ISSN: 1871-417X

EUROPEAN CULTURAL HERITAGE REVIEW

SUMMER 2014

EUROPA NOSTRA represents a rapidly growing citizens’ movement for the

safeguarding of Europe’s cultural and natural heritage. Our pan-European
network is composed of 250 member organisations (heritage associations
and foundations with a combined membership of more than 5 million people),
150 associated organisations (governmental bodies, local authorities and
corporations) and also 1500 individual members who directly support our
mission.

TOGETHER,
• we form an important lobby for cultural heritage in Europe;
• we celebrate excellence through the European Heritage Awards organised
by Europa Nostra in partnership with the European Union; and
• we campaign to save Europe’s endangered historic monuments, sites and
cultural landscapes.

We are the Voice of Cultural Heritage in Europe.

THE REAL SOUND OF MUSIC AND MONUMENTS MEN

ALONG THE SEMMERING RAILWAY AND THE DANUBE RIVER
FREUD, HUNDERTWASSER AND KLIMT
SWEET HERITAGE AND STRONG COFFEE
TALKING HERITAGE WITH EU LEADERS JOSÉ MANUEL BARROSO,
ANDROULLA VASSILIOU AND JOHANNES HAHN...

AUSTRIA SPECIAL
 CALL FOR ENTRIES*
EUROPEAN UNION PRIZE FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE/

EUROPA NOSTRA AWARDS 2015

The European Union Prize for Cultural
Heritage was launched in 2002 by
the European Commission as part of
the implementation of the Culture
Programme. Europa Nostra, the Voice of
Cultural Heritage in Europe, was selected 3. Dedicated Service by Individuals or
to run this Awards Scheme on the
basis of its long experience in publicly
recognising individual or joint excellence Raising
in the field of Cultural Heritage at a
European level.
The European Union Prize for Cultural
Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards is
granted annually to identify and promote and social value, setting, authenticity
best practices in the conservation of
tangible cultural heritage, to stimulate
the trans-frontier exchanges of
knowledge and experience throughout
Europe, to enhance public awareness
and appreciation of Europe’s cultural
heritage, and to encourage further
exemplary initiatives through the Power Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards
of Example.
Outstanding heritage achievements will
be awarded in the following categories:
1. Conservation
2. Research and Digitalisation
Organisations
4. Education, Training and Awareness-
Criteria for the assessment of entries
include excellence in the work executed
and preliminary research conducted,
as well as respect for artistic, cultural
and integrity. Entries can be on a
scale ranging from small to large,
local to international, and should
display a standard of work considered
outstanding in a European context.
The European Union Prize for Cultural
CLOSING DATE : 15 OCTOBER 2014
The ceremony will take place on 11 June 2015 at the Town
consists of two award levels. Up to Hall of Oslo, Norway
seven entries will be awarded a Grand For further information:
Prix, which includes a monetary award EUROPA NOSTRA, Elena Bianchi: Heritage Awards Coordinator
of € 10 000. Up to twenty-five entries T + 31 70 302 40 58 eb@europanostra.org
will receive an Award. Download an entry form: www.europanostra.org
* DISCLAIMER: Subject to the positive decision by the European Commission after
the completion of the current selection process for the partner organisation responsible
for the running of the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage in the next 7 years period 2015-2021.

Published by EUROPA NOSTRA
The Voice of Cultural Heritage
in Europe
European Cultural Heritage
Review (May 2014)
ISSN:1871-417X
President
Plácido Domingo
Executive President
Denis de Kergorlay
Secretary-General
Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović
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EUROPEAN HERITAGE CONGRESS
VIENNA, 2-6 MAY 2014
Under the Patronage of H.E. Dr. Heinz Fischer,
the Federal President of the Republic of Austria
W it h t h e K i n d C o o p e rat i o n a n d S u p p o r t o f :

C o n g re ss C o - O rga n i s e r s :

C o n g re ss S u p p o r t e r s :

C o n g re ss A ss o c i at e s :

W it h S p e c i a l T h a n k s t o :

M e d i a Pa r t n e r : Official Carriers:
 EUROPA NOSTRA ANNUAL CONGRESS 2014
VIENNA, AUSTRIA, 2 – 6 MAY 2014
Under the Patronage of H.E. Dr. Heinz Fischer,

the Federal President of the Republic of Austria

COMMITTEE OF HONOUR

H.E. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna

Werner Faymann, Federal Chancellor of Austria
José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission
Mag. Othmar Karas, M.B.L.-HSG, Vice-President of the European Parliament
Dr. Josef Ostermayer, Federal Minister of Art, Culture, Constitution and Public Affairs
Mag. Sebastian Kurz, Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs and Integration
Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth
Dr. Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for Regional Policy
Dr. Hannes Swoboda, President of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European
Parliament
Chryssoula Aliferi, Designated Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic in Austria,
representing the Greek Presidency of the Council of the EU
Dr. Michael Häupl, Mayor and Governor of Vienna
Dr. Erwin Pröll, Governor of Lower Austria
Mag. Wilhelm Molterer, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank
Karel Schwarzenberg, Member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ewald Nowotny, Governor of the Austrian Central Bank
Dr. Franz Fischler, President of the European Forum Alpbach
Dr. Erhard Busek, Chairman of the Institute for Danube Region and Central Europe
Mag. Richard Kühnel, Head of the European Commission Representation in Vienna
Dr. Barbara Neubauer, President of the Bundesdenkmalamt
Karl Habsburg-Lothringen, President of the Association of National Committees of the Blue Shield
Doraja Eberle, Chairwoman of the Board of the ERSTE Foundation
Martin Böhm, Managing Partner of Dorotheum
Alexander Kottulinsky, President of the Austrian Castles Association
Elisabeth Gürtler, Managing Director of the Spanish Riding School
Maestro Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor
Sunnyi Melles, Theatre and film actress
Dr. Georg Springer, Chief Executive Officer of the Bundestheater Holding
Dr. Thomas Angyan, Intendant of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien
Dominique Meyer, Intendant of the Vienna State Opera
Welcome from the President
03

It is such a pleasure to welcome you to Austria and especially to

Vienna, one of my favourite cities in the world. How can I capture
this unique city in just a few words? How can I do justice - in just
few lines - to this ancient capital which has brought me decades of
joy and inspiration? This city of Mozart, of Strauss, of Schubert,
Beethoven, Haydn, Schönberg and of so many other musicians and
artists so close to my soul and my heart, breathes culture and art.
Its heritage is my oxygen, its music my language. Ever since 1967,
when I made my debut in Vienna, this has become one of my home
cities: I performed here 240 times as a singer and 44 times as a
conductor! I sang in all possible concert places, from the Staatsoper,
the Volksoper, the Theater an der Wien to the Musikverein and the
Konzerthaus, as well as in the open air in front of the Rathaus and in
Schönbrunn, at the Hofburg, in the Messepalast, the Austria Center,
the Stadthalle and even the Ernst Happel Stadion... Salzburg with its
world famous Festival is, of course, another favourite place of mine
in Austria. Both in Vienna and in Salzburg I have so many great
memories, so many unforgettable experiences for which I am deeply
grateful.
The choice of Vienna for this year’s annual congress, as well as the ceremony for the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra
Awards, is therefore full of meaning for me personally and also for Europa Nostra. This amazing city, proudly located in the heart
of Europe, shows us where cultural heritage belongs in the European project: in its very centre. In all our cities and towns, our
countryside, everywhere, cultural heritage offers opportunities for our society and for our economy that will help to keep Europe
together and to make Europe flourish against all odds.
The President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso has demonstrated courage and determination by putting culture
and cultural heritage on the top of the European Agenda with his recent initiative A New Narrative for Europe, in which Europa
Nostra actively participates. You will learn more about it in this magazine from the President himself in conversation with our
Secretary General. Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou from Cyprus – who has been a true friend of Europe’s cultural heritage and a
true ally of Europa Nostra – shares with us her convictions and commitments for culture in Europe. Commissioner Johannes Hahn
from Austria also offers to our readers his vision on sustainable regional development with cultural heritage as its key resource.
A century after the outbreak of World War I, we realize that Europe’s often troubled past offers important lessons and urges us to
work every day for a better present and future, based on dialogue instead of conflict, sharing instead of dividing, building instead of
destroying. Our cultural heritage is at the heart of this complicated but essential dialogue with our history. However, our heritage is
not just our past, it is the key to Europe’s future. It is indeed at the heart of the New Narrative for Europe initiative and at the heart of
Europa Nostra’s values and ideals.
In this Austria Special of our magazine, you will (re)discover many gems of Europe’s heritage treasury; from family castles to
stunningly beautiful lakes, from green alpine meadows to snow topped mountains. Wonderful places that will capture your heart and
challenge your mind. You will also meet inspiring champions of Europe’s heritage; from the Monuments Men who saved Europe’s art
from the Nazis to Josef Schöffel who saved the Vienna Woods, from artists who created their own magical world to composers who
left their mark on so many generations of Europeans and also on people coming from other parts of the world. I hope that the many
interesting stories and interviews published in this Austria Special will delight, surprise and inspire you. We are very grateful to the
European Commission representation in Austria for financially supporting the printing of this issue of our magazine.
Monuments and sites, like music and art, are rooted in local circumstances and local history. The ‘sound of place’ can be heard in its
music and the ‘spirit of place’ can be felt in its art and architecture. But our heritage is also inspired by cultural influences from other,
more distant communities and territories. It is our shared heritage, our shared story, our shared narrative for Europe.
Vienna is one of those magical places where one can feel so strongly that we belong to a European community, to a European family
and that we are all part of this on-going European story. Welcome to Vienna, welcome to Austria, welcome to Europe!

Plácido Domingo, President of Europa Nostra

CONTENTS
08 “In the harmony of many lies the strength”

HERITAGE
LIVING
The life and legacy of Archduke John of Austria

IN DANGER
16 Sidetracked

HERITAGE
Austria’s favourite railway
under threat

HERITAGE
24 Five Star Heritage

LIVING
Discovering the Sacher,
Austria’s most famous hotel

MENTION
28 Capital

SPECIAL
Elegance
The restoration of the City Palace of
the Liechtenstein family

44 Klimt’s Studio

DREAMS
CITY
COUNTRY
DREAMS
48 Legendary Beauty.
Along the Traun river with
poet Richard Monckton
Milnes

52 The Sweetest Heritage

CULINARY

66 Among the other Viennese

A short story by Claudio
SHORT
STORY

Magris
 106 Treasure Trove:

TREASURE
Kunstkammer Vienna

126 Europe is a State of Mind

PARTNER
Interview with José Manuel Barroso

132 Exclusive interview with European

PARTNER
Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou

136 A Bright Future for the

PARTNER
Past:
Austrian Castle Association

140 Exclusive interview with European

PARTNER

Commissioner Johannes Hahn

The Nature of Things: The Wonderful
World of Hundertwasser / 12
The Home of Id and Oedipus / 20
Treasure Hunt The real story of George
Clooney’s Monuments Men / 32
The Art of MQ / 36
Along the Danube River / 40
Saving the Vienna Woods / 56
Then & Now / 60
Panorama Austria / 72
Still Smoking Hot... The tobacco
factory in Linz / 76
Strong Coffee / 80
Klosterneuburg / 84
Favourite Things The story behind
the Sound of Music / 86
Dorotheum Auction house / 90
A House for All Seasons: Ernst
Fuchs Museum / 94
“I wander lonely in this world”
The world of Empress Sisi / 98
The Slalom of Alpine Conservation / 102
Natural Partners: Thayatal / 110
Peace of Mind: Bertha von Suttner / 114
Rest in Peace / 118
The ideals of ERSTE Foundation / 122
Saving the Jewel of the Taferlberg / 130
The 7 Most Endangered 2014 / 144
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08 It is difficult to find
LIVING HERITAGE

someone more fascinated

by the world around him
than Archduke John of
Austria (1782 – 1859). He is
the personification of the
power of example and his
legacy can still be found
everywhere in Austria,
not only through the
people who are directly
descended from him, but
also through the many
institutions, businesses,
collections and museums
he left behind.

Archduke John 1849 © Fritz und

Julie Vogel, Frankfurt am Main

“In the harmony of

many lies the strength”

The Legacy of
Archduke John
Insurance
company
entrance of Austria

To follow in the footsteps of this
extraordinary man we follow those
of one of his great-grandchildren,
Count Franz Harnoncourt-
Unverzagt (b.1937). Like his older
brother, conductor Nikolaus
Harnoncourt, Franz Harnoncourt
is a direct descendant of Archduke
John, the 13th child of the Emperor
Leopold II and brother of Holy
Roman Emperor Franz I.
Harnoncourt - a lawyer and
former President of the Board of
Grazer Wechselseitige Insurance
in Graz, a company which was
started by the Archduke in 1828 -
is very proud of his ancestor. His
insurance company celebrates a
history of 180 years and is active in
13 countries. It is certainly not the
only successful undertaking of the
multidisciplinary John of Austria
to have survived to the present
day.
After a military career, John
developed a great interest
for nature, technology and
agriculture. He collected minerals,
was interested in agriculture
and botany and was an avid
alpinist and hunter. He founded
the Joanneum Museum in 1811
as well as the predecessor of
Graz University of Technology.
He started the Styrian State
Archive, the Styrian Society for
Agriculture and educational
institutions such as the Berg- und
Hüttenmännische Lehranstalt
09
and the Landesoberrealschule. He Stainz castle
courtyard
strongly believed that important
things could be accomplished Entrance
Joanneum
if people just work together in
Museum
harmony for the greater good.
“In the harmony of many lies
the strength, which results in
good. It is the task of every one to
contribute to it,” he is quoted as
saying in 1846. The city of Graz
with its beautifully restored centre
is very much still his city. But also,
outside Graz, we can still see the
result of his vision. His routing
for instance of the Austrian
Southern Railway from Vienna
to Trieste over the Semmering is
still celebrated today through its
inclusion in the UNESCO World
Heritage List (see also elsewhere
in this magazine). John may have
been a traditionalist who had a
fondness for history, but his open
character and great curiosity
made him a sort of naturally born
liberal. He found himself often in
conflict with the Habsburg court,
especially after he had fallen in
love and, in 1829, married, Anna
Maria Plochl - she was considered
below his rank.
10 we find the personal papers of
LIVING HERITAGE

Archduke John and other family

members. Harnoncourt’s own
papers are part of this collection.
His ancestor’s letters are written
in a neat hand and reveal his
interest in machinery and
technology.

Detail Archduke John’s handwriting

The Universalmuseum Joanneum

in the centre of Graz is a museum
for everybody. To enter the
Archduke’s large collection we
take an escalator down below the
central square, an example of
architecture which is in harmony
with its historic surroundings.
In the large stately rooms and
the display cases filled with the
wonders of the world, you can still
feel the spirit of the man with the
thousand hobbies.

Harnoncourt’s mother is Ladislaja,

Franz Franz Harnoncourt-Unverzagt,
Harnoncourt
in front of his dressed in his dark green Austrian
ancestor loden jacket and his traditional
felt hat with several hunting
badges decorating the back, takes
us to the archive located in the
Karmeliterplatz in the centre of
Graz. His tracht is something that
John would have approved of. He
himself was famous for wearing
the traditional Styrian clothes. In
the beautifully restored archive
Countess of Meran and his direct
relatives are still living in Schloss
Stainz, not far from Graz. The
former Baroque monastery was
purchased by Archduke John in
1840. He was an experienced and
enthusiastic hunter - another
trait he shares with many of his
descendants - and spent 40,000

guilders on the castle to use it as
a hunting lodge. Stainz castle has
stayed in the family ever since
his death in 1859 and the present
Count of Meran still lives there.
Harnoncourt still remembers
vividly playing as a child on the
grounds of this imposing castle
in the middle of the sleepy village
of Stainz where John was once
mayor. It is a magnificently located
fortress which still has the feel of
a monastery. The rich and ornate
16th century Baroque church with
extensive stucco decoration is still
in use today. The large reception
rooms of the castle are now the
home of two of the Archduke’s
historical collections; 2006 saw
Hunting Museum
11
Stainz castle
exterior
the opening of the Styrian Hunting
Museum, in which contemporary
technology is combined with
historic equipment, weapons and
animals to explore the historical,
sociological and anthropological
history of hunting. It was
followed in 2009 by the Museum
of Agriculture and Forestry
displaying collections of rural
Styrian folk culture.
As Harnoncourt looks out over the
wineries which cover the hill of
the Stainz Castle, his eyes suggest
a slight feeling of nostalgia. In
this late afternoon sun you can
easily see the resemblance to his
ancestor, that great legendary
moderniser who became an
example of Austrian’s strength
of community and a symbol for
Austrian’s cultural heritage.
12
OPINION

The Nature of Things:

