WiSo
Independent, unofficial guide. Not affiliated with WU ViennaLast updated: September 15, 2026

WU Vienna WiSo Economics & German: What to Study

Economics follows WU’s official Wirtschaft verstehen guide. The language pillar is academic German reading, which is analogous in skill to BBE English but not the same content or vocabulary.

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Introduction

WiSo’s content areas are wirtschaftliche Grundkenntnisse, Mathematik, and deutsches Sprachverständnis. This page covers the two non-math pillars: the official economics Lernunterlage and German reading comprehension. Together they are where many applicants accidentally study the wrong track, especially if they reuse BBE English materials.

Econ questions

10

German questions

9

Language pillar

German

English section?

No

Economics: Wirtschaft verstehen

Work the guide chapter by chapter. Precision of definitions matters, because a single qualifier in a German statement can flip an option under Teilpunktesystem scoring.

Chapter 1

Overlaps BBE concepts

Grundlagen der Wirtschaft

Wirtschaftskreislauf, Knappheit und Opportunitätskosten, Arbeitsteilung und Spezialisierung, Geld, Zinsen und Inflation

  • Circular flow of the economy; who participates
  • Opportunity cost and scarce resources
  • Supply/demand intuition and market types (Monopol, Oligopol, Polypol)
  • Money, interest, inflation (causes, CPI, ECB’s 2% target), GDP/GNP

Chapter 2

WiSo-specific

Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft und Umwelt

Nachhaltigkeit, planetare Grenzen, Entkopplung, Wohlfahrtsökonomie, WiSo-spezifisch gegenüber dem BBE-Fuhrmann-Text

  • Embedding of the economy in society and environment
  • Sustainability and decoupling debates
  • Planetary / Earth-system boundaries
  • Subjective wellbeing (SWB) and Doughnut-style framing

Chapter 3

Overlaps BBE concepts

Unternehmensgrundlagen

Unternehmensarten und Rechtsformen, Eigentum und Finanzierungsquellen, Rechnungswesen

  • What a company is; types of enterprises
  • Legal forms (Rechtsformen)
  • Financing sources
  • Accounting basics: balance sheet, P&L, cash flow
  • Marketing and market orientation

Chapter 4

WiSo-specific

Digitalisierung

Digitale Transformation und Geschäftsmodelle, Internetplattformen, Wirtschaftsinformatik, WiSo-spezifisch

  • Digital transformation of products and business models
  • Internet as a platform for firms
  • Perspectives and definitions in Wirtschaftsinformatik
  • Application and information systems at a conceptual level

Chapters 1 and 3 overlap meaningfully with BBE economics concepts, so some question logic can transfer if you rewrite stems in German. Chapters 2 and 4 need dedicated WiSo study, because sustainability/wellbeing economics and digitalisation/Wirtschaftsinformatik have no BBE English twin.

German reading comprehension

Academic-level texts testing comprehension, interpretation, and argument formation; this is a skill section rather than a content syllabus. There is no official reading list. Build transferable strategies the same way BBE applicants build English reading stamina.

Comprehension

Locate claims, evidence, and conclusions in academic-length German passages without needing every rare word.

Interpretation

Decide whether a statement is supported, contradicted, or simply not implied by the text, since partial credit punishes over-claiming.

Argument structure

Track how an author builds a position. Options often twist scope (“always”, “only”, “mainly”) rather than inventing new facts.

Timing

Build speed with short daily passages. Saving German for the last week is a common failure mode for bilingual applicants who feel “fine at German.”

Suggested study sequence

  1. Skim all four Wirtschaft verstehen chapters for map awareness.
  2. Deep-dive chapter 1 definitions with statement-style practice.
  3. Lock chapter 3 firm/accounting vocabulary in German.
  4. Allocate explicit weeks to chapters 2 and 4 (WiSo-only).
  5. Run parallel German reading drills every week; do not backlog them.

What to do next

Mathematics guide →Scoring explained →Prep plan →

Try WiSo prep on its own URLs

Demo practice, mocks, and flashcards for WiSo live under /wiso/..., so you stay on the German track instead of drifting into BBE English drills.

Open WiSo demo

WU publishes Wirtschaft verstehen. Was Wirtschaften im Allgemeinen und für Unternehmen im Besonderen bedeutet (Lernunterlage für das Aufnahmeverfahren; authors include Feurstein M.S., Fuhrmann B., Lampe M., Prettner K., Stagl S., Strembeck M.). A new PDF is issued each cycle (e.g. 2026/27), usually around late February.

No. WU’s FAQ lists deutsche Sprachverständnis (German reading comprehension), not English. Ignore third-party pages that copy BBE’s English section onto WiSo.

Same lead author family as BBE’s Introduction to Business and Economics, and chapters 1 and 3 overlap conceptually, but chapters 2 and 4 (sustainability / digitalisation) are WiSo-specific, and the language of the exam is German.

Treat it as academic reading comprehension: interpretation and argument from texts. Unreliable sources sometimes invent a grammar/vocabulary mini-section; WU frames it as Sprachverständnis.

From wu.ac.at each cycle (search for the current Aufnahmeverfahren Lernunterlage PDF). Content is relatively stable year to year even when the file is reissued.