split up - after the husband admitted he was gay. Mum Alina Look dumped husband Hannes after his shock revelation. Hannes had announced that he was leaving the family home at Graz for another man. Hannes told Alina he only made her pregnant so she had "something to do". Alina said: "I received a phone call from a friend who told me she had seen Hannes with another person, she said they had been kissing and cuddling. "I didn't believe her when she told me the other person was a man, but when I confronted Hannes he admitted everything. "He told me he had only had sex with me so I would get pregnant and it would give me something to do. I can't believe we had so many children together, my whole life has been a lie."