The Wonderful
World of
Hundertwasser

Hundertwasserhaus
in Vienna
 Kuchlbauer 13
tower in
Abensberg

Hundertwasser
in 1998

At the end of a typical Vienna street, lined with grey

19th century houses, we encounter what at first sight
seems a colourful do-it-yourself experiment that has
gone nuclear, as if the builders of new council flats had
suddenly started to imitate Antoni Gaudi - a notion
far less removed from the truth than we may think.
These buildings dating back to the 1980s are the result
of the difficult cooperation between Friedensreich
Hundertwasser (1928-2000) and Vienna’s city council
architect Josef Krawina.
The apartment complex is as the visitors. Normally this part of on developed an anti-totalitarian
overwhelming as it is controversial. Vienna is an oasis of peace and quiet sensitivity which would become the
Chinese tourists have their on a rainy Sunday morning, but here emotional centre of his artistry. He
pictures taken by tourists from in front of the Hundertwasserhaus loved spirals and natural forms and
Brazil and vice versa. It looks nine o’clock is already rush hour. abhorred straight lines which he
like a spontaneous international described as ‘the devil’s tools.’ His
gathering in a Viennese suburb. Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt work combines bright colours with
There is a lot of enthusiasm Hundertwasser (1928-2000) organic forms and an enthusiastic
and laughter. It is clear that the was born Friedrich Stowasser in use of tiles. He even changed his
assembly of colourful buildings are Vienna. As result of his experiences name to an eco-friendly and peace-
striking an emotional chord with during the Nazi regime, he early loving version; Peace-rich Rainy
14
OPINION
Saw mill in Day Darkly Colourful Hundred
Lower Austria
Water. It is easy to see the influence
of the Vienna Secession, Egon
Schiele and Gustav Klimt in his
work. Hundertwasser focusses more
on the response of the viewer than
on the artist making a statement,
in a sense it is a form of altruistic
architecture.
Hundertwasser’s commercial
success came in the 1950s with an
exhibition of his brightly coloured
paintings in Vienna. He slowly
became much more than just
an artist and his work became a
reflection of his life, his ideas, his
ideals. He was an activist and an
environmentalist who campaigned
against nuclear power and to protect
the oceans and the rain forests. He
was also a designer of flags, stamps,
coins, posters and even clothing, but
it was his architecture that would
eventually make him world famous.
The Hundertwasserhaus apartment
building is a colouring book of stone
and tiles, with grass on the roofs,
trees growing out of the walls and
uneven floors to create ‘a melody
to the feet.’ Hundertwasser did
not ask for money as he believed
that preventing another ugly
building being constructed was a
good enough investment. He saw
himself as an ‘architecture doctor’
and the ‘doctor’ was very clear
about what he thought was the best
medicine. He strongly believed
that the rational modernist ideas
in the tradition of famous Austrian
architect Alfred Loos (1870 - 1933)
lead to an ‘imprisoned, enslaved,
standardised man’ and demanded
creative and individual forms of
architecture. Human misery was
partially the result of sterile and
monotonous architecture and he
called for a complete boycott of this
style of building.
The city of Vienna decided to take
up the challenge and invited him
to create an apartment building.
Because Hundertwasser was more
an artist than an architect the City
of Vienna partnered him with Josef
Krawina to translate his conceptual
drawings into practical building
manuals. And, as success has many
fathers and failure is an orphan,
the international sensation the
building stirred up also stirred up
a legal problem about the precise
ownership of the design. In the end
it was decided that Hundertwasser
was the spiritual creator of the
Hundertwasserhaus and Krawina
was a co-creator of equal standing
and the royalties should be split in
half.
But despite the usual practical
and legal problems that are
unavoidable in any architectural
project Hundertwasser managed to
create and inspire some remarkable
buildings. They somehow manage
to bring a smile to the face of most
vistors and tourists, from the saw
mill in the Waldviertel in Lower
Austria to the Markthalle in Thal
in Switzerland, the Green Citadel
of Magdeburg or the Kuchlbauer
Tower in Abensberg in Germany
(both completed after his death). In
the 1970s Hundertwasser acquired a
large property in the Bay of Islands
in New Zealand where he worked on
realising his ideal of a completely
sustainable life with roofs of grass
and solar panels in harmony with
the abundant natural surroundings.
Hundertwasser died aboard the
Queen Elizabeth 2 aged 71 and was
buried in his adopted country of
New Zealand.
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www.myra.com.tr
16
Semmering Kalte
HERITAGE IN DANGER

Rinne Viaduct,
photo by Christian
Schuhböck

Sidetracked
UNESCO Semmering Railway under Threat

The great age of the railways
saw the construction of tens of
thousands of kilometres of track
which - like capillaries of iron -
brought the necessary oxygen to
the industrial revolution. Hitherto
unaccessible parts of Europe were
suddenly unlocked for trade and
industry, for new ideas and new
business. We could now travel in
style from Paris to Istanbul, from
Moscow to London, from Rome to
Berlin. The different peoples and
cultures of Europe were starting to
connect for the first time.
One of the greatest feats of railway
engineering and pioneering can
be found in the mountains of
Austria. The Semmering Railway
slithers like a large mechanical
snake through a stunning cultural
landscape, roughly between
Vienna and Graz in Lower
Austria. Built between 1848 and
1854 it is a Gesamtkunstwerk
of harmony between nature,
culture and technology. The
Semmering Railway represents an
outstanding technological solution
to the physical problems in the
construction of early railways
resulting in a cultural landscape of
the highest quality. No wonder this
attractive industrial and natural
heritage was an early contestant
to be included in the UNESCO
World Heritage list. Austria was
relatively late in signing the UN
treaty as politicians feared that
signing could hinder powerplant
development. Only after political
pressure from the organization
for landscape protection Alliance
for Nature, Austria finally signed
in 1993, more than twenty years
after the General Conference
of UNESCO adopted the World
Heritage Convention.
Immediately Alliance for Nature
suggested the Semmering Railway,
17
threatened by the Semmering
base tunnel, as a potential World
Heritage site. The submission
took UNESCO in Paris completely
by surprise. So far only historical
monuments and city ensembles
were considered to be eligible.
Finally in 1998, Semmering Semmering
Krausel-Klause
became the first railway to be Viaduct
included in the World Heritage
list, with an area of about 8,800
ha, including the mountain
railway itself and the surrounding
cultural landscape.
The 41 kilometres of rail track,
with high standards in both
tunnels and viaducts, have
ensured the continuous use of the
line up to the present day. The
spectacular mountain landscape
dotted with historic villages,
rivers and stunning natural sights
is a major tourist destination.
A perfect example of heritage
preservation for the rest of Europe
and the world, one would think.
But for some years now tricks
have been used, on several levels,
to build a new double-tube tunnel
18
HERITAGE IN DANGER
Semmering rail with a length of 28 km between
road landscape
Gloggnitz (Lower Austria) and
Mürzzuschlag (Styria), well within
the protected UNESCO World
Heritage site.
UNESCO had included the
Semmering Railway on the
basis that the rail track and its
surrounding cultural landscape
were equally important and
equally valuable. It was the
unique combination of the two
that made the Semmering Railway
stand out as World Heritage. But
politicians and officials are now
proposing a bit-by-bit dismantling
of the Semmering Railway.
Not by confrontation but by
shrewd manoeuvring the door is
slowly pried open to build a new
Semmering base tunnel (SBTn)
which will result in large-scale
interventions within the protected
area. The cultural landscape
has already been reduced to
approximately one third of its
original size through a step-by-
step approach. Some officials are
of the opinion that only the 156 ha
of the core zone of the Semmering
Railway is World Heritage.
The cultural landscape of great
natural beauty of more than
8,500 ha, once at the very heart
of the UNESCO World Heritage
submission, is now slowly
degraded to a so-called buffer
zone. ICOMOS (International
Council on Monuments and Sites),
which had evaluated the site for
UNESCO, had stated that the
railway as well as its surrounding
landscape fulfilled the criteria
of outstanding universal value
– on an equal ranking. But now
Austrian politicians, including
representatives of the Federal
Ministry of Education, Arts and
Culture, are quoted in leading
newspapers as claiming that
“the landscape has never been
part of the World Heritage.” The
156 ha constitutes a reduction of
the original area by 98%. Other
sites across the globe which have
reduced the protected area to that
extent have been deleted from
the World Heritage List. If the
Republic of Austria continues with
the dismantling of the Semmering
Railway UNESCO World Heritage
site it will - according to par.165 of
the UNESCO Guidelines - have to
prepare a new submission based
on the 156 ha. This nomination
would not stand much chance of
being viewed in a positive light.
If the plans to replace the historic
Semmering Railway with a new
tunnel succeed, it could lead to the
shutting-down and potential decay
of this important mountain and
landscape railway. A masterpiece
of human creative genius may be
lost forever.
Much of the factual information
in this article was based on a
court expert statement on the
Semmering Railway by Christian
Schuhböck. In 2002 HRH the
Prince Consort of Denmark,
then President of Europa Nostra,
decorated Schuhböck with the
Europa Nostra Medal for his
work as Secretary-General of
the Austrian Alliance for Nature
organisation. Christian Schuhböck
is a landscape ecologist and
laureate of the Austrian state
prize for environment protection
and the author of many books,
including one on Semmering
Railroad.

COOPERATION
BUNDESDENKMALAMT,
WIKIMEDIA ÖSTERREICH
AND WIKIPEDIA
The online encyclopedia Wikipedia spreads knowledge and
sees itself as a global education project without commercial
interests. It gathers knowledge and preserves it in digitalized form.
Digitalization projects should create open access to our cultural
heritage. But what exactly is meant by open access, and what form
might it take?
The Bundesdenkmalamt (BDA, Federal Office for the Protection
of Monuments) and Wikimedia Austria have responded to
these questions with free licenses for digital data, images, and
documents.The contents can be used by anybody, but also modified
or incorporated into other platforms. These subsequent users are
obliged to refer to the source and license of any document they use.
Readers or viewers are thus able to establish the original source.
Stainz castle
exterior
Wiki Loves Monuments
A strong collaboration has emerged between the BDA and the
authors of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. The Austrian
Wikipedia community has set itself the task of providing photos
and geodata for objects on the BDA’s monument list; no small
task when faced with 37,208 protected monuments. Within the
framework of our co-operation a special Austrian category
has been created within Wiki Loves Monuments, the world’s
largest photo competition. This forms part of Heritage Day,
offering generous prizes that are handed out in a ceremony every
November at the Hofburg in Vienna. The result is thousands
of high-quality photos of cultural monuments, which not only
illustrate the relevant Wikipedia article but are also available to
everybody under free license.
Digitalization of historical literature
With the help of two large-format scanners sponsored by
Wikimedia, work has also begun on a pilot project to digitalize the
nineteenth-century holdings of the BDA library. The material will
then be made freely available via the media archive Wikimedia
Commons.
 The Home
20
TREASURE

of Id and
Oedipus

Entrance to the
museum

The Freud Museum not only tells
the history of the ideas and research
of Sigmund Schlomo Freud (1856-
1939) but has also recreated the
atmosphere of Freud’s house as it
was in 1938 when he left Vienna for
London. The Berggasse was Freud’s
home for more than 45 years and
his spirit has somehow never left
the premises. His hat and cane,
his furniture and the typewriter
he used for The Interpretation of
Dreams are still here. His famous
couch is in London.
The Sigmund Freud Foundation,
responsible for Freud’s legacy
in Vienna, has added hundreds
of square feet to the original
apartment over the years. Freud’s
reception rooms are relatively
small and sober. A collection of
ancient artefacts are displayed
next to a large, tiled heater in
the same way as can be seen on
old photographs. This is in a
very real sense the place where
psychoanalysis was born. Since
1902 a small group of followers
have come together here every
Wednesday to discuss psychology
and Freud’s theories. From humble
beginnings his ideas started to
get noticed in universities and
scientific societies across the
21
Ornamental
staircase
Entering Berggasse 19
you can easily imagine
the anxiety the patients
and even some colleagues
must have felt, walking up
the ornamental staircase
to the stern-looking door
inscribed with the name
Docent Dr. Sigm.Freud.
globe. And progress was quick.
Within ten years psychoanalysis
had taken the world by storm.
As the movement conquered
the world, Freud was lauded
as a prophet leading the way
into mankind’s inner workings.
Journals and magazines filled
with Freud’s research and case
studies flourished. His books were
translated into many languages.
By 1911 Freud had travelled to the
USA, where his theories proved a
perfect fit for an American society
coming to terms with the nation’s
new identity as a world power. It is
hard to imagine American popular
culture without psychoanalysis as
one of its historical anchor points.
But slowly cracks started to
appear on the harmonious surface
of the organization. Members
of the original group and early
enthusiasts like Alfred Adler
and famously Carl Jung started
their own schools of thought and
Freud had to put a lot of effort
into the theoretical coherence of
the psychoanalytic movement.
By 1920 the single river Freud
had set out on had changed into
a wide delta of opinions and
interpretations.
22
TREASURE
Door to
apartment of Dr.
Freud
Ancient
artefacts
When the Nazis took over
Germany and later Austria, Freud
was late in realising the danger
he and his family were in. But in
the end he was persuaded by his
friends to leave. His four elder
sisters did not survive the war but
Freud would not be a witness of
the horrors of World War II, the
darkest side of the human soul
that he undoubtedly could have
shed some light on.
London would not be his home
for long. Now in his eighties and
admired by the world as a pioneer
of the human subconscious, he
received the likes of Salvador Dalí,
H.G. Wells and Virginia Woolf
until an illness related to a lifetime
of smoking finally caught up with
him. He continued to see patients
until the very end.
Over the last hundred years Freud’s
ideas have been continuously
questioned and reinterpreted.
Especially in recent years, the
scientific basis of his methods have
come under extreme scrutiny.
Freud and his ideas are
nonetheless a lasting legacy
of the 20th century, a cultural
heritage treasure of the human
mind that, imagined or not, had a
real impact on society and on our
ideas about our most inner and
private thoughts. Freud’s scientific
credentials may have taken a
beating, but his Vienna home
and museum are a permanent
reminder that his cultural
importance and significance is
beyond doubt.
ERSTE Foundation
In 2003, ERSTE Foundation evolved out of
the Erste Oesterreichische Spar-Casse, the
first Austrian savings bank. Currently, ERSTE
Foundation is the main shareholder of Erste
Group. The foundation invests part of its
dividends in the development of societies in
Austria and Central and South Eastern Europe.
Advertisement
It supports social participation and civil-society
engagement; it aims to bring people together

ERSTE
and disseminate knowledge of the recent history
of a region that has been undergoing dramatic
changes since 1989. As an active foundation, it
STIFTUNG
develops its own projects within the framework
of three programmes: Social Development,
Culture and Europe.

What would you Social Development, www.erstestiftung.org

change? Culture, Europe.
24
LIVING HERITAGE

Five Star Heritage

The Magic of the Sacher

Elisabeth Gürtler-Mauthner gracefully sits down on
the elegant furniture of the Hotel Sacher, Vienna’s
legendary five star hotel. A guest from New York
immediately recognises the impeccably dressed
manager and extensively thanks her for hospitality.
It is a telling moment in the personal relationship
between the capital’s famous heritage hotel and its
demanding clients. Gürtler-Mauthner acknowledges
Elisabeth this special bond. She has been running the Sacher for
Gürtler-
Mauthner almost 25 years.

“My guests expect me to come
and say hello and goodbye. If you
are ambitious, and I am, it’s 12
months a year, 24 hours a day. It is
very tiring, but you have to know
what is going on, you have to be
personally involved.” She shows
remarkable commitment for
someone who never planned to run
the hotel.
The Sacher was started in 1876
by Eduard Sacher, the son of
Franz Sacher, the inventor of the
famous Sachertorte, and later run
by his widow Anna who made it
into one of the finest hotels in the
world. It was so exclusive that
only aristocrats could stay here.
Not the best of business decisions
maybe, and in 1934 the hotel was
taken over by the Gürtler family.
Tragedy struck when Peter Gürtler
took his own life in 1990 and left
his two children, Alexandra and
Georg Gürtler, then too young to
take over the business.
Elisabeth Gürtler: “I had been
divorced for seven years (from
Peter Gürtler). I had my own
life. I was happily working at my
father’s trading company. You do
 25

Reception

not expect something like this

to happen. My children were too
young and not capable so I had
to step in. It was my children’s
property. I worked, and still work,
for them.”

But taking over the Sacher was

not an easy job. “To start with, I
used to work until two o’clock in
my father’s business and then go
to the Sacher. But nothing was
changing. The hotel was behind
with the times. The more you
start to interfere, the more you get
into it and all of a sudden I found
myself here all the time. My sister to stay the night there. It is be much bigger nowadays, so you Lobby
took over my old job.” comfortable to stay as you are, but have to move walls and enlarge
as well as passing on knowledge rooms. You have to keep up with
The Sacher was a heritage treasure and tradition, you have to adapt what newly built hotels have
and a well-established institution. to the needs of today. Hotels were to offer; wireless connections
Gürtler is very resolute about her obviously very different in 1876. obviously but also a mirror which
attitude towards the business. The requirements of luxury hotels doubles as flat-screen TV for
“People love to look at and visit have changed dramatically. The instance. Many of the historic
a museum but they do not want bathrooms for instance have to hotels cannot keep up. To give you
26
LIVING HERITAGE
another example, it is necessary to
keep updating your fire systems,
but you cannot do that when you
have guests. You have to close
and you need to generate a profit
Memorabilia to be able to do that. Many hotels
hallway Hotel
Sacher cannot compete any more.”
Inner courtyard
Not everybody immediately saw
Spanish Riding
School it her way when she started out
as an untested hotel manager.
“They were of course terribly
polite. Madame this and that, but
I did not get real information. I
insisted on having information.
So we created a specialized audit
system which enabled me to
see the profit and loss of each
individual department. They used
to say ‘We are the Sacher. We do not
need a sales department’ but you
cannot wait for the phone to ring.
Our guests were getting older and
older. There was a lot of opposition
in 1990s, the old management was
against all modernisation saying
things such as ‘We do not need a
minibar in the rooms, you can ring
a bell and someone will come and
provide you with what you want.’
Well, it doesn’t work that way
anymore. There were no girls in
the restaurant and this was 1990!
We had to change.”
And they did. The Sacher has
been on top of the game for many
years now. Gürtler understands
that a five star hotel with an
international reputation, a
favourite of the rich and famous,
cannot leave anything to chance.
“A leading hotel can not be below
standard. We have secret checks
executed on a regular basis. The
bar is set higher and higher and
you have to stay alert. When
I check the rooms and I find
something which is not perfect, I’ll
clean or fix it myself. You have to
do it immediately, you cannot wait
for someone else to do it for you.”
The people working at the Sacher
are loyal and dedicated. “Either
you leave after a few months or
you become part of the family
and stay for 20-30 years. You gain
experience, education and training
you cannot get anywhere else.”
She took the same hands-on
approach when considering the
new Hotel Sacher in Salzburg
and the famous Spanish Riding
School which she also manages.
She says with a smile: “It was an
absolute shock for them to have
a woman in charge. The Riding
School is a place full of traditions,
but not everything can stay the
way it is forever. Can you afford
not to change? Who will pay the
bill? Sorry, but it does not work!
Imagine, no girls were allowed in
the Spanish Riding School in the
1990s. ‘Why do we need all these
silly girls, we did without them
for centuries,’ they said. Well,
it changed. A new generation is
coming now. It is a wonderful
location for business events.”
Elisabeth Gürtler’s dedication to
the Sacher Hotels and the Riding
School are legendary in Vienna
society. But when I ask her about
the future, she hesitates for a
moment, the weight of the five
star hotel business for one brief
moment seems to rest heavily
on her shoulders: “My children
should be taking over already. It
would be very stupid of them not
to do it. I have decided to retire and
I am waiting for their decision. I
think the time is right.”
With the long standing tradition
and the excellent example
their mother has set, the next
generation will have every chance
to guarantee a solid and fortunate
future for the legendary Hotel
Sacher.
 New York. New York.
Ob West oder East Side, fliegen Sie mit Austrian Airlines ab Juli
2 x täglich in den Big Apple, erstmals auch nach Newark.

