Franz Kaida
Franz Kaida (* 1942 ) was the speaker of the announcements in the vehicles of Wiener Linien for many years , where he worked as a department head. His voice is considered one of the most famous in Vienna .
Franz Kaida started at Wiener Stadtwerke - Verkehrsbetriebe (since June 11, 1999 Wiener Linien ) as a technician, after having previously worked as a broadcaster at ORF including speech training. When conductorless trams were introduced in the late 1960s, they were looking for a speaker for the tape announcements. Wiener Stadtwerke - Verkehrsbetriebe started a selection process in which speakers from radio and television also took part, but the results were not satisfactory. For the transport companies it was important that the announcements should sound Viennese, but not in broad dialect . The monotonous speech melody is also intentional so that it does not seem intrusive, since most passengers do not need the tape voice because they drive the route again and again. Since Franz Kaida was also responsible for public relations at the transport company, he organized an exhibition at the Technisches Museum Wien in 1968 , for which he also created the phrasebook. Thereupon he became the "voice of the Viennese transport company". In 2012, he himself said in an interview with the daily newspaper Der Standard : “The company was looking for a solution and that solution was ultimately me.” Since the announcements were initially on tapes, the whole line had to be re-spoken every time a change was made digitally merged. Before his retirement in 2004, he was most recently department head of the security services at Wiener Linien. Then he went to the recording studio for new announcements once a month.
In the summer of 2012, Wiener Linien decided to give the company a new, more modern sound. A group of selected customers opted for a female voice because it was easier to understand. After an internal competition you could choose between two female voices online. Since December 9, 2012, the voice of actress Angela Schneider has replaced Franz Kaidas in the Vienna underground , and since the beginning of June 2013, his voice has also disappeared on all tram lines after 44 years.
His omnipresence in everyday life in Vienna also brought Kaida many advertising engagements, for example for a black-eyed campaign, to tour operators on the radio and also the discussion of answering machines at adult education centers. He also receives many private inquiries.
After his retirement as the “voice of Wiener Linien”, he continues to work as president of the “Association of Austrian Safety Experts” and also as head of a working group for Austrian occupational safety and health strategies.
On May 26, 2013 Franz Kaida was awarded the Golden City Hall Man of the City of Vienna.
literature
- Wiener Linien (Ed.): 100 years of Wiener Linien . Schmid-Verlag, Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-900607-40-0 , p. 68 f.
Web links
- Franz Kaida in "Der Standard"
- Video report on the homepage of the City of Vienna
- Franz Kaida in an interview with the Wiener Zeitung
- Franz Kaida in the "courier"
- Database with announcements from Wiener Linien
- Franz Kaida in "Die Presse"
- Franz Kaida's fans on Facebook
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kaida, Franz |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian speaker, tape voice of Wiener Linien |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1942 |