Hundreds of Austrians stuck in loveless marriages may lie about their whereabouts this weekend. Instead of pursuing trysts, they'll be attending a ``divorce fair'' to plan their return to single life.

At the two-day event in Vienna, fed-up spouses can contract private detectives to spy on philandering mates, hire real estate agents to find a new homes and book vacation packages designed for the newly separated. They can even hire a DNA sampling lab to see if it will really be necessary to pay child support.

``New Beginnings'' is the world's first divorce fair, according to Anton Barz, 37, a wedding organizer who came up with the idea after realizing that half of all unions were doomed.

``Austria's divorce statistics are shocking,'' Barz said in a café near Sigmund Freud's former home in the Austrian capital. ``People get a wedding certificate more easily than a driver's license and have no idea of the consequences when they crash.''

Around 500 people are expected to attend the fair at the Vienna Marriott Hotel, where 20 vendors -- including a local law firm hunting for new clients -- will ply them with advice about how to settle their partnership problems.

Austria's divorce rate rose to 49 percent in 2006 from 29 percent in 1987, according to government statistics released in June.

Read it all.

Update: More here.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Marriage & Family • * International News & Commentary • Europe

1. Michael Liccione wrote: Throughout the affluent West, the divorce industry is already as big, in monetary terms, as the wedding industry. I’m more and more inclined to believe that the West is doomed. October 27, 2:37 pm | [comment link]

2. Br. Michael wrote: Or at least not worth saving. October 27, 4:15 pm | [comment link]

3. Larry Morse wrote: Gentlemen, I have to disagree, if the issue is divorce. I think that valley has been crossed. The present generation will do a good deal better than the Boomers ever did. They are nowhere near as self absorbed. These are the young who will NOT join TEC. I think the essay shows rather that Europe is, as I daresay you also know, so decadent that this sort of coming out party is to be expected. LM October 28, 1:07 am | [comment link]

4. John B. Chilton wrote: If husband and wife independently showed up at the divorce fair I wonder if it’d all end up like one of the worst songs of all time, http://www.lyricsondemand.com/onehitwonders/pinacoladalyrics.html October 28, 5:05 am | [comment link]

5. CharlesB wrote: I thought Austria was 90 or more percent RC? October 28, 6:12 am | [comment link]

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