NEU ab Juli
Newark
Nur 30 Min. na
ch Manhattan

06995T3_aua_NewYork_Event_230x150_iWC.indd 1 12.03.14 16:42

/kattus
28
Capital
SPECIAL MENTION
Elegance
The Restoration
of City Palace
It was no small feat. With over 8,500
m2 floor space to repair and renew, the
restoration of the Liechtenstein City
Palace called for - to quote a few figures
- 682,000 kg reinforced steel, 150,000
sheets of gold leaf and at least 470,000 m
of electric cable. 80% of the lights were
converted to LED lighting to save energy.
The whole building was brought up to
modern standards, while the building’s
historic charm and the beautiful centuries-
old patina were carefully preserved.
HSH Prince Constantin von
und zu Liechtenstein (1972)
received us in his light, shiny
new offices located in the palace
to talk about the details of the
renovation. The white walls are
adorned with a copy of a famous
painting of a little girl sleeping
(depicting one of his ancestors)
- the original can be seen in the
museum gallery of the palace -
and a photograph of Taormina,
Sicily (where he met his wife,
Countess Marie Kálnoky de He is the CEO of the Foundation
Kőröspatak). Prince Liechtenstein and runs the
foundation’s various companies,
Prince Constantin is the 3rd son active in the fields of agriculture,
of Hans Adam II, the Sovereign forestry and energy production
of the House of Liechtenstein. in Austria and elsewhere. The

Foundation manages roughly
19,600 hectares of agricultural
and forestry land, a vineyard and a
variety of real estate properties in
Austria, including Liechtenstein
Castle on the edge of the
Wienerwald. The austere-looking
castle near Maria Enzersdorf
is the origin of the name of the
Liechtenstein family. The official
residence of the family is Vaduz
Castle in Liechtenstein, but the
bonds with Austria are strong.
“As a child I grew up in
Liechtenstein, but we would
spend our holidays in Vienna,
visiting the Prater, the historic
city centre, and the palaces.
Entrance to the 29
City Palace
Castle
There was good mix between Liechtenstein
our life in the city and the
Prince
countryside. Of course as Constantin
teenagers we loved the big city. von und zu
I did my internship in Vienna. Liechtenstein
Here I worked for an private equity
fund. I became actively involved in
the family business. I first worked
on the banking side, but since 2012
I have been responsible for all the
non-banking business, real estate,
agriculture, forestry, wineries.”
The Prince is comfortable in his
role as the family’s real estate and
business manager and, while he
shows us around the magnificent
palace, he talks with enthusiasm
about the challenges and
30
SPECIAL MENTION
Marble painting opportunities of the Liechtenstein
family foundation. The stylish
grandeur of the City Palace is
stunning. Hallways with heavy,
colourful drapes lead from one
ornamental room to the next,
all filled with period furniture
and textile wallpapers, historic
paintings, chandeliers and gilded
ceilings . But all is not what it
seems. The marble decorations
turn out to be delicately painted
wooden panels, probably more
beautiful than real stone could
ever be. In one of the golden rooms
a team is busy getting ready for a
business event. Elegant chairs are
lined up, audio equipment tested
and tables dressed. The massive
chandelier hangs lightly in the
middle of the room as an illusion of
crystalline reflection.
“When we started the restoration,
the largest of the palace’s
chandeliers was missing. We found
bits of it, in an antique dealer’s,
just by accident. We manage to
retrace all the missing pieces and
put it back together again. It has
now been restored to its original
splendour.”
“We started planning the
restoration of the City Palace in
2007 and we finished in 2013. The
state of the palace was worse than
we had originally thought. The
introduction of a steel support
construction, the building of new
foundations, it all took us a little
longer than we had planned and
was more cumbersome than we had
expected. I remember coming here
as a boy at the end of the 1970s. My
grandfather was still here then,
our family apartment was on the
3rd floor. The private rooms were
simple, without much modern
comfort. In the 1980s my father
decided to build a penthouse, but
the family only used a small part
of the palace. The larger part of
the building was rented out to the
Ministry of Education. I remember
the dark and gloomy atmosphere
of typical government offices and
the staff apartments. After the
ministry finally left, the building
needed a large scale renovation to
bring it back to its former glory.”
To give a few examples of the
daunting task: the lime-based
façade paints, similarly to a fresco,
were applied to the still damp lime
plaster; the world-famous Thonet
floors were repaired through
painstaking and detailed work; a
weaving loom capable of weaving
around 20,000 threads was
purchased to replicate individual
wall hangings. The restoration is
a true example of monumental
preservation in the capital city.
“Originally the palace was built
on an empty plot against the city
wall. There used to be a wall right
here protecting the city against the
Ottomans. They threw a lot over
the wall. It was like a dumping
ground, but as a result this central
part of Vienna was not built on.”
The City Palace is considered to be
Vienna’s first Baroque building.
Eight years after the second siege
of Vienna by the Ottomans, when
the destruction of the city’s centre
was still clearly visible, Count
Dominik Andreas Kaunitz, the
State Chancellor and a patron
of the arts, began work on the
construction of the palace. In 1694
and still in the construction phase,
Prince Johann Adam Andreas I
of Liechtenstein purchased the
building and had it completed as a

city palace by the Roman architect
Domenico Martinelli, with work
by the stucco artist Santino
Bussi, the sculptor Giovanni
Giuliani and the painters Andrea
Lanzani and Antonio Bellucci.
On the Bankgasse side of the
building Martinelli created the
first monumental Baroque portal
in Vienna. Prince Johann Adam
Andreas I had bought and built the
palace as a family residence and so
it continued for many centuries.
In 1945, in the final days of the
war, the palace suffered a direct
hit by bombs and an airplane
crashed into the roof. Temporary
work was carried out to repair
the worst damage, mainly aimed
at creating offices which could
be rented out. A full restoration
was never carried out due to
economic pressures. But now the
Liechtenstein City Palace has once
more returned to its glory days.
Prince Constantin:“In everything
we do we try to take a long
term view. We want to keep our
businesses sustainable and for that
we need a good balance between
business and environmental
concerns. We have hundreds of
years of history and we try to
strike the right balance between
keeping the business profitable
and holding on to our cultural
heritage, to find a synergy
between our financial services,
our strong company brand and
tradition, while at the same time
differentiating our markets and
branching out into new territories.
Beside the City Palace we also have
the Garden Palace. The Garden
Palace (which was also completely
restored ed.) was not designed as
a family home. There are no living
quarters, no private apartments.
It was and still is mostly a
representative space. It used to be
31
Main room
getting ready for
an event
Wooden floors
after restoration
Wooden
floors before
restoration
open to the public, but now, just
as the City Palace, we open
it for special occasions and private
tours. We host a large number
of public and private functions
and rent the Palace out for
corporate and private events.
We obviously want to make
money, but it has to be done in a
sustainable way, keeping, again,
the right balance. The security
costs, the air-conditioning, the
upkeep all has to be taken into
account. Last year the Garden
Palace had 160 events and,
since we re-opened after the
restoration, the City Palace has
hosted 240 events already, and
counting!”
The restoration of the
Liechtenstein City Palace received
a Special Mention in the EU Prize
for Cultural heritage / Europa
Nostra Awards 2014
32
FICTION & FACT

Treasure Hunt
The Story of the Monuments Men
Workers and
Monuments wants, and that’s exactly what
Men on the we’re fighting for,” Lt. Frank
bomb crates,
Stokes says in Monuments Men,
photo Robert
Posey Collection the film directed by and starring
George Clooney. It is a film like
Monuments
Men with few others, with a star -studded
Clooney, cast of Hollywood’s finest, loosely
Damon, Murray
retelling the story of one of the
and Goodman
most important art recovery
missions in history.

The Nazis raped Europe’s

“You can wipe out an entire
generation, you can burn their
homes to the ground, and
somehow they’ll still find their
way back. But if you destroy
their history, you destroy their
achievements, then it’s as if they
never existed. That’s what Hitler
museums and art collections,
sometimes for their own private
gain, sometimes in the name of the
Führer, who dreamed of building
a museum of what he considered
to be good art. Across Europe art
objects were stolen to one day fill
the Führer’s Museum and Führer’s
Library in Hitler’s beloved Linz in
Austria.

George Leslie Stout
“To me, mankind, a vast family of
creatures, is growing inevitably
towards a state of civilization.
I believe that in time long past,
there started among us an appetite
for understanding and fairness.
We began to learn mercy, to love
others, to seek truth, to inquire
after knowledge, and to find
contentment in the song of a bird,
or the shape of a hill against the
sky. We began to look for justice in
the government of our affairs, to
tell about the meanings of our life
together, to laugh at our follies. And
we began to make things that would
contain some of the meanings we
found and hold them in words or
paint or stone.”
George Leslie Stout (1897 – 1978),
one of the original Monuments Men
Even before the Americans
entered the war some art
historians and experts began
to worry about how to protect
European art and cultural heritage
from the Nazis. And in 1943
Francis Henry Taylor, director of
the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
convinced President Franklin
Roosevelt to establish a special
programme under the Civil
Affairs and Military Government
Sections of the Allied armies to
help protect cultural property in
Europe’s war zones. The so-called
Monuments Men were originally
a group of over 300 art experts,
artists and architects, men and
women from different countries.
The Monuments, Fine Arts and
Archives Section unit, or MFAA
for short, started a race against the
33
clock and against destruction. In Salt mine
Altaussee with
the last days of the war the Nazis
works of art,
were willing to rather blow up photo Robert
some of their repositories than to Posey Collection
hand them over. The Monuments
Men discovered over a 1,000
treasure troves and managed to
recover an estimated 5 million
cultural items and works of art.
Even years after the end of the war
a small group of 60 still continued
to search and document.
One of the largest repositories
was hidden in a maze of salt mine
shafts near Altaussee in Austria.
The depot contained 6,500 stolen
and looted paintings, as well as
furniture, weapon collections,
books, ancient coins and priceless
statues. Michelangelo’s Madonna
of Bruges, Jan van Eyck’s Ghent
34 Linz today
FICTION & FACT
Altaussee Altarpiece and Vermeer’s The
today, photo by
Svíčková Astronomer and The Art of
Painting were among them. It was
Memorial
against War and an almost unbelievable important
Fascism on the collection and rigged to collapse
Albertinaplatz
at any moment. Some of the
in Vienna.
crates were marked as Attention -
Marble - Do Not Drop, but actually
contained 1,100 pound bombs.
Their role in not only recovering
and returning art to their
rightful owners but also in
rebuilding cultural life in many
of the desperate and devastated
countries of Europe has had a
lasting impact. Or as Clooney says
as Lt. Frank Stokes in the film:
“They tell us, ‘who cares about
art?’ But they’re wrong, it is the
exact reason we are fighting, for
culture, for a way of life.”
The character Clooney plays is
loosely based on George Leslie
Stout (1897 – 1978), an American
art specialist and museum director
and member of the Monuments
Men. He is one of the idealists
who risked their lives for the
greatest treasure hunt in history.
His motivation was clear: “I
have to admit that man’s growth
toward civilization looks slow
and unsteady. At moments, whole
nations seem to fall back, their
people fret for deliverance from
selfish fears. They pay homage
to persons who have snatched
power for themselves, all manner
of tyrants, and people beg them
for comfort and for peace. But
when I look beyond the weak
spots, I can notice those men
who pursue knowledge for the
common benefit, or labor for
sound structures rather than for
gain, or fight and die not for praise
or possessions but for the freedom
of others. These are not strange or
distant to men.”
The Monuments Men and
women had a lasting effect in
the USA too, becoming the
directors and curators of world
renowned museums including the
Metropolitan and the MOMA in
New York to name but a few.
The Monuments Men still
exist today in the form of the
Monuments Men Foundation
for the Preservation of Art. The
Hollywood film is based on a book
by the foundation’s President
Robert M. Edsel, Monuments Men:
Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the
Greatest Treasure Hunt in History.
www.
monumentsmenfoundation.org
www.monumentsmen.com
 L In Syria, the famous minaret of the Great Mosque of Aleppo

UNESCO:
– a UNESCO World Heritage Site – was destroyed by fighting in April 2013
© AP/SIPA

protecting culture under attack

The Djinguereber
Mosque in Mali.
Reconstruction
Destroying culture hurts
has started with
UNESCO’s help
societies for the long term.
© UNESCO
That is why protecting heritage is
a security issue and a vital part
of efforts to build lasting
peace and reconciliation.
Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO

K Palmyra, Syria. UNESCO condemns military presence and

destruction at this, and other, World Heritage Sites. © UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization . www.unesco.org

36
OPINION

With about seventy cultural facilities,

the MuseumsQuartier Wien or MQ, as it
is lovingly known, is one of the largest
art and culture complexes in the world.

Inner courtyard

MQ entrance,
photo by Pfeiffer
The Art
of MQ
Historic buildings from the 18th
and 19th centuries, together
with contemporary and daring
architecture, form a unique
place in the heart of the city, just
off the Ringstrasse. The cafés
and shops turn the urban space
into a living room for culturally
inclined young Austrians as well
as international tourists who
can give their feet a few minutes
rest before exploring yet another
cultural attraction.
MQ has something for everyone:
famous museums like the
Leopold Museum and the MUMOK
(Museum of Modern Art Ludwig
Foundation Vienna) as well as
contemporary exhibition spaces
like the Kunsthalle Wien. Then
there is the Tanzquartier, a state-
of-the-art dance centre, the studios
of artists-in-residence, cultural
facilities geared towards children
and the Architekturzentrum
Wien. And it is difficult to visit
MQ without stumbling into yet
another cultural festival; the
Wiener Festwochen for instance,
an annual summer highlight, or
the Biennale Film Festival; or
ImPulsTanz. There is also plenty
of space for smaller initiatives for
daring new artists and cutting edge
37
performances. MQ is home not
only to visual and performing arts,
but also to architecture, music,
fashion, theater, dance, literature,
street art, gaming, design and
photography.
The history of the
MuseumsQuartier is however not
without its controversies. From its
18th century beginnings as imperial
stables (designed by famous
Baroque architect J.B. Fischer von
Erlach) and use as a fairground
and an exhibition centre, there
were some tough patches in the
road to today’s success.
To many the idea of a
MuseumsQuartier Wien was
just another example of an over-
ambitious city marketing plan;
a large scale urban rejuvenation
38
OPINION
Stables around programme in which a run-down
1720
area in the centre of the city
Mumok would be turned into a cultural
attraction. The dangers of a
Leopold
Museum deep financial pit and numbers
not adding up had been the
downfall of many a municipality
across Europe. And in addition
there was fear of many heritage
organisations - Europa Nostra
among them - that the historical
fabric of the district would be
destroyed. Originally the plan
contained several high rise
buildings and other unacceptable
interventions which would have
had far reaching consequences
for the area. After many
discussions, disagreements and
compromises, the concerns of the
local community were taken into
account. The plans were adapted
and the renovation of the Baroque
period stables finally began in
1998. The historical buildings were
surrounded and integrated into
modern architectural structures
by the architects Laurids and
Manfred Ortner. Three years and a
150 million Euros later the 60,000
m² MuseumsQuartier first opened
its doors for business.
MQ is more than a collection
of indoor city squares. There is
quite a bit of difference in height
between the area and the city
district behind. You can climb up
and walk along the top of MQ as if
you are walking on a castle wall.
With a bit of effort you can enjoy
spectacular views of the city. On a
sunny spring day, away from the
busy city, the inner city squares
of the MQ are a wonderful place
that breathes culture. Check out
Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein
and Pablo Picasso in the MUMOK
with over 7,000 works of art
and then enjoy a long evening in
the multi-level restaurant next
to the Leopold Museum. The
many cultural activities make the
MuseumsQuartier Wien not just
the embodiment of living art but
also of the art of living.
 s i n c e 17 0 7

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40
TREASURE
Along the
Danube River
The Danube River, our most European river lies at the heart of a
navigable route from the North Sea to the Black Sea. Thousands
kilometres of cultural history flow from one country to the next.
Venus of One of the most beautiful
Willendorf
parts, the so-called
Wachau, stretches between
the towns of Melk and
Krems in Austria and
is listed as UNESCO
World Heritage. It is
a marvel of nature
and human history
working together
to create something
truly astounding. It is a
medieval landscape that has
harmoniously evolved over
time into a cultural sensation.
Monasteries, castles and
ancient ruins hide in the green
This text is valleys or high on the imposing
partially based mountaintops like the stone
on the UNESCO
listing of the
nests of giant eagles. Charming
Wachau Cultural towns and villages - always with
Landscape at whc.
a beautiful church on a lively city
unesco.org
square, often with a medieval
fortress and city walls – are
surrounded by vine terraces
which go back millennia.
Krems for instance is a
beautifully restored city
which is on the must-see
list of tourists from
across the world. Its
famous city gate shows
up on photographs from
China to Chili. Another
highlight is the so-called
Gozzoburg, considered
as one of Austria’s most
important medieval buildings.
Named after its first-known
owner, the former town judge
Gozzo who inhabited it in the 13th
century, the Gozzoburg was built
as a stately residence and office.
It was one of the winners of the
EU Prize for Cultural Heritage/
Europa Nostra Awards in 2009.
Most of the houses in Krems date
back to the early middle ages, but,
as elsewhere in Europe, stone
houses replaced the traditional
fire prone wooden peasant and
burgher houses in the 15th and 16th
centuries.
Humans have lived and worked
in the Wachau since Palaeolithic
times. Figurines from Galgenberg
(circa 32.000 years old) and
Willendorf (circa 26.000 years
old) are among the oldest works
of art we Europeans have. From
the so-called Hallstatt culture to
the Celts and the Romans, the
Wachau is at the centre of Central
European history. The name is
first mentioned in 853 as Wahowa.
The city of Krems first appears
in 995, making it the oldest

Austrian town to be mentioned
in a document. The Wachau is
also the setting of the famous
Nibelungenlied, that greatest of
all German epic poems, written
some time after 1200. It depicts
the political situation at that
time and mentions the Wachau
towns of Pöchlarn (Bechelaren),
Melk (Medelike), and Mautern
(Mutoren).
By the 19th century many things
had changed. The Wachau had
repeatedly been the arena for
armed conflicts. Religious changes
and the Counter Reformation
also had a large impact. The river
transport, so important for the
region, had been partially replaced
by road and rail. The ravages
of war, together with growing
competition from other wine
regions and grape diseases made
fruit growing, especially apricots,
more popular. Fruit trees began to
take over part of the valleys and
lower slopes. This mix between
wine and fruit continues up to
this day and is closely linked with
fluctuations in world markets
41
and part of the man-made natural Gozzoburg,
Krems
charm of the region.
Nibelungelied
manuscript
Wachau also increasingly became
a symbol of a form of historic - for
lack of a better word - nostalgia.
The term ‘Golden Wachau’ blends
history and legend, art and
folklore, wine and hospitality. As
early as 1904 an action committee
was set up for the economic
promotion of the Wachau, with
the participation of all the local
communities between Krems and
Melk. Nowadays the Wachau is a
shining example of how to blend
a UNESCO status together with a
large variety of cultural activities
and events, and the promotion
of monuments and sites with a
comprehensive strategy towards
sustainable tourism.
HISTORIC HOTELS OF EUROPE
There are many elements that come together to create an unforgettable hotel experience, from an
idyllic location to award-winning restaurants, but one of the most unique and inspiring aspects of any
property’s makeup is its history.

The Historic Hotels of Europe group (HHE) are committed to promote awareness of close to 500 of
the finest historic hotels across Europe, ranging from romantic castles and grand palaces, to imposing
abbeys and opulent estates.

The HHE works alongside 15 member groups dotted across the continent - including Austria’s own
Schlosshotels & Herrenhäuser (Castle Hotels & Mansions) - and are passionate about honouring
Europe’s cultural heritage through excellence in hospitality.

Take a trip through Austria’s past and celebrate its future by discovering some of its most notable
historic hotels – from a waterside manor fit for a king, to a modernised gem once home to monarchy …

HOTEL ALTSTADT VIENNA HOTEL ALTSTADT VIENNA

HOTEL SCHLOSS LEOPOLDSKRON, SALZBURG

 HOTEL ALTSTADT VIENNA
In a city as picturesque as Vienna, an aristocrat’s renovated townhouse is already alluring.
This boutique hotel has been updated in recent years by the Milan-based architect Matteo
Thun, and has been hailed as a modern classic in the making.

HOTEL LANDHAUS ZU APPESBACH

Intended by its original owner to emulate an English country house in the middle of the
Salzkammergut region, this grand waterside manor on Lake Wolfgangsee was once inhabited
by Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor. It was here he is reported to have found the “splendid
isolation” he sought after abdicating as King of England. The Appesbach continues to
radiate with style and tranquillity, and is virtually unchanged.

HOTEL SCHLOSS LEOPOLDSKRON

Dating back to 1736 – and newly positioned as a hotel in early 2014 – Hotel Schloss
Leopoldskron sits by the water of Leopoldskroner Weiher, minutes from the heart of
Salzburg, and surrounded by majestic, panoramic views of the Alps.

Showcasing one of the finest examples of rococo work in Europe, the property hit the silver
screen as a backdrop for the filmic von Trapp family’s adventures in The Sound of Music.
These hotels are just a few of the historical jewels dotted across Austria, and indeed Europe.
Historic Hotels of Europe group (HHE) is a partner of Europa Nostra.

HOTEL LANDHAUS ZU APPESBACH, WOLFGANGSEE HOTEL LANDHAUS ZU APPESBACH, WOLFGANGSEE

44
CITY DREAMS

Klimt’s Studio
The bright white museum in one of Vienna’s suburbs
not far from the famous Schönbrunn palace is closed
today, but the friendly staff allow me to look around
nonetheless. They are proud of what has been
accomplished here and want to share their success
with as many visitors as possible. The beautifully
restored villa literally hides within its walls a unique
treasure, Gustav Klimt’s last studio.
Klimt’s studio Klimt in front of 45
front the studio

Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) was one

of Austria’s greatest painters and
one of the leaders of the famous
Vienna Secession of the 1890s. It
is hard to walk into a bookstore
anywhere in the world without
running into a calender, mug or
t-shirt of his famous Portrait of
Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907) or The
Kiss (1907–08), both from his so-
called Golden Phase. He worked in
his last studio, a sort of ground floor
garden house from 1911 until his
death in 1918. Klimt was an artist
in the romantic sense of the word.

Klimt’s studio
garden side

Klimt as drawn
by Egon Schiele
46
CITY DREAMS

Klimt’s studio
2014

Klimt’s studio
1918

Dress by Klimt

Adèle Bloch-Bauer
Two portraits of Adèle Bloch-
Bauer and several landscape
paintings were at the centre
of an ownership controversy
between Maria Altmann and
the Austrian Government.
The Austrian Supreme Court
in the end determined that
Altmann was the rightful heir He could rarely be seen in the cafés
of the paintings and Austria or bars of Vienna or chatting away
lost a priceless collection of
national treasures. Exactly at art exhibitions and openings.
how priceless became clear He spent most of his time at home
when the paintings left
Austria in March 2006 to working, dressed in sensible
be sold at Christie’s in Los sandals and a full body monk’s robe
Angeles. The two portraits of
Adèle Bloch-Bauer alone were without underwear. Women, his
sold for over $230 million. main source of inspiration, were
never far away.

Five years after his death a neo-

Baroque-style villa was built over
and around the studio, but his
atelier was kept intact as a structure
within. The new building covered
the original house as if a stone box
was placed over it. The villa became
a school and much later a sad and
derelict place, whose story and
hidden inner treasure was all but
forgotten.
Saving the studio for posterity
was a long process in which hopes
were dashed, renewed and finally
rewarded. The Gustav Klimt
Memorial Society conducted a
14-year campaign to persuade the
Austrian Government to preserve
the ‘Klimt Villa’ and its 5,500 m²
garden as a public property for
all to enjoy.The long lists of steps
that had to be taken to save the
building reads like a Kafka-esque
novel, where hopes went up and
down with the tide. The Society’s
volunteers conducted guided tours
and arranged cultural events to
raise awareness, and now, with
Federal Monument status, Klimt’s
last studio has been faithfully
reconstructed inside the fully
restored villa to become a unique
part of European cultural heritage.
Luckily historical photographs
existed which gave the society a
perfect idea of what the studio had
looked like. Photographer Moritz
Nähr (1859 - 1945) captured the
atmosphere of Klimt’s life in the
1910s.
In 2014 the Gustav Klimt Memorial
Society received the EU Prize for
Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra
Awards in the category Dedicated
Service. The jury was very
impressed with the work and stated:
“It was the Society’s unshakeable
determination in the pursuit of its
goal which most impressed the Jury.
Through its painstaking efforts
over a long period to ensure the
faithful refashioning of Klimt’s
studio, and to introduce extensive
outreach programmes to secure
47
Burgtheater
Gustav Klimt has left his mark all over Vienna. In the
Burgtheater the original ceiling of the monumental
staircase of the entrance contains frescos by Klimt
and his brother. Even more remarkable was the
discovery of the original drawings which were used
for the frescos rolled up and forgotten in a storage
room of the theatre. The gigantic paper models on a
1 on 1 scale are now preserved in a special exposition
area in the Burgtheater. One of the first things that
you notice as soon as you come eye to eye with the
solemnly lighted drawings is their artistic quality.
The young Klimt had very little or no experience
with large scale frescos and it is clear that his first
drawings are unnecessarily precise. His selfportrait
and that of his brother show his early mastership. In
1888 Klimt received the Golden Order of Merit from
Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria for the murals he
painted in the Burgtheater.
The worldfamous theatre is the location for the 2014
ceremony of the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage/
Vienna Secession Europa Nostra Awards, which also honoured the
Building Gustav Klimt Memorial Society for their dedicated
service.
The crypt of the Vienna Secession
Building became the permanent
home of one of Klimt’s most famous
paintings, the so-called Beethoven
Frieze. The symbolic but terrifying
gorilla grinning between scarcely
dressed women of legend has a
tendency to stick to the brain. Klimt
painted his metaphor on human
yearning directly on the walls for the
14th Vienna Secessionist Exhibition
in 1902.
its future as a sustainable cultural Gustav Klimt, selfportrait on fresco paper
centre, this voluntary society has
successfully anchored the memorial
in the public consciousness,
supplementing and extending the
artist’s special reputation.”
www.klimt.at
B&W photograph of the studio by Moritz
Nähr © Austrian National Library in
Vienna Ernst Klimt, Gustav’s younger brother
 Legendary Beauty
48
COUNTRY DREAMS

The lakes of Austria are the result of a magnificent millennia-long

battle between rock and water. The timeless beauty of the landscape
hides a conflict too slow to be understood in human terms.

The unique alpine harmony so
pleasing to the eye, was discovered
in the early 19th century. Writers,
painters and poets tried to capture
on paper and canvas the green,
lush valleys, the idyllic farm
villages bypassed by history and
the majestic mountains reflected
in quiet lakes.
The Traun river rises in the
mountains of Upper Austria and
loses itself in the Danube just
above Linz. It flows through some
of the most remarkable Alpine
scenery and through lakes and
deep valleys.
To the River Traun
My heart is in a mountain mood,
Though I am bound to tread the plain,
She will away for ill or good,
I cannot lure her back again;
So let her go, God speed her flight
O’er racy glebe and columned town,
I know that she will rest ere night
By the remembered banks of Traun.
And she will pray her sister Muse,
Sister, companion, friend, and guide,
Her every art and grace to use,
For love of that well-cherished tide;
But words are weak, she cannot reach
By such poor steps that Beauty’s crown; Or ruby-dripping barberry-thorn,
How can the Muse to others teach
What were to me the banks of Traun?
She can repeat the faithful tale
That “where thy genial waters flow,
All objects the rare crystal hail,
And cast their voices far below;
And there the steadfast echoes rest
Till the old sun himself goes down,
Till darkness falls on every breast,
Even on thine, transparent Traun.”
And she can say, “Where’er thou art,
Brawling mid rocks, or calm-embayed,
Outpouring thy abundant heart
In ample lake or deep cascade,
Whatever dress thy sides adorn,
Fresh-dewy leaves or fir-stems brown,
Thou art thyself, delightful Traun!
49
“No glacier-mountains, harshly bold,
Whose peaks disturb the summer air,
And make the gentle blue so cold,
And hurt our warmest thoughts, are there;
But upland meadows lush with rills,
Soft-green as is the love-bird’s down,
And quaintest forms of pine-clad hills
Are thy fit setting, jewelled Traun!”
But the wise Muse need not be told,
Though fair and just her song may seem,
The same has oft been sung of old,
Of many a less deserving stream;
For where would be the worth of sight,
If Love could feed on blank renown?
They who have loved the Traun aright
Have sat beside the banks of Traun.
by Richard Monckton Milnes, Lord Houghton
50
COUNTRY DREAMS

Halstatt in 2014
As a young man Richard
Lord Houghton Monckton Milnes (1809-1885)
(Richard
Monckton
travelled through Europe on his
Milnes) depicted grand tour. While in Lombardy he
in Vanity Fair in
thought back to the walk he had
1870
made along the beautiful Traun
river and wrote a poem about it.
It was published in 1838, after his
return to London, in his Memorials
of Residence upon the Continent. also quite popular. He tried
Richard Monckton Milnes went without success to marry Florence
on to become a well-known and Nightingale, the legendary nurse.
well-liked, good-natured politician
and a famous patron of literature.
He was created Lord Houghton
in 1863, and surrounded himself
with the best writers and artists
of his day. His own poems were

Halstatt in 1890
Deeply rooted in Vienna’s history for over
300 years, the palaces of the princely
family of Liechtenstein are notable for their
stunning symbiosis of nature, architecture
and masterpieces of art history.
The impressively restored GARDEN PALACE
with the magnificent gardens, the baroque
Hercules Hall and the Ladies’ Apartments is
available for hire as innovative setting for
your event for groups of 10 to 1,600.
After around five years of extensive renova-
tion work another architectural jewel in the
crown of the Princely Family appears in all its
former glory: The Liechtenstein CITY PALACE
is the first major example of High Baroque
architecture in Vienna.
The advantageous situation in Vienna’s
inner city (right behind the Burgtheater), the
exceptional staterooms and selected master-
pieces from the Princely Collections dating
from the Biedermeier era combine to make
the CITY PALACE a new highlight and the
insider’s tip for exclusive events for up to 500
guests.
Refine your event by serving your guests
princely wines of the Liechtenstein Winery,
which looks back on a tradition of wine-gro-
wing that has endured for almost 600 years.
Exclusive guided tours of the Princely
Collections in both palaces offer your guests
the chance to acquaint themselves with a
tradition of collecting that spans more than
four centuries.
This unique atmosphere conveys an impres-
sion of aristocratic life and ensures moments
to remember.

www.palaisliechtenstein.com | event@palaisliechtenstein.com
Palais Liechtenstein GmbH, Fürstengasse 1, 1090 Vienna, Austria
www.hofkellerei.at | hofkellerei@sfl.at
Weinshop Wien, Fürstengasse 1, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Golden Carriage © Palais Liechtenstein GmbH_Akodu
Liechtenstein GARDEN PALACE, garden view © Palais Liechtenstein GmbH_Felix Waldschütz
Liechtenstein CITY PALACE, Ballroom © Palais Liechtenstein GmbH_Akodu
Amerling Portrait of Princess Marie Franziska von Liechtenstein at the Age of Two © LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz-Vienna
52 Interior Fürst Café
CULINARY

Exterior Fürst Café
The Sweetest Heritage
Original Sacher-Torte
The large display cases in any
traditional Konditorei in Vienna
– and there are many, each with
its own history, traditions and
specialities - show a large variety
of small and larger luxury cakes.
Not a muffin or doughnut in
sight. Demel even has a chocolate
statue in the window – if it
portrays Madonna is anybody’s
guess - which literally points
the captivated tourists to the
delicacies on sale in the café and
the gift shop. Today’s sin on sale
is a rectangular layered hazelnut
torte with gold leaf and a light
mocha cream.
53
Entering the Demel patisserie shop on Kohlmarkt 14
in Vienna is a risky business. Steady diets and solid
resolutions go up in smoke in sight of one of the prime
examples of Austrian’s sweetest heritage.
Café Leopold Hawelka serves excellent location for the even
up the real apfelstrudel, warm more deadly Kaiserschmarrn, a
and lush. The pastry should be shredded pancake with plums
perfectly crisp and not limp, the or apple sauce, which will only
apples sumptuous and not mushy. slowly start to digest after hours of
This is a far cry from the strudels sightseeing on foot.
we can buy in the supermarket
of our home town. And if one
needs variety; there is the
Salzburger
Topfenstrudel (sweetened
Nockerl
curd cheese), the
Millirahmstrudel
(creamy milk) and the
Mohnstrudel (poppy seed)
for instance.
The Prater, one of Vienna’s most
famous traditional parks is an
54
Chocolate
CULINARY

Madonna

Sweets in Demel
in Vienna

The famous Sacher hotel still has been a well-kept secret since
serves their invention, the Sacher- 1832. According to legend the torte
Torte. They still bake about 800 was a last minute idea of 16-year-
a day, packed in a traditional old apprentice pastry chef Franz
wooden box with the Sacher Sacher (1816-1907) who had to take
emblem embedded in thick over from his sick boss at a smart
chocolate. In an dinner party of
article elsewhere the Fürst von
in this magazine Metternich-
we talk to the Winneburg zu
people in charge. Beilstein. The
The original recipe guests were
of this chocolate happy and a
layered cake with career was
apricot jam and a
thick layer of icing Linzer
Torte

Demel interior
born. As with every best-selling
invention, for years the name
Sacher-Torte was hotly contended.
A lawsuit finally settled it. Hotel
Sacher could sell theirs as the
Original Sacher-Torte. All the
other patisseries now just sell
Sachertorte.
Many countries bake a decent
cake but Austria has made it into
a classic artform. The origin of
all these gifted and innovative
pastry chefs may be traced back to
the imperial court of the Austro-
Hungarian Empire. The royals
always wanted the best money
could buy, not only in art and
architecture, but also in patisserie.
As a result, Vienna may have
become the sweetest city in the
world.
In Salzburg it is the famous Mozart
kügel that draws our attention.
This is where Mozart was born –
his birthplace is now a museum
- and his self-confident face stares
back at us from the millions of
marzipan and chocolate balls that
Austria produces. This global
business success is claimed by
many companies but Fürst on the
55
Brodgasse celebrates 125 years
and has a pretty good claim. Their
kügel is wrapped in a blue and
silvery wrapping, not perfectly
round but handmade, traditional,
delicious and quite deadly.
Salzburger Nockerl or Noggal
are made with a lot of eggwhites,
but before the dieticians get too
excited, the calorie count of this
carefully prepared soufflé is still
a serious affair. “As sweet as
love, as tender as a kiss,” is what
the Austrians say. If made well
it is a collection of light yellow
hills of fluff covered with a layer
of powdered sugar resembling
snowy mountains. It is a difficult
and sensitive dish and many
enthusiastic amateur cooks have
been confronted with a sad and
collapsed sight after opening the
oven door too soon, too late or too
abruptly.
The charming town of Linz is the
home of the famous Linzer torte.
On the sunny terraces of the
central square of the city we can
enjoy this lighthearted hazelnut
cake with thick apricot jam and
whipped cream, unsweetened of
course.
Every small café and bakery across
the country has its own seasonal
and local speciality which lures
the innocent traveller to a sugary
defeat. Austria is truly the place
where you can have your cake and
eat it too.
Nut cake in the
village of Stainz
56
LIVING HERITAGE

Saving the Vienna Woods

A government strapped for cash trying to sell off state-owned
properties to make ends meet. It sounds as if we are describing the
current crisis, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of the 1860s
was also seeing the cold, hard stone floor of the treasury.

After several wars, the cash flow
Memorial in
Purkersdorf, had dried up and after taxes had
photo by Ailura been raised, the government
started to sell off forested areas
to the private sector. Large-scale
felling was the result. The ancient
Vienna Woods (Wienerwald), a
former hunting ground and a source
for firewood for many people in
the city, as well as the only large
green area close to the ever-growing
capital, were high on the list.
In 1870 the politicians proposed
to sell and clear the forest. But
the officials quickly hit a wall
of widespread public resistance
personified in Josef Schöffel (1832-
1910). It was one of the first and
finest examples of a community
coming together to save their
cultural heritage.
The retired Lieutenant Schöffel
had become increasingly
interested in the natural sciences
and environmental issues and had
watched the government sell-out
of properties with a wary eye. The
proposed selling of the Vienna
Stained glass windows of the
57
Vienna Woods by Adolf Böhm in
the Wagner Villa

Memorial
dedicated to
Josef Schöffel
in the Vienna
Woods

Josef Schöffel

Woods to a lumber merchant

was the last straw and, Schöffel
reasoned, would lead to total
devastation of the region. When,
on 18 April 1870, the Imperial
Parliament suggested selling the
Anninger Forst, part of the Vienna
Woods, Schöffel went on the attack
and launched a publicity campaign
and public petitions to stop them.
But the government and all the
other parties with vested interests
started a smear campaign. Schöffel
was accused of defamation
and the incitement of hatred
and contempt. Interestingly,
the argument Schöffel made
to convince the state officials
seems right out of a modern
ecologist brochure. He argued farmlands. He pointed out that was going to be withdrawn but it
that destroying the Vienna Woods the most respected scientists of was all part of a tactic. Schöffel
would have a profound impact on nature could attest to this and was offered serious money to lie
the ecology of the area and would that selling-off the Vienna Woods low. Others secretly suggested
influence rainfall, temperature was not just wrong, it was stupid. that Schöffel should suffer a
and fertility of the surrounding At first it looked as if the sale unfortunate hunting accident.
58
LIVING HERITAGE
Hedy Lamarr Slowly but surely, however, the
News paper government started to change its
from 1873 mind and the officials who had
been Schöffel’s main opponents
one by one retired. At the end of
1872 there was reason to celebrate.
The Vienna Woods were saved
and Schöffel’s campaign was
fully vindicated. He was named
honorary citizen of several
municipalities and even became
mayor of Mödling. He worked as a
deputy in the Imperial Council and
the Lower Austrian Landtag. In
1905 the Vienna District Council
passed the Forest and Meadow
Belt protection law. In 1987, the
governors of the states of Vienna,
The Vienna Woods are also the last
resting place of the Most Beautiful
Woman in the World. This year we
commemorate the 100th birthday
of movie star, model and inventor
Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000). She was
born as Hedwig Kiesler in Vienna
in the first year of World War I. The
sexy Hollywood actress of films like
Samson and Delilah and Ziegfeld
Girl was the ideal pin-up, but she
was also more than a ravishing
brunette. She invented an important
communication technology still in
use today.
Lamarr’s first of many husbands was
a military manufacturer in Germany.
One of the problems he struggled
with was that the frequency of radio
controlled torpedoes could easily be
jammed. Lamarr came up with the
idea to quickly alternate frequencies:
the enemy would not be able to find
the right one at any given moment
if the transmitter sent signals
while ‘hopping’ from frequency to
frequency in quick succession. She
only figured out how to synchronize
both transmitter and receiver
after moving to the United States.
Together with composer George
Antheil, she then developed an idea
based on 88 different frequencies,
inspired by the perforated rolls
used by automated pianos. Their
patented frequency-hopping idea is
still the basis for the modern spread-
spectrum communication technology
used in mobiles and wifi.
Calling Hedy Lamarr, a 2004
documentary about the life, legend
and tragedy of the beautiful actress
and inventor featured Hedy’s son
Anthony Loder who took her ashes
to Austria and spread them in the
Vienna Woods, in accordance with
her last wishes.
Lower Austria and Burgenland
signed the Vienna Woods
Declaration. And in 2005 the
Vienna Woods were recognised by
UNESCO as an official biosphere
park because of its unique
biodiversity.
Josef Schöffel would be delighted.
He is still a local hero, remembered
in street names, schools,
monuments, a museum in Mödling
and a special memorial stone on
the top of a hill near Purkersdorf.
The Josef-Schöffel-Prize is the
highest recognition in the field of
nature conservation.
 Bernardo Bellotto, detail from “The Liechtenstein Garden Palais in Vienna”, 1759/60
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna

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 Then & Now
60
FEATURE

One of the first things you notice when travelling through Austria
and especially Vienna is how well-preserved and restored most of the
monuments and sites are. It is a wonderful adventure to walk along the old
shopping streets of Vienna, with their famous coffeehouses, and to visit
the historic palaces, churches and museums. But how much has Austria
changed? Can we still recognize the sites if we look at old photographs and
paintings? In this article we always compare the old with the new.

‘Mastery of the Hofburg & St. Michaels Square

Sea’ fountain
Even though the current form of
Hofburg in the
the square, named after the 13th
19th century
century St. Michael’s Church,
Hofburg with goes back to 1725, excavations
excavations of
Roman remains have shown that there once was
a Roman camp on this location.
The fountain on the left in the 19th
century picture is by Rudolf Weyr
and known as the ‘Mastery of the
Sea’ (1895)

Another building worth seeing

on the square is the Loos Haus
(1910/12) designed by famous
architect Adolf Loos, which is now
the home of Raiffeisen Private
Banking. Emperor Franz Joseph
did not like the look of this modern
building at all, and even boarded
up some of the windows in his
Hofburg Palace, so that he would
never have to look at it!

Vienna State Opera
The Wiener Staatsoper dates
back to the mid-19th century. The
opening premiere on May 25, 1869,
in the presence of Emperor Franz
Josef and Empress Elisabeth,
was Mozart’s Don Giovanni. The
building was largely destroyed
Schönbrunn
Emperor Maximilian II acquired
the site of the current palace -
then known as Katterburg - in
1569 to build a hunting lodge.
The legend goes that his son
Matthias discovered a beautiful
spring on the site and exclaimed
‘So ein schöner Brunnen’ (‘What a
beautiful spring’), which led to the
name Schönbrunn.
In 1695, after the Ottomans
destroyed the hunting lodge, a
palace was built which aimed
to outshine Versailles. In 1918,
after the reign of the Habsburg
monarchy had ended, Schönbrunn
became state owned. Once more
by an American bombardment
during World War II. The front
section of the building which had
been walled off as a precaution,
remained intact. The auditorium
and stage were destroyed as
well as the sets and set pieces
for more than 120 operas, and
than 1,000 people lived in the 1441
rooms and halls of the grandiose
complex. Several rooms, among
them the state rooms and the
private rooms of Emperor Franz-
61
around 150,000 costumes. On
5 November, 1955 the Vienna
State Opera reopened with a
performance of Beethoven’s
Fidelio. Public television station
ORF used the occasion to make
its first live broadcast. There were
only about 800 television sets
in Austria at the time. Maestro
Plácido Domingo, President of
Europa Nostra, celebrated his 40th
jubilee here in 2007.
Schönbrunn
today
Schönbrunn
1890s
Josef and Empress Elisabeth, are Schönbrunn
garden today
now open to visitors. The endless
gardens of Schönbrunn are a Schönbrunn
garden 1890
delight all the year round.
62
FEATURE

Sophiensäle
2006

Sophiensäle
1900

Sophiensäle events. Because of its excellent

The Sophiensäle was for over 150
years at the centre of Viennese
social life. The bath house
‘Sophienbad’ opened its doors
in 1838. In winter, the large
swimming pool was drained and
covered with a wooden floor
construction and the Sophiensäle
became a famous location for
balls, concerts and theatrical
performances, as well as for
political, sporting and cultural
acoustics, it became a popular
location for music recordings.
Herbert von Karajan and Leonard
Bernstein recorded here. In
2001 the complex was badly
damaged by fire. For years it stood
derelict, a shadow of its former
self, but now, after a long and
difficult restoration process, the
Sophiensäle is ready to take centre
stage once more.

Sophiensäle Mozart statue Salzburg

during
restoration The Mozart square in Salzburg is
dominated by a statue of Mozart. It
was made by Ludwig Schwanthaler
and was officially unveiled on
September 5, 1842 in the presence
of Mozart’s sons.

Graben
The name and position of this
favourite shopping street goes all
the way back to the old Roman
encampment of Vindobona.
In 1974, the Graben became
Vienna’s first pedestrian zone.
The Pestsäule or Plague Column,
constructed under Emperor
Leopold I following the Great
Plague of Vienna in 1679, is one of
the best-known pieces of sculpture
in the city.
City Hall
The architecture of the Ringstraße
is dominated by historicism.
The City Hall was built in a
grand gothic style, with a tower
Prater 63
The area that makes up the modern
Prater was first mentioned in 1162
and changed hands frequently until it
was bought by Emperor Maximilian
II in 1560 to serve as private hunting
grounds. In 1766, Emperor Josef II
opened the Prater to the general
public for the first time. The old
Lusthaus is a wonderful place to relax
Prater today and eat after a long walk. The famous
Prater around
Ferris wheel was built in 1897 by the
1900 British engineer Walter Basset.
resembling a medieval cathedral.
It was designed by Friedrich
Schmidt (1825-1891). Construction
started in 1872 and lasted for more
than ten years.
64
FEATURE

Naschmarkt as well as exotic herbs, cheeses,

The Naschmarkt is Vienna’s most
popular market and has existed
since the 16th century. Nowadays,
one can buy fresh fruit and
vegetables from around the world
cakes, meats and seafood. A visit
to Vienna would be incomplete
without a glass of local wine and
cheese at Urbanek, the smallest
‘restaurant’ on the Naschmarkt.

Vienna Boys’
Choir now,
poster for
Japanese tour

Vienna Boys’
Choir then

Vienna Boys’ Choir back to the late Middle Ages. school.

The Vienna Boys’ Choir or Wiener
Sängerknaben is one of the best
known boys’ choirs in the world.
The choir is a private, not-for-
profit organization and dates
Over the centuries the choir has
worked with famous composers
such as Gluck, Salieri, Mozart,
Schubert and Bruckner. Since 1948
Augarten Palace has served as
their rehearsal venue and boarding
The Vienna Boys’ Choir performed
during the 2014 EU Prize for
Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra
Awards in the Burgtheater in
Vienna.

Secession Building
The Wiener Secessionsgebäude,
as it is called in German, is an
exhibition hall built in 1897
by Joseph Maria Olbrich as an
architectural expression of the
ideas of the Vienna Secession
art movement. The impressive
building, with its golden dome
surrounded by giant vases, is still
one of Vienna’s most unmissable
attractions. The interior contains
65
Belvedere Upper Belvedere
around 1900
The Belvedere consists of two
Baroque palaces, the Upper and
Lower Belvedere surrounded by
beautiful landscape gardens. It
houses one of the most attractive
museums in Vienna with art from
the 19th and 20th century, including
works by Van Gogh, Monet,
Renoir, Schiele and Kokoschka.
The museum is best known for its
unrivalled collection of works by
Gustav Klimt.
Klimt’s famous Beethoven Frieze.
‘To every age its art, to every art
its freedom,’ was the Secession’s
slogan.
 Among the
66
SHORT STORY

other Viennese By Claudio Magris

Vienna is also a city of cemeteries, as majestic and friendly as the portraits of
Francis Joseph. The Centralfriedhof, the Central Cemetery, is a major march-past
in the grandes manoeuvres which attempt to postpone the triumph of time.

The graves of the great Viennese
- the sector devoted to illustrious
personages, which starts to the
left of the main entrance, Gate
No.2 - comprise the front rank
of a Guard which makes a stand
against transience but, unlike
Napoleon’s Guards at Waterloo,
forming square without the
least hesitation, this regiment
fights according to elastic tactics,
seems to wish to defilade itself; it
suggests feints, it outflanks death,
it jests, it beats about the bush,
with a view to frustrating the
methodical swish of the scythe.
At five in the morning this host
of stones, busts and monuments
is still almost invisible, opaque
and colourless, as it lies hidden
in the cloudy night-time drizzle,
though here and there a votive
lamp punctuates the murk. Herr
Baumgartner keeps his shotgun
close beside him – a gun he has
owned for thirty years, he told me
a moment ago – and rests a hand
on it with the quiet, affectionate
familiarity of long cohabitation,
as a musician finds pleasure in
touching his violin, which he
loves not only for its performance
but for its shape, its curves, the
texture and colour of the wood.
It is the first time I have ever been
in a cemetery next to someone
whom is handling not flowers,
shovels or prayer-books, but guns
and cartridges. But today, for an
hour or two, before daylight comes,
the Central Cemetery in Vienna is
a forest, a jungle, leatherstocking’s
woods, Turgenev’s steppes, the
dominion of Diana or St Hubert,
a place where one does not bless
or bury, but lies in wait, fires,
kills ancient relatives for whom
no rite prescribes a Requiem or
a Kaddish. This morning, in the
Central Cemetery, the order of
the day is shooting, even if Herr
Baumgartner doesn’t want to
hear this word, and talks about a
necessary, authorized reduction
 Claudio Magris 67

of the numbers of hares: they

are harmful, it seems, because
of their excessive profusion and
for other reasons. He is one of
three marksmen employed by the
Viennese municipal authorities
to maintain a correct balance
among the living which unlawfully
inhabit this metropolis of the dead
(this “city of the other Viennese,”
as the Austrians put it), and
prevent them from being too
lively by transforming them on
the instant into corpses of they
reveal themselves too healthy
and prosperous in this world.
Death is harmless, respectful and
discreet; it causes no trouble and
doesn’t hurt anyone. It is life that
is so troublesome, so noisy, so
aggressively destructive, and must kill? Well anyway, this licence Sunday hunters who infest Italy,
therefore be kept in check, lest it is very restricted and rigidly drunken with childish delight in
should get above itself. Hares, for controlled. Herr Baumgartner’s their power to kill, blasting away
example, have a downright passion double-barrelled gun only indiscriminately at wildlife and
- destructive and guilty as are all threatens male pheasants, hares human hunters: more deserving
passions - for the pansies laid on and wild rabbits, and even these by half of the attentions of Herr
the tombs by pious relatives. They according to well-established Baumgartner than are the hares
gnaw them, they uproot them, rules. Austria, as they say in my with a taste for pansies.
they rip them to shreds, they are part of the world, both was and is
not content with satisfying their an orderly country, and a gun- The man himself, squatting down
hunger but they make a massacre licence is subject to strict control. beside me in the grass is beginning
of them, like martens in a hen-run. Infractions are severely punished,
And indeed, the sepulchre in which and there are none of those
the presidents of the Republic are
laid to rest is littered with torn-up,
tattered pansies. Does this mild
irreverence merit the licence to
68 to emerge from the darkness in
SHORT STORY
all his massive, paternal bulk; he
is not a trigger-happy maniac,
he shows no sign of that stupid
pleasure in killing and putting
a stop to whatever life is seen
to move; he does not indulge in
threadbare sophisms about the
totemistic communion between
killer and victim; an indeed he
reveals no kind of banal excitation,
but rather the good-natured calm
of a gardener. He is a good shot and
does what he has to do, for Austria
is an orderly country, but maybe
he is not at all that displeased
when, through no fault of his own,
he goes home empty-handed.
I imagine that, to start with, he
was none too keen on the idea
of having me under his feet, for
no one as a rule is allowed to be
present. At the entrance to the
cemetery he explained to the
night-watchman that I was a
professor, a title much honoured
here, and that I was allowed in as
an exceptional case through the
good offices of the department
of the burgomaster of Vienna. In
this damp dawn, which is already
beginning to pale the gloomy
clouds, I am experiencing what is
not a great hunting adventure, but
what may be the zenith of my fame
and glory, because it is unlikely
that my books on the Mitteleuropa
of the Hapsburgs, in virtue of
which the municipality of Vienna
have given me special permission
to be squatting down at this hour
of the morning in the grass in the
central Cemetery, will have any
greater impact on reality than this,
or any further force it limits and
prohibitions. It might well be that,
in this dawn, I have had my day, as
King Lear puts it.
We move towards the edge of the
cemetery, passing between the
tombs, which are slowly becoming
more distinct. The tombs of
Castelli, the light-hearted, prolific
author of popular comedies,
bears an inscription by courtesy
of the league for the protection
of animals, while from the faint
mist rises a tall, simple cross with
the phrase that sums up the life
of Peter Altenberg, all a toccata
and fugue:”He loved and saw.”
A bare, basic cube is the funeral
monument of Adolf Loos, while
that of Schönberg, creator of a
more disquieting geometry, is also
a cube, but a distorted one.
Herr Baumgartner peers around
him, lends and ear to every
rustle, scrutinizes the foliage,
amorphous in the half light. He
may fire where he likes, even
among the crosses and the still-
fresh wreaths, but he is careful to
make no mistakes, because that
sector of the cemetery - roughly a
third, the other parts falling to the
competence of his two colleagues
- is entirely his responsibility, and
he has to answer for where his
lead ends up, for any chance bosh-
shot that shatters a votive lamp
or grazes an angel thoughtfully
watching over a tomb. In a couple
of hours’ time the relatives who
find the photograph of their dear
departed as riddled as a sombrero
in a western movie, or the stone
stained with the blood of a rabbit
hit at the wrong moment, would
know to whom to address their
outraged protests. “It shouldn’t
happen, but it might,” he repeats
several times, but placidly.
We are on the edge of the last row
of graves, set on a slight rise which
commands a good view. The bank
itself is made of loose earth, debris

and rotten grass and leaves swept
up along the avenues and amassed
at this point. The soil in this area
is particularly well suited to the
rapid putrefaction of corpses, as
was well known in the last century
to the authorities and to the
proprietors of plots. Daring the
projection stage for the building
of the cemetery the latter used
to haggle and stick out for higher
prices in relation to the greater or
lesser putrefactive vigour of the
soil, to the point of exchanging
abusive pamphlets such as the
one addressed in 1869 by the
municipal councillor Dr Mitlacher
to Baron Lasky. The area where we
are now is unkempt, a large grassy
expanse stretching between the
wood and a wall surrounding the
central workshops of the Viennese
tramway company. A few steps
away is a tomb bearing the name
of the Pabst family, and beneath it
the inscription auf Wiedersehen.
This meadow, extensive as it is, is
a small slice of nature hemmed in
by society, by the symmetry of the
avenues and the funeral industry
on one hand and the municipal
transport company on the other;
but even this minimal space is like
the taiga or the savannah, which
are also surrounded by civilisation
but measured by the ancient
laws of the animal world, sniffing
at scents crawling, searching
for food, coupling, setting and
avoiding ambushes; the law, in
fact, which rules even the flower-
bed in the garden or in a pot
containing a single plant.
The colourless grass now swiftly
turns to green, the first birdcall
and the first flutterings are heard
among the trees, the big crows
migrating from Russia rise on the
wing, while in the east there rises
a pallid lemon-rind sun. Even in
that suburban undergrowth the
unmistakable smell of morning
endows us with a physical sense
of happiness, the pleasure of a
body at ease in itself, a relish for
hearing, touching, seeing things.
The untouchable hen-birds which
for some minutes have been
sporting on the grass are now
about to be joined by a cock-
pheasant. Still some way off, he
approaches cautiously while my
neighbour takes aim. Accustomed
as I am, one my own Mount
Snežnik, to dismantling the traps
laid by hunters, I have a vague
sense of being a traitor, a man
who has gone over to the other
side. Is this the way in which each
of us goes to meet his fate, with
useless even if practised caution?
Standing motionless, I ask myself
what constellations of possible
threats, atomic or microbiological,
star-wars, recurrent viruses
or overtakings on bends have
my life in their sights, as my
neighbour’s gun now has this
pheasant, selected by an infinite
concatenation of coincidences.
69
Claudio Magris during his acceptance speech
Helena Vaz da Silva European Award
for Raising Public Awareness on
Cultural Heritage
The renowned Italian writer Claudio Magris (b.1939) is the
very first winner of the Helena Vaz da Silva European Award
for Raising Public Awareness on Cultural Heritage, instituted
by Europa Nostra, its representation in Portugal, Centro
Nacional de Cultura, and Clube Português de Imprensa, on
the occasion of Europa Nostra’s 50th Anniversary in 2013.
“Magris is the author of impressive literary works which
speak about the roots of our European identity and also stress
the need to preserve Europe’s tangible and intangible heritage.
Claudio Magris’ understanding of Europe as a place of dialogue
and cultural exchange is perceptible in his masterpiece on the
Danube and throughout the whole of his rich literary opus,”
stated Guilherme d’Oliveira Martins, President of the jury,
during the announcement of the award which was presented
to Claudio Magris at a special ceremony in the presence of
Aníbal Cavaco Silva, President of Portugal, on 21 October 2013
in Lisbon.
“The Danube is not without reason the only truly European
river, Protestant at its source, then Catholic, finally Orthodox;
in its Roman ruins and Byzantine domes, cathedrals and
synagogues, Baroque and Ottoman splendour are reflected,”
reads Magris’ Danubio (1986). As he travels the route from
the Black Forest in Germany to the mouth of the river into the
Black Sea in Romania, he makes an inventory of fundamental
references which enable us to understand Europe as a place of
interactions, tolerance and understanding.
“Magris is fully aware of the deep and creative relationship
between the North and the South, as reflected in literature,
art, traditions and customs, and also in Europe’s quest
for a culture of peace,” stressed the jury. “The number of
prizes Magris has received justly recognises his key role in
promoting an innovative way of understanding our cultural
heritage, fully in line with the spirit of Europa Nostra,” added
the jury.
A European jury comprised of seven eminent experts in the
fields of culture, heritage and communication met on 21 June
2013 in Lisbon to consider the nominations and decide on
the winner. The jury especially took into consideration the
European dimension of the work of each nominated candidate.
Appreciating “the exemplary, effective and continuous
communication efforts” of the Hungarian Olivér Kovács, for
the mobilisation of citizens in favour of heritage in Hungary,
and of the Turkish Özgen Acar, for the international fight
against illegal trafficking of heritage treasures from Turkey,
the jury decided to accord them a special mention.
The award ceremony took place on 21 October at the Gulbenkian
Foundation in Lisbon, the hometown of the late Helena Vaz da Silva
(1939-2002). The European Award for Raising Public Awareness on
Cultural Heritage is named after the renowned Portuguese journalist,
writer, cultural activist and politician in memory and recognition of
her exceptional contribution to the promotion of cultural heritage and
European ideals.
70 During this absurd, guilt-stricken
SHORT STORY
wait, I regret the fact that in 1874
the high cost (a million florins) of
the operation led to the failure of
Felbinger and Hudetz’s scheme
for funerals by pneumatic post.
According to this the dead would
be shot off directly to their allotted
tombs through miles of tubing
activated by compressed air.
And I imagine that the air of the
cemetery would have rung with
the sharp reports made by corpses
in continuous arrival, and that this
pheasant would have taken wing.
But the interplay of coincidences
which holds the universe in its
grip, taking on a different guise,
though remaining perfectly
Austrian and bureaucratic, has
decided to grant the pheasant a
stay of execution. Just before the
target gets within absolutely safe
range, at the edge of the wood,
near the Pabsts’ auf Wiedersehen,
a lorry comes huffing and puffing
along, laden with dead leaves and
other debris which the cemetery
gardeners – birds almost as early
as the gamekeepers – have swept
along the pathways and are about
to dump near us. The pheasant
takes fright and vanishes, while
Herr Baumgartner allows himself
a sonorous “Damn!,” but greets
the spoilsports cordially.
We make for the exit, for the usual
visitors will soon be starting to
arrive. All in all it has been a dawn
in keeping with the Viennese spirit
which mocks at death, flatters it
but also ridicules it, courts it but
at the same time, not being able to
leave it in the lurch once and for
all, as in the case of a lover who has
grown to weary us, at least tries
to spite it a little. At the gate we
meet one of Herr Baumgartner’s
colleagues. The hare he has shot
is an image of the deficit of the
universe and of the original sin of
life which feeds on death. In a few
hours that hare will be a pleasing
trophy, and later still a succulent
dish, but right now it is still terror
and flight, the suffering of a
creature that neither asked to live
nor deserved to die, the mystery
of life, this strange thing that was
in the hare until a short while ago
and now is not, the real essence
of which is unknown even to the
scientists, if in order to define it
they must needs have recourse to
such tautologies as “the complex
of phenomena which oppose
death.” I don’t know exactly why,
since - like all those with walk-on
parts in the spectacle of the world -
I have no central role and therefore
no direct, precise responsibilities,
but that hare certainly leaves one
with a sense of shame.
Among the other Viennese
is an excerpt from Danubio
(1986) translated as Danube:
A Sentimental Journey from the
Source to the Black Sea
ISBN 0-00-272074-4
EUROPEAN HERITAGE LABEL 2014
Europa Nostra congratulates the Archaeological Park Carnuntum
in Austria on receiving the European Heritage Label
The European Heritage Label awarded by the European Commission highlights
outstanding heritage sites with a particular European dimension, celebrating and
symbolizing European integration, ideals and history.

Carnuntum was an important 1st century Roman settlement on the Danube located at a
crossing point of trade routes. The Archaeological Park Carnuntum tell the story of this
Roman city through careful reconstruction and a museum with educational programmes.
The park reflects a history that deeply influenced and shaped Europe’s development.

www.carnuntum.co.at

The European Commission has awarded the European Heritage Label

to three other sites in 2014:
• Great Guild Hall, Tallinn, Estonia
• Camp Westerbork, The Netherlands
• Peace Palace, The Hague, The Netherlands

The European Heritage Label award ceremony took take place on 8 April, 2014 in
Brussels, at the Solvay Library in the presence of European Commissioner for Education,
Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, Androulla Vassiliou.

ec.europa.eu/culture/european-heritage-label
72
PANORAMA

Panorama
The flowery hills and the alpine meadows, the lakes
that spread like giant mirrors between snowtopped
peaks, they all add up to give Austria one of the most
spectacular landscapes of Europe. Sitting on top of one
of the skyscraper mountains in Tirol, the world seems
far away. It is a view that has inspired painters and
poets as well as emperors and film directors.
 73

View of
Innsbruck (19th
century)

View of
Innsbruck,
photo by F.
Böhringer
PANORAMA

74
 75

Schwarzenberg, Travelling through the rolling hills

photo by F.
and green valleys, it is difficult
Böhringer
not to feel that Austria’s cultural
Maria-Theresien- heritage is in perfect harmony
Platz with the
Kunsthistorisches with its surroundings, as if the
Museum only thing missing from a picture-
(right) and the
perfect crystal clear lake was an
Naturhistorisches
Museum (left) even more picturesque historic
village on its shore.

But this is not just a country for

extraordinary natural sights.
The cities and palace grounds
also offer stunning views, from
the old city of Salzburg to the
centre of the capital Vienna, both
UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The view, for instance, from the
Festung Hohensalzburg, one of
Europe’s largest fortresses, offers
a wide variety of spectacular
vistas. Austria is a land made for
panoramic pictures.

View from
Festung
Hohensalzburg in
Salzburg
76
INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE
Still
Smoking
Hot...
Like the Van Nelle Factory in the
Netherlands - Grand Prix Winner of
the European Union Prize for Cultural
Heritage /Europa Nostra Awards
in 2008 - the Linz Tobacco Factory
(Tabakfabrik) is a modernist triumph of
architectural unity and light.
The innovative design by Peter
Behrens and Austrian architect
Alexander Popp was built around
the same period too, between
1929 and 1935. It was made of
reinforced concrete and isolated
by cork and hollow bricks, both
very new techniques at the time.
Tobacco processing needs good
illumination and careful conditions
for temperature and humidity and
the facade is lined by long rows
of large windows, which give the
building a beautiful elegance.
After producing a billion cigarettes
a month, tobacco production in
the building finally stopped in
2009 and plans were long in the
pipeline to create a new future for
the industrial superbuilding. The
massive structure was declared a
historic landmark and has slowly
returned from private ownership
back into government’s hands and
is now 100% owned by the city of
Linz.
So what to do?
 77

The factory unfolded its plans

at a Cultural heritage and the
EU 2020-Strategy meeting in
Vilnius, Lithuania in 2013. The
project developers have high
ambitions and a clear idea of the
challenges ahead. The factory
is to become ‘a living lab, a real
life experiment, a platform
for innovation, a manufactory
of future, a transformation
hub, which bridges the gaps
between the different sectors,
industries and social milieus,
78
INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE
by fostering transdisciplinary
cooperation and by following
the four major guidelines of the
project: participation, openness,
transparency and sustainability.’
Despite the buzz-words, this
multi-layered vibrant melting pot
of creativity has in all probability
a bright future. Linz is a city in
change and the tobacco factory is
literally in an excellent position
to become a second city centre
where new industries can come
together. In almost every major
city in Europe, from London to
Amsterdam, from Cologne to
Istanbul, old industrial areas have
become breeding places of the
new economy and home to hip
restaurants, start-up companies
and pioneering shops and
products. The Tobacco Factory
could well become the heart of this
new city district.
Already the factory is home to
attractive exhibitions, large scale
events and companies from all
walks of life. The development
agency of the Tobacco Factory is
financed by the city of Linz and
it generates income by renting
space out to events and young
companies. It uses a scaled rental
system in order not to exclude
small start-ups from setting up
business in the building. The
€ 9 million budget in four years
– besides the € 20.4 million
for purchasing the area from
the former owner – has been
successfully invested to open the
building up to its new role.
The Tabakfabrik’s strategy is
not just short term – securing
an industrial heritage building
by renting it out to young
entrepreneurs – but also long
term, by looking at what this
80,000m² of space in an iconic
monument can mean for the future
of Linz by creatively linking the
old centre to other districts of the
city.
 by volunteers.

all around the world.

cultural heritage, organised by
Wikimedia in September 2013.

rediscover the cultural, historical

Wiki Loves Monuments was an

Wikipedia, the free encyclopædia

— a global collaboration authored
international photo competition for

Wikimedia is the movement behind

and scientific significance of places

Check out the winning pictures and
(If you seek a monument, look around you.)

Wiki Loves Monuments thanks Europa Nostra for their support.

WWW.WIKILOVESMONUMENTS.ORG
SI MONUMENTUM REQUIRIS, CIRCUMSPICE

Photos, top-to-bottom, left-to-right: Monastery and chateau in Zbraslav, Prague, Czech Republic, by Zdeněk Fiedler; Convent of Norbertine Sisters in Kraków, Poland, by Jar.ciurus; Friedrich-von-Thiersch-Hall in the Kurhaus, Wiesbaden, Germany, by Martin Kraft; Wiesen
Viadukt between Wiesen and Filisur, Switzerland, by Kabelleger – David Gubler; Budapest Keleti railway station, Budapest-District VIII, Hungary, by Németh Tibor; university library of Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary, by Thaler – Tamás Thaler; staircase in
weaver house, Nadrzeczna 2, Nowa Ruda, Poland, by Jar.ciurus. Wiki Loves Monuments logo by Lusitana. All pictures are released under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode> and can be found on Wikimedia Commons
<https://commons.wikimedia.org>.
 Strong Coffee
80
LIVING HERITAGE

The hustle and bustle of politicians, businessmen and artists never

ceases in Café Landmann, next to the Burgtheater in the centre of
Vienna. Plans are discussed, deals are made and new ideas are born.
But whatever is brewing in the hearts and minds of the clients, it is
the brew behind the counter that fuels it all. As they say, there is a
word for a life without coffee, it is called sleep.

Coffee at the
Butterfly Green
House
Landmann is just one of the many
81
Viennese coffeehouses with
their marble table tops, Thonet
chairs and cups of strong Wiener
melange accompanied by a cool
glass of water. Since October 2011
the Viennese Coffee House Culture
is even listed on UNESCO’s
Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

Battle of Vienna
by Pauwel
Casteels

Kolschitzky in
19th century litho

Drinking coffee is at the heart of

Austrian culture and the Austrian
coffeehouses are more a way of life
than anything else.The exchange
of information and gossip around
the traditional newspaper table
can easily take hours. People
take their time to catch up on
international affairs, to talk and
eat ein Würsteln or a pastry.
The elegant environment of soft
chatter and the delicate sound of
spoons stirring in porcelain cups Small statue of we have to go back to the famous success of the Habsburg dynasty in
Kolschitzky
are a perfect fit for Vienna, the Kahlenberg Battle of 12 September Central Europe. And the Ottomans
cosmopolitan city of diplomats 1683 when the combined forces left plenty of treasures on the
and artists. Many writers and of the Holy Roman Empire and battlefield as King John Sobieski
poets have adopted cafés as their the Kingdom of Poland fended described in a letter to his wife:
favourite place to work. Some even off a second Ottoman siege. The “Ours are treasures unheard of...
had their mail delivered there. Ottomans had tried for a very long tents, sheep, cattle and no small
time to capture Vienna, but this number of camels... it is victory as
But what are the origins of this mother of all battles ended once nobody ever knew it before, the
institution? Where did the passion and for all the Ottoman hegemony enemy now completely ruined,
for coffee come from? For this in the area and was the start of the everything lost for them.”
82
LIVING HERITAGE

Coffee at The Ottomans also left

Schönbrunn
instruments like cymbals and the
Café Hawelka timpani, which would quickly
make their way into western
music. Among the many treasures
was also a collection of 500 sacks
containing beans, which were
thought to be camel feed. But
the spy Georg Franz Kolschitzky
(1640-1694) who spoke Romanian
and Turkish and who had, with
his Serbian assistant Đorđe
Mihajlović, infiltrated the
Ottoman camp many times, knew
exactly what the beans were for.
He had lived in Istanbul as a young
man and knew the power of the
mysterious beans. Kolschitzky
added milk and sugar to the bitter
concoction and started serving
small cups of coffee going door
to door in an Ottoman costume.
Since that fateful day, Vienna has
been running on coffee. Very soon
after, others picked up on this
invigorating new beverage and On 12 September 1885, the image – with a large moustache
the rest is, as they say, history. Kolschitzkygasse, a street named and fez and dressed in traditional
Coffee had started its unstoppable in Kolschitzky’s honour, welcomed Ottoman fashion – can still be seen
conquest of the world. a small statue which still adorns in some of the classic Viennese
the corner house. Paintings of his coffee houses.
 A symphony of chaming grace since 1892
The Hotel Bristol, a Luxury Collection Hotel next to the Vienna State Opera has been
an inspiring meeting point for Vienna’s cultural and business life for around 120 years.
With its 150 exclusive rooms and suites, including the legendary Prince of Wales Suite,
the Bristol is a living example for charming accommodation with a very personal
attention to excellent service for a memorable Vienna experience.

LIFE IS A COLLECTION OF EXPERIENCES

LET US BE YOUR GUIDE
bristolvienna.com
84
LIVING HERITAGE

Faith in the Future:

900 years of
Klosterneuburg

Klosterneuburg,
photo by Heinz Maybe it would have been even more romantic if it had
Leopold III of started with a prayer, but it started with a veil.
Babenberg
The Virgin Mary appeared to Leopold III of Babenberg
(1073 – 1136), later known as Leopold the Good, and
showed him the location of the veil of his wife Agnes,
which she had lost years before.
Coffee at the
Butterfly Green
House

A miracle had happened and on
this exact spot he established
the Klosterneuburg Monastery
in 1114, a year after he had made
the settlement suitable as a
residence. Much has changed since
the monastery’s founding, but
for the Canons Regular of Saint
Augustine of Klosterneuburg the
essential things have remained
the same. The monks developed
the monastery into the centre
of religious life, culture and
scholarship it still is today, 900
years later. Even Leopold is still
here. In 1663, under the rule of
his namesake Emperor Leopold
I, he was declared patron saint
of Austria. His skull with an
archducal crown is kept in an
embroidered relic holder with his
forehead exposed.
But staying close to its roots does
not imply that the monastery is
not open to new ideas. Its balanced
relationship with nature and the
environment makes sense in an
age where sustainability is key.
And, perhaps more important,
the monks have had 900 years to
refine their wine-making skills.
Interior, 85
photo by Effi
Schweizer
Klosterneuburg
in the 17th
century by
Georg Mätthaus
Vischer
The monastery is home to a
series of important works of
art, from the world-famous 12th
century Verdun Altar to the Titan
sculptures of Lorenzo Mattielli
and even a collection of modern
paintings. The library contains
30,000 volumes and numerous
manuscripts. This rich result
of centuries of collecting can be
seen in an impressive ensemble
of buildings, with thematic
tours, from the sacred tour to the
imperial tour and the very popular
wine cellar tour, which reveals the
great history of the oldest winery
in Austria.
In 2006 Klosterneuburg was
awarded a Diploma in the
restoration category of the EU
Prize for Cultural Heritage/
Europa Nostra Awards.
86
FICTION & FACT

Favourite Things
It is the summer of 1964, exactly 50 years ago. A freezing and
angry Julie Andrews battles the sudden gusts of wind of the
camera helicopter while director Robert Wise is biting his
nails to finish the last shooting of a film already two months
behind schedule.

Trapp Villa
garden Then for one short glorious
moment the sun breaks through
the clouds and the most famous
opening shot of movie history is
a fact. The Sound of Music may
be the ultimate romantic film we
all love to hate or hate to love.
The cinematic retelling of the von
Trapp family story escaping the
Nazis in 1938 with Julie Andrews
as Maria and Christopher Plummer
as Captain Georg von Trapp went
on to win five Oscars including
best film. Austria became forever
connected to rolling alpine hills
and a dancing and twirling Maria
von Trapp. It is one of the most
successful films ever made.
But in Austria The Sound of
Music is certainly not one of the
country’s Favourite Things. Many
an Austrian eyebrow is raised
when once again an international
orchestra plays Edelweiss thinking
it is an old Austrian song or
even the national anthem. On
the other hand each year tens

of thousands of tourists travel
to Austria to see the locations
of the film for themselves. And
the tourist industry especially
around Salzburg gives the visitors
the opportunity to Climb Ev’ry
Mountain. Making money off the
back of the success of the film is as
easy as Do-Re-Mi. The von Trapp
family received medals of Honor
from the Salzburg government in
1998. Hollywood can be a strong
impetus for heritage success
stories: from James Bond movies
to the Sisi Films, the shooting
locations attract visitors from
across the globe.
The Sound of Music is based on the
musical based on the bestseller
book by Maria von Trapp, The
87
Story of the Trapp Family Singers.
In the late 1950s the book was
the inspiration of two German/
Austrian films but it was the
Broadway-musical (1959)
with music by Rodgers and
Hammerstein that made the von
Trapps a worldwide sensation.
Maria had sold her rights to the
book at a small price and the
money Hollywood made did not
profit the family directly.
So what is real and what is not?
What is true cultural heritage
and what is a Hollywood
fabrication? Separating fact from
fiction is always tricky but in the
Julie Andrews
case of the von Trapps it is even wife. They had already two in the Sound of
more complicated. children by the time The Sound Music (photo
courtesy 20th
of Music tells us they met for Century Fox)
The real Maria von Trapp the first time. And it was not
(1905-1987), a novice, became that romantic either. The real Von Trapp
Family
a governess to the von Trapp Maria spoke of a mostly loveless
children after their mother marriage. The von Trapps started
Agathe had died. In 1927 she their successful singing career
became the Captain’s second in 1935 after a financial mishap
88
FICTION & FACT

Maria’s
apartment in the
Trapp Villa in
Salzburg

Lobby

Breakfast room
 89

Maria von Trapp’s USA immigration

papers

which had decimated the family

fortune. Their family villa in Aigen,
a suburb of Salzburg, still exists and
was transformed into a luxury hotel
in 2008. Breakfast is still served
with everybody seated around one
big family table and you can even
stay in Maria’s apartment, a one
bedroom suite overlooking the lush
gardens, a trifle more spacious than
Maria’s real room must have been.
The Villa Trapp is nonetheless a
special place where the real and the
imagined history go hand in hand
peacefully. Sitting in the garden,
with the imposing mountains as
a backdrop, it is easy to imagine
how the extended von Trapp family
must have lived here.

The von Trapps fled Salzburg in

1938, not by a hazardous journey
as in the film, but by train via Italy.
They managed to continue their
success in the USA. In 1947 father
Georg died, but the rest of the
family kept singing and touring.
They finally settled in Stowe,
Vermont, in what was to become
another hotel, still run by family
members today, the Von Trapp
Lodge.

The last of the singing children, also

called Maria von Trapp, died this
year at the age of 99.
90 Exterior
Dorotheum
LIVING HERITAGE

The first auction in the history

of auctions was probably held in
Vienna, in the famous Dorotheum
Palace. “There is a Swedish
company which is older,” manager
Martin Böhm explains, “but
they did not really start as an
auction house as we did, in 1707.”
The Pawn & Query Bureau was
founded by the young Emperor
Joseph I as an exchange for
property, moveable goods and
even labour services. “We moved
to this building in 1901”, says

Going, Going, STAY:

The longstanding tradition of
the Dorotheum Auction house.
Böhm. “It was opened by Emperor
Franz Joseph I. Some people
who enter here for the first time
assume it used to be a palace of
some sort, but no private house
would ever have ornamental
staircases as we do. It was built as

an auction house and that’s why
it’s still functional today.”
It would be an easy mistake to
make, because in Vienna you
seem to find a palace on every
street corner.. The Dorotheum is
a majestic building in the centre
of Vienna. You wonder what was
here before, as it is quite a large
plot to suddenly encounter in the
heart of the city. “The original
building was an old monastery
and church,” Martin Böhm tells
us while he shows us around. “We
kept some of the most interesting
91
features and embedded them into
a wall in our courtyard to make a
connection between the present
and the past.” Böhm draws our
attention to the stone staircases.
“This was a very particular
talent which was very rare in
Inner courtyard
Europe. To make these delicately with elements of
balanced stone staircases requires the old church
and monastery
real craftsmanship which
was available here in Vienna. Entrance hall
Elsewhere in Europe you can find
ornate wooden staircases which
are relatively easy to make, but
these slabs of stone in one piece
perfectly fit on top of one another
to make a staircase which is not
only beautiful to look at but also
very strong. It is the result of
real stonemason expertise and
knowledge handed down over
centuries.”
Downstairs we find a regular pawn
shop and a fixed-price auction
shop, packed with bargain hunters
looking for that one treasure that
perfectly fits their collection.
92
Central
LIVING HERITAGE
staircase
Just let your eyes wander past
the display cases filled with the
wonders of centuries past, trying
to capture the human spirit and
condition in works of art and
maybe not-so-much-art. Forgotten
landscapes hang above cupboards
with exotic wooden inlays. Art
deco jewellery, ornamental
sculptures, antique toys and even a
signed baseball bat softly whisper
‘buy me’.
The Dorotheum’s display rooms
upstairs operate like a museum on
espresso. Every few weeks or even
days, the exhibitions as well as
collections change completely. For
every major auction a catalogue
and a new interior design is made.
New experts are brought in, new
potential buyers and collectors
are approached, and the staff
are continuously recreating and
rebuilding the display room to
accommodate the objects for yet
another auction.
Next is the beautiful auction
room with the ornamental crest
of emperor Franz Joseph I, a
symbolic presence of the emperor
who gave the auction house its
central position in Viennese
society. He is in a metaphysical
sense still watching the hectic
Auction room
procedures below. Here is where
the real action is, a continuous
stream of works of art, design
and craftsmanship changing
hands at lightning speed. The
hammer comes down again and
again. For the easily excited it is
a dangerous place. Things you
never suspected you wanted
to own all of a sudden become
a must-have obsession. This is
what the auction experience is
about. Suspense hangs in the
room, adrenaline surges and the
age old passion for the hunt is
guided by the experienced hand
of the auctioneers. “It never fails
to be exciting,” Böhm confesses.
“No auction is ever the same.
Unexpected things always happen.
Some objects sell beyond even
their most optimistic estimates,
others suddenly lag behind for no
discernible reason. It is always
thrilling to be in the room.”
The Dorotheum has seen more
art change hands than most other
auction houses across the world,
but as they say, it never gets old.
For the passionate collector as well
as for the occasional buyer, a well
organized auction is irresistible;
that magical moment, when you
know it’s yours!
 Grand Hotel Wien
Luxury and history united
The Grand Hotel Wien is the premium hotel on Vienna’s prestigious boulevard “Ringstrasse”. Just steps
away from the Vienna State Opera and St. Stephen’s cathedral this 5-star-hotel combines highest
luxury with an elegant historical ambience and personal service at its best.

Meetings and events become a different experience in our multifunctional function rooms. Our venues
range from modern daylight rooms to an impressive Viennes ballroom. Culinary delights are offered by
our Grand Catering and in our two award-winning restaurants.

Kaerntner Ring 9, A-1010 Vienna, Austria

Tel. +43 1 515 80-0, Fax +43 1 515 80-10
info@grandhotelwien.com
www.grandhotelwien.com
94
COUNTRY DREAMS

Ernst Fuchs in
2007

A House for
All Seasons
All of a sudden I feel a presence behind
me. For a second the frail man with
surprisingly observant eyes could be
mistaken for a lifelike statue, but then I
notice one bandaged hand and the other
lifting an ornate walking stick.

The 84-year-old Ernst Fuchs
(b.1930) just returned home
after a short stay at the hospital,
fragile and literally supported
by family members. He is as ever
immaculately dressed, augmented
by his signature colourful fez and
flowing beard. It has been over 40
years since Fuchs acquired this
beautiful villa in Hütteldorf on the
outskirts of Vienna.
The classical Roman style house
was built in 1888 by Otto Wagner,
the Austrian Jugenstil architect
who was one of the founders of
Exterior
Wagner villa
the famous Wiener Secession
movement. The villa was a
sensation when it was built and for
years it was the place to be for the
cultural elite of Vienna. Around
1900 Wagner changed the patio
into a Jugendstil jewel with stained
glass windows by Adolf Böhm
depicting the Vienna Woods.
Later Wagner would design a
smaller villa for himself next door.
The house was sold to a famous
businessman, Ben Tiber, and
during the war expropriated by the
Nazis and made into a Hitler Youth
95
headquarters. By 1960 the once- Wagner villa
around 1900
glorious villa was forgotten and in
a poor state, waiting for oblivion or
a saviour.
When Ernst Fuchs was still a child
he had made his grandmother a
promise:”When I am older I will
buy you a house.” And he did. He
fulfilled his promise in 1972 and
his grandmother and his mother
lived in this magical house in
a quiet suburb, surrounded by
lush forest, for the rest of their
lives. But just buying a house for
grandmother was not enough.
It had to be much more. Fuchs
wanted to create the ultimate
house, the perfect house, to
capture his artistry in stone.
Fuchs’ house is a living museum,
as the artist still lives where he
creates. And what he has created
is an elaborate dream, lusciously
captured in a villa. The house
seems to burst at its seams with
art. Fuchs not only painted
the paintings and sculpted the
sculptures;, he also designed the
furniture, the floors, the walls,
the ceilings and the gardens. It
feels like walking around in the
man’s head. And Fuchs’ head is
a labyrinth of creation. He is not
96
COUNTRY DREAMS
Interior Wagner only an artist in the traditional
villa sense, he is also an opera set
designer, a composer, a poet and an
activist.
Adolf Böhm’s stained glass
windows of the Vienna Woods
have been beautifully restored.
The sun filters through the
colourful panels and bathes the
art deco room and Fuchs’ intense
paintings in a dreamy light. His
bedroom seems elongated, a
feeling increased by the bed’s
design and the floating painting
behind it. The upstairs bathroom
doubles as an art gallery. The
specially-designed floor tiles feel
a bit shaky and vulnerable under
my feet. The wash basin stands
at the end of an ornamental pool

and offers a good view of the
gardens, which subtly change
from structured nature into
wilderness. As with many artists
who were at the top of their
game in the 1960s, several rooms
reveal an uncomplicated attitude
towards eroticism. Fuchs is of the
generation of Hundertwasser (see
elsewhere in this magazine) and
Arnulf Rainer. He recently had
an exhibition in his villa together
with Yoko Ono and large portraits
of John Lennon mix perfectly with
Fuchs’ paintings and furniture.
The little chapel and fountain
in the garden is reminiscent of
Fuchs’ church in St.Jakob im Tal
near Graz. It is busy, bright and
a little strange, as if a collection
of colourful tiles went crazy and
took possession of the design. The
97
villa’s garden house is surrounded St. Jakob in Thal
Church
by sculptures and wild coloured
vases.
Discovering Fuchs’ villa is an
exciting and rewarding excursion.
It is clear that what the artist
created here will easily withstand
the test of time. Maybe the all-
encompassing art concept of a
living artist is not recognized
enough in today’s Austria, but
I predict his villa will become a
sensation in years to come. We
may no longer be allowed to walk
on the bathroom floor tiles or sit
down on the seats of the exotic
furniture, but the magic of Fuchs’
vision will be as strong as ever.
98
FICTION & FACT

I wander lonely
in this world
The world of Empress Sisi

“Ein Unergründlich
tiefer See
Ist meine Seele, There are very few historical
Den ich oft selber nicht figures that have captured the
versteh.”
imagination as much as Elisabeth,
the longest-reigning Empress of
Austria (1837-1898). We all know
her of course as Sisi. In that very
special universe that is reserved
for Lady Di, Princess Gracia and
the like, Sisi has secured lasting
loyalty among fans and admirers
as much as historians. She has
become a mythical cultural
treasure, whose imagery can be
seen everywhere in Austria even
today, more than a century after
her death. She is as much a brand
as she is cultural heritage. We may
never understand how this kind of
stargazing works, but everything
that is connected to her memory
– from Possenhofen Castle in
“My soul is an Elisabeth, Bavaria where she grew up, the
Franz Joseph unfathomably deep Empress of
of Austria as a lake, which I often do Austria Augustinian Church in the centre
young man not understand myself.” of Vienna where she got married,

Schönbrunn Palace where she used
to live in summer, the Sisi Museum
in the Hofburg where she used to
live in winter, Bad Ischl where she
used to spent her holidays to name
but a few – attracts enthusiastic
visitors, revelling in the magic
of the myth. Any shop, café or a
restaurant that can claim she once
entered the building for whatever
reason, knows it will generate
attention and bring additional
income.
The real Elisabeth, the woman of
flesh and blood standing quietly
behind the curtain, can easily be
forgotten while the circus show
around her life, as much a comedy
as a tragedy, is being performed on
the world stage. But the woman in
the wings has left us some insights
in her life in the form of her poetic
diary and the personal memories
of the people close to her. We can
look at some of her obsessions, her
doubts, her pre-occupations and
her passions.
“I wander lonely in this world,
Delight and life long time averted,
No confidant to share my inner self,
A matching soul never revealed.”
Laxenburg Castle,
photo by Stattmann
Libraries full of biographies have
been published since her death.
But let’s start by looking at some
of the facts. Sisi was born on
Christmas Eve 1837 in München
and spent a happy childhood
as one of seven siblings. Her
parents, Duke Max of Bavaria and
Ludovika were relaxed parents
with no real chance of ever
ascending to a throne. Sisi was not
so much a princess as a tomboy.
But her life changed in 1853
when, on a trip to Bad Ischl, the
young Emperor Franz Joseph was
immediately bowled over by the
beautiful 15-year-old and chose her
over her sister Helene, as had been
the original plan. The engagement
was announced the next day and
in April 1854 the wedding took
place in the Wiener Augustinian
Church. Sisi had a hard time
99
adjusting to her new role. She Elisabeth
was watched over constantly and Memorial
Church at the
had very little opportunity to live Schneeberg
her own life. Tragedy struck for (1901), photo by
Stattmann
the first time in 1857 when her
first daughter Sophie died as an
infant. She became increasingly
restless and started to travel
to Venice and especially Corfu.
She was admired for her beauty
and its cultivation became an
increasing obsession. She had to
be in perfect shape with perfect
skin and a scarily small wasp
waist. She called herself a ‘slave
to my hair.’ She exercised with
contraptions which could easily be
confused with torture equipment.
Although she was known on rare
occasions to binge, most of the
time she ate next to nothing. After
the tragic suicide of her only son
Rudolf in 1889, Elisabeth grew
increasingly depressed, eccentric
and unapproachable. She wore
only black. The public no longer
knew what she looked like, as all
portraits were forbidden. She died
unexpectedly in 1898 on a visit to
Geneva when she was stabbed by
the attention-hungry anarchist
Luigi Lucheni. Lucheni’s aim was
to kill royalty: after failing to kill
the Duke of Orléans, he instead
murdered Sisi with a needle-file.
100 Since 1994 the Sisi Museum in the
Hofburg illustrates how a once
FICTION & FACT

light-hearted young girl became a

restless and melancholic woman.
More than 300 items, including
parasols, boxes and gloves,
beauty recipes, her death mask, a
reconstructed dress and the actual
file used in her assassination, are
on display in the museum.

Bad Ischl Elisabeth on meeting Prince Edward of Wales (later
King Edward VIII)
We were sitting cosily together in the drawing room,
Prince Edward and I.
He whispered sweet nothings and romanticized,
He said he loved me.
He drew me very close and took my hand,
And whispered: “Dear Cousin, how about it?”
I laughed heartily and threatened him,
“There is somebody on their way up,”
We listened, but it was nothing,
And the funny game continued.
Sir Edward was heroic,
Yes, and very bold.
I did not defend myself, it was interesting,
I laughed:”Dear cousin, how about it?”
Then he became shy and whispered softly,
“There is somebody on their way up.”
Her lady in waiting countess Marie Festetics wrote in
her diary what Elisabeth said in 1850 as she showed
her around in Castle Laxenburg where she and Franz
Joseph had spent their honeymoon.
Sophie came. For she came every day, to spy on what
I was doing at any hour. I was completely at the mercy
of this completely malicious woman. Everything I
did was bad. She passed disparaging judgments on
anyone I loved. She found out everything because she
never stopped prying. The whole house feared her so
much that everyone trembled. Of course they told her
everything. The smallest thing was an affair of state.”
There was little love lost between Sisi and her mother-
in-law Archduchess Sophie
Once I requested the Emperor to take me along to
Vienna. I spent the whole day there with him. For one
day I did not see her. (i.e. Archduchess Sophie) but
no sooner had we arrived back home in the evening
or she came running to me. She forbade me to ever
do anything like that again. She reviled me so much
because it is unseemly for an Empress to go running
after her husband and to drive back and forth like a
cadet. Of course after that it was stopped.
She even went as far as to issue an ultimatum but
without much success:

Elisabeth went from room to room, said of each room
what it was, but without more detailed commentary,
until finally she stopped in a corner room where a
desk stood between windows and a desk chair before
it; she stood quiet as a mouse for a long time, suddenly
she said: “Here I wept a lot, Marie. The mere thought
of that time constricts my heart. I was here after my
wedding... I felt so abandoned, so lonely. Of course
the Emperor could not be here during the day, early
every morning he went to Vienna. At six o’clock he
returned for dinner. Until then I was alone all day
long and was afraid of the moment when Archduchess
I wish to have reserved to me absolute authority in all
matters concerning the children, the choice of the people
around them, the place of their residence, the complete
supervision of their education, in a word, everything is
left entirely to me to decide, until the moment of their
majority. I further wish that, whatever concerns my
personal affairs, such as, among others, the choice of
the people around me, the place of my residence, all
arrangements in the house etc. be reserved to me alone
to decide.
Elisabeth.
Bad Ischl, 27 August 1865

Elisabeth wrote Franz Joseph a month after his
coronation as King of Hungary in 1867. She was ill or
perhaps already pregnant of her fourth child Marie-
Valerie.
“Perhaps I am expecting. During this uncertainty, the
Salzburg visit is very depressing. I can weep all day
long, that is how infinitely sad I am. My dear soul,
comfort me, I need it very much. I have lost all interest,
I do not want to go riding or walking. All, all is vanity.”
To Titania, 1888
“Titania shall not go where people walk
This world, where no one understands her,
Where hundred thousand gazers her beleaguer,
Whispering and prying, “Look, the fool, look there!”
Where jealousy and envy seek her out,
To distort her every action,
Café in Bad 101
Ischl which Sisi
visited
She returns homebound to those regions,
Where allied, kinder souls abide.”
Elisabeth asked countess Marie Festetics during one
of their walks in Hungarian:
“Aren’t you surprised that I live like a hermit?”
And she explained: “I have no alternative but to
choose this life. In the outside world, I have been so
persecuted, they have said so many evil things about
me, I have been so maligned, been so deeply offended
and hurt, and God sees my soul, sees that I have never
done anything evil. So I thought I would find a society
that does not disturb my peace and which offers me
pleasure. The forest does not hurt me...Nature is much
more rewarding than Humanity.”
Schönbrunn
Palace
102
FEATURE

Ski slopes at
Rastkogel,
photo by Petr
Novák

The Slalom of
Alpine Conservation
Humans have been skiing for over
5000 years, but only in the 19th century
did they start to combine it with
luxury hotels, fashion statements and
après-ski. In olden days people would
go out on skies to hunt down deer
or wild boar, nowadays paparazzi
hunt down celebrities and royals on
the white slopes of the Austrian ski
Skiing around
resorts such as Lech am Arlberg and 1900

Zell am See.

Today skiing is as much about
physical exercise and sporting
achievements as it is about
seasonal holidays. And so every
winter the Austrian mountains
are covered with the bright and
colourful blanket of mass tourism.
With the interest in skiing
rocketing in the last century,
many traditional villages that had
slept through the centuries, were
roughly awakened to upgrade
their facilities and adapt to new
circumstances. Shops opened
up, restaurants started and
roads were widened. During the
Christmas season many towns
are now busier than the beaches
of the Costa del Sol in summer.
Ski lifts and ski hotels spread like
wild flowers on the quiet Austrian
hills. Some are a blemish on an
103
otherwise perfect face, but others
seem to blend perfectly with the
surrounding landscape. One of the
best examples are the Nordkette
Cableway Stations in Innsbruck,
growing like white stony
plants from the mountain. The
restoration of the exteriors and the
necessary modernization of the
interiors revitalised an important Nordkette
cableway
monument of 1920s Alpine
Stations,
architecture. It was awarded with Innsbruck
the European Union Prize for
The marmot is a
Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra famous example
Awards in 2010. The ride from the of Alpine
wildlife
city centre to an alititude of 2.300
metres takes only 20 minutes but
on a clear day the experience will
stay with you forever.
When skiing holidays started
to become a yearly reality for
many European families, with it
came alpine degradation and the
difficult balancing act between
nature conservation and tourism
development. It is a challenging
slalom trying to overcome the
pitfalls of millions of visitors in a
delicate and vulnerable ecosystem.
Sustainability is the key word, but
it is never easy.
104
FEATURE
The World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF) is worried about the
Alps in general and the Austrian
Alps in particular. The impact of
climate change, the pressures of
urban development, intensified
agricultural use and the needs of
tourism all have had an impact
on one of Europe’s truly natural
strongholds. It is an example
of a unique cultural landscape
in which men and nature have
lived together harmoniously for
thousands of years. For instance,
as WWF states, extensively
farmed Alpine meadows located
at 2000 metres above sea level
support up to 80 species of plants
per hundred square metres. Their
European Alpine Programme
(EALP) is helping to save Alpine
nature and its cultural landscape
in close cooperation with the
Austrian authorities and the local
communities. New conservation
strategies are urgently needed
to secure the beauty of the Alps
for future generations. Going
downhill is only a good thing in
skiing, not in cultural and natural
conservation practices.
IDEAS AND CREATIVITY ARE AT THE
HEART OF OUR VALUE CREATION
Bertelsmann’s Chairman and CEO Thomas Rabe on how
Europe’s biggest media company is working to uphold
important cultural treasures in the digital age.
European cultural history could not have been written without the wealth of
ideas and the inspiration of generations of creative people. Nowhere else in
the world have so many groundbreaking ideas emerged in recent centuries,
creating so many unique works. The diversity of Europe’s cultural heritage
is second to none – whether in writing, music, or painting, on the stage, on
screen or – as is common today – on mobile devices.

As one of the world’s oldest media companies, Bertelsmann has had the
privilege of playing an active role in this unique history for nearly 180 years.
Today in the digital age we are Europe’s largest media company, with leading
market positions in the areas of television, books, magazines, music, services
and printing. At the same time, this means we have a great responsibility to
European cultural heritage. Digitization opens up new opportunities, not only
for our businesses, but also for fulfilling this responsibility.

One of the most valuable achievements of digitization consists of bringing the

trendsetting works of a given era to later generations in a way that is up-to-
date but still true to the original. Today, we can gain an idea of how the “Abbey
Road” album would have sounded if it had been recorded 40 years later. We
can tap into Charles Darwin’s insights through written texts and the spoken
word, but also interactively on a tablet. And we can present classic movies that
are almost 100 years old, not only in new splendor, but also to new audiences.

That is why Bertelsmann recently was the main sponsor behind the
restoration of the German silent movie classic “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,”
a cinematic milestone of the 1920s. We were particularly concerned about
showcasing this important piece of film history in a modern yet authentic way.
Because we believe that such a classic should not be confined to the archives,
but should also be seen in high quality on movie and TV screens, as a Blu-
ray on computers, or as a stream on tablets. In short, wherever our audience
expects its favorite content to be in the digital age.

At the same time Bertelsmann is in the process of introducing the legendary

Archivio Storico Ricordi, one of the world’s most valuable privately held
music collections, to a wider public. Its inventory includes nearly 8,000
original scores of more than 600 operas – including precious original
manuscripts of Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini – and around 10,000
libretti. Bertelsmann has owned the Archivio Ricordi since 1994. When we
sold the parent company in 2006, we made a deliberate decision to keep the
archive, and to preserve its historically valuable holdings and make them
visible for posterity. After stops in Milan and Berlin, the “Enterprise of Opera”
exhibition – a first step in this process – opens in Brussels this month.

These are just two examples of our efforts to raise public awareness of
significant works of European cultural heritage. We know that the ideas and
creativity of our artists, writers and journalists are the heart of our value
creation. It is they who constantly reinvent our offers – and who, day by
day, tell stories that inform, entertain and inspire. Therefore, we will work
steadily to ensure that they get the appreciation they deserve. This includes an
unwavering commitment to the protection of intellectual property – because
intellectual property is probably the most important resource available to us
in Europe.

Thomas Rabe
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bertelsmann
 Treasure Trove
106
TREASURE

To call the Kunstkammer Vienna (Chamber of Art and Wonders), part of the
Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum), an art museum is like calling Mozart
a composer of catchy tunes. The Kunstkammer houses one of the most important art
collections in the world. After restoration of the galleries, the museum was reopened
in 2013. It has been a triumph, for the art lover as well as the visiting tourist.

Exterior
Kunsthistorisches
Museum

Exterior
Naturhistorisches
Museum

The Habsburgs who ruled the
Austro-Hungarian Empire were
not only immensely rich but also
were avid collectors of the exotic
and unusual. They were also
very easily bored. The museum
has over 2000 works on display;
from almost magical automatons,
unbelievably fine jewellery and
creative scientific instruments to
simply the best art works money
could buy or inspire. They offer
the ultimate collection of the
Renaissance and Baroque periods
107
and reflect the emperor’s desire
to capture all that was known
and admired in the period. The
tasteful galleries show collections
dating from ancient Egypt up to
the beginning of the modern era.
The restoration has quite literally
108
TREASURE

Prehistoric bird cast a new light on treasures that and houses 30 million specimens From Martian meteorites and
have to be seen to be believed. and artefacts. Maybe its most moon stones to unexpected
Skeleton
reconstruction loved treasure - besides huge animatronics of dinosaurs, which
early human Across the park, like a dinosaur skeletons and the largest might terrify but thrill young
Egyptian mirror image, we find the and oldest meteorite collection in visitors, the museum not only
collection Naturhistorisches Museum the world - is the 25,000-year-old invites exploration, but, together
Kunsthistorisches
(Natural History Museum), figure of the Venus of Willendorf. with the Kunsthistorisches
Museum
possessing one of the largest, The tiny sculpture of a voluptuous Museum, it forms a perfect
Salt cellar by oldest, and most noteworthy woman seems to float in a beam
Benvenuto Bust of Emperor
natural history collections in of light at the centre of the Leopold I (1640
Cellini (1540-
1543) the world. The building was museum galleries. Nearby in a – 1705) with
the famous
completed two years before the well-designed cabinet we find Habsburg
Kunsthistorisches other, less known ancient artefacts jaw
Museum which could easily rival the
artistic quality of the Venus. Many
unsuspecting visitors are caught
in their spell. The tiny sculptures,
often made of animal bone, evoke
a direct emotional response across
the millenia. Silently we watch the
small and finely sculptured head
of a horse and a prehistoric dancer
caught in a flowing movement
even older than the famous Venus.
 109

Kunstkammer
ceiling

Interior
Kunsthistorisches
Museum

Female bust
by Francesco
Laurana (1430–
1502), photo by
Vassil

afternoon. The cafés at the top of to shame. The neo-baroque style

both buildings are definitely the
places to be for lunch.
The ensemble of museum
buildings at the Ringstrasse took
decades to complete and was
supposed to put Imperial Rome
created some of the most beautiful
19th century interiors, probably
unrivalled in any other European
museum. The museums lie in
the heart of the historic centre
of Vienna, a UNESCO World
Heritage site.
 Natural
110
COUNTRY DREAMS

Partners
It is a magical place right out of a fairytale.
The Thayatal Natural Park feels as if it
was thought up by Disney artists during
the making of Snow White. It is almost
unnaturally beautiful and charming.

Just before entering the National

Park and the village of Hardegg,
which is at the centre of the park,
we come across a modern building
of wood and glass floating above
the forest ground. The National
Park Centre was opened in 2003
and its bright interrior shows us
the ThayaTales, an exhibition
on the origin and the natural
treasures of the park.

The park contains a wealth of

untouched meadows, deep forests
and river valleys. Kingfishers dive
for fish, more than ten species
of woodpeckers hammer away
at dead trees and the cuckoo, the
wood warbler and the blue tit
compose a background symphony
of life. Above a bright ocean of
flowing wild spring flowers zoom
dragonflies, bumblebees and
beetles. Back from their African
winter holiday, black storks
walk slightly comically along the
meandering Thaya river. Emerald
lizards bask in the sunlight and
the grasshoppers, butterflies and
jumping spiders quickly get out
 111

of the way of human explorers.

The hills are dotted with medieval
castles and mysterious ruins. Even
in summer the water of the Thaya
is still fresh and cool and creates
a magical micro climate, a dream
of biodiversity and beauty. The
forests are home to large game and
the undergrowth is teeming with
animals of the small and furry
kind and the occasional snake on
the prowl. You never know, maybe
even a lynx is hiding between the
trees. Wildcats definitely feel at
home here.
this border area between the project, which shares information
The Thayatal National Park is East and the West developed and discusses potential dangers
not only a place of great beauty undisturbed for years and even to both parks. They also develop
it is also a fine example of cross before the Berlin Wall came down, projects together to attract more
border cooperation. National Park environmentalists on both sides visitors. Thayatal National Park
Podyjí lies on the southeastern realised that this was a unique works as much as possible under a
border of the Czech and Moravian chance to preserve a rare and commercial business model.
highlands and is an exceptionally pristine part of Europe’s natural
well-preserved river-valley heritage. National Park Podyjí In 2007, the Lower Austrian
landscape with canyons of as much opened in 1991. Thayatal National Government awarded director
as 200 meters deep. The Dyje Park officially followed in 2000 Robert Brunner its gold medal for
river meanders quietly through but is substantially smaller than special achievements in Lower
a plant and animal community Podyjí. Ever since they have been Austria. Norbert Kellner, former
unique in Europe. During the working together, for instance mayor and long-standing chairman
cold war the flora and fauna in in the ‘Nature without Borders’ of the Thayatal National Park’s
112
To bee or not to bee
COUNTRY DREAMS

Across the globe bee populations are severely threatened.

As a result of processes not fully understood, the bees no
longer seem to function as they did before. Hive numbers
have been declining. We associate bees obviously with
honey, but the pollination of over 70% of all European
crops are dependent on insects; think of fruits like apples,
pears, tomatoes and apricots, but also vegetables from
carrots to onions, from cucumbers to pumpkins, almonds
and walnuts, herbs and medicinal plants. 90% of wild
flowers depend on pollination and it is essential to Europe’s
biodiversity. We have more than 2000 species of bees
in Europe and some of them have declined dramatically
through loss of habitat, agrochemicals, parasites and
diseases as well as competition between wild and managed
species, climate change and non-native plants. A cohesive
network of cooperation at a European level is necessary,
as bees are not only an economical value, they are part of
Europe’s cultural heritage.

advisory board, was awarded the
silver medal of the Republic of
Austria. He received in 2008 the
highest recognition in the field of
nature conservation: the Josef-
Schöffel Prize.
And the initiative has been noted
by international organizations
too; such as the International
Union for Conservation of Nature
and the Council of Europe (which
awards diplomas to ‘protected,
natural and semi-natural areas and
landscapes of special European
importance for the preservation
of biological, geological and
landscape diversity.’)
All the efforts have paid off. The
park sees steadily growing visitors
numbers. The surrounding
areas are getting in on the act
and have also profited from
the park’s popularity. From
challenging hiking trails to cosy
bed&breakfasts, the Thayatal-
Podyjí National Parks are a great
place to retreat from the busy
world for a few days, an unspoiled
wonder in the heart of Europe
www.np-thayatal.at
www.europarc.org
 Behind
Burg
Scenes
BURGTHEATER After the Comédie Française, the
Burgtheater in Vienna is Europe’s
second-oldest theatre. Today, the Burg-
VIENNA theater, complete with its three affiliated
venues – the Akademietheater, Kasino
and Vestibül – and a permanent ensemble
of more than 80 actors and actresses, is
one of Europe’s largest theatres and plays
a seminal role in the German-speaking
theatrical world.
Apart from the stage-art the Burgtheater
plays an important part in architecture
and interior design of the 19th century
in Vienna. The magnificent decoration,
especially the two imperial staircases
painted by Gustav Klimt, his brother
Ernst Klimt and their companion Franz
Matsch as well as the main foyer and the
many statues, busts and paintings of
famous writers and actors can be visited
during our daily guided tour.

Guided Tour „Burgtheater – Information and Contact:

behind the scenes“ Phone: +43(0) 1 514 44-4140
Monday – Thursday: Fax: +43(0) 1 514 44-4143
3 p.m. in German Mail: info@burgtheater.at
with English summary Universitätsring 2, 1010 Wien
Friday – Sunday:
3 p.m. German and English
(September to June)

www.burgtheater.at
114
LIVING HERITAGE

Harmannsdorf

Peace of Mind :

The Extraordinary life of

Bertha von Suttner
It is a misty morning in Harmannsdorf in Lower Austria. The
clouds have floated down to cover the hill in a soft, white
blanket. The sounds of cowbells and bleating sheep may be
heard far off and muted through the fog. The castle and the
small village surrounding it could not be more peaceful, a
perfect location for Bertha von Suttner (1843-1914), who spent
her days here, writing about a Europe without war.

What would she have made of the
European Union? It is a safe bet
she would have been delighted
and proud. She probably would
have many improvements and
suggestions, but her ideal, a
peaceful and unified Europe, has
in many ways become a reality.
Von Suttner was a woman who did
not fear to boldly go where no one,
especially no woman, had gone
before. Maybe today’s world is
still riddled with war but at least
the overall mindset is that peace
is better than war. In a way all
politicians have, at least officially,
become pacifists. In Von Suttner’s
time, the late 19th century and the
beginning of the 20th, peace was not
such a clearly defined goal as it is
today. In that sense we are all living
in Bertha von Suttner’s shadow.
Her life could have been much
different. Born as Bertha Baronin
Kinsky von Chinic und Tettau
she enjoyed the privileged life
of a young aristocrat at the
Austrian court. Countess Kinsky,
as she was then known, had the
opportunity to live the high life,
travel around Europe and learn
several languages. But all that was
about to change. By the time she
had reached 30, her inheritance
was all but spent and she started
working as a governess for the
von Suttner family. The youngest
son fell in love with her and,
against the wishes of his family,
they married. No longer welcome
Bertha von 115
Suttner
in Austria, they made a new life
for themselves in Tiflis (now
Tbilisi in Georgia) where they
lived for almost ten years. The
family finally relented and in 1885
the couple returned to Austria,
retreating to what was supposed to
be a quiet life in Harmannsdorf.
Bertha had never thought of
herself as an activist, but her
ideas about society and pacifism
began to evolve into more than
just writing material. In 1887
she began working with the
International Arbitration and
Peace Association in London
and she quickly developed a
taste for more. Pacifism and the
skill of arbitration became the
driving force of her life. Her book
The Machine Age had already
established her as a pacifist writer,
116 so wholeheartedly, she dedicated
LIVING HERITAGE

herself to her work even more, as

figurehead of a growing pacifist
network, not just in Europe but also
in the rest of the world.

Before her marriage Bertha von

Suttner had briefly worked as
a personal assistant for Alfred
Nobel in Paris and this meeting
had left a lasting impression on
both. Nobel would support the
peace movement and Bertha’s
initiatives for many years. They
kept in close contact and it is clear
that the reason the philanthropist
put the establishment of a prize for
peace in his will had much to do
Harmannsdorf but it was Lay Down Your Arms layers of nationalistic fervor and with their friendship. He had also
(1889) that would project her militarism, would cement her role clearly intended her to be one of its
into the international limelight. as a leader of the international recipients: and so she was - in 1905 -
The bestseller, which showed the peace movement. After the death the fifth person and the first woman
abject horrors of war without the in 1902 of her husband, who to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
usual glory and without the usual had supported her endeavours
The Peace Prize gave her the
opportunity to reach an even larger
audience and in her opinion this
was of vital importance. But she felt
her time running out. Physically
she was not well and the spectre of
World War I was casting its dark
shadow across the continent. She
kept saying to whoever wanted to
listen that Europe was one and that
working together harmoniously
was the only way forward. But
Europe was not ready for Von
Suttner’s message of peace and
arbitration. Although she remained
hopeful until the end, she died just
two months before the outbreak of
“But anyway,
World War I.
friends! Europe
means peace
since 1945. It is a Now, a hundred years after her
political project
in development. death, the message of Bertha von
It is a cultural Suttner is clearer than ever before.
passion!”
“Say, your friend
She would have been pleased – but
would not by perhaps also appalled.
any chance be
Ukranian?”
Cartoon on For more information on her life,
the European times and ideals check out www.
Elections by
Plantu, used by
berthavonsuttner.com, an initiative
permission of the Peace Palace in The Hague
 WWW.EXPONATEC.DE
WWW.EXPONATEC.COM

MUSEUM • MUSEUM KULTURERBE • HERITAGE

18 – 20
NOVEMBER
2015

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Exhibition: © CERN – Universe of Particles. ATELIER BRÜCKNER / Michael Jungblut

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118 To call Vienna primarily a city of
FEATURE

the dead would be quite accurate

as more than 3 million people are
buried here, much more than the
present population of the city.
This particular cemetery was
the result of forward thinking.
19th century Vienna was growing
quickly and the Austro-Hungarian
Empire was booming. Nobody
foresaw the demise of the empire
and the small graveyards of the
city would not be able to cope with
the expected increase in demand.
A decision was made to go big
and inclusive. Not only would the
cemetery, designed by Frankfurter
architects Karl Jonas Mylius and
Alfred Friedrich Bluntschli, be
larger than large, it would be a
place where everybody could
rest in peace. Catholics and Jews,
Protestants and Muslims would be
laid to rest side by side, maybe not
literally, but they would at least
be in the same cemetery. This idea
immediately outraged community
leaders, as these things usually do.
The opening in 1874 was therefore
a sober and almost secretive affair,
so as not to cause further civic
unrest.

The site exceeds any expectation.

Resting In Peace It is a magnificent place. The

beautifully sculpted Jugendstil
gates open to the main street,

Vienna’s City of the Dead leading to the Karl Lueger

“Half the size of Zurich but twice the

fun,” is a little inside Austrian joke at
the expense of the Swiss about one the
Europe’s largest graveyards. The Central
Cemetery or Zentralfriedhof in the suburb
of Simmering on the outskirts of Vienna is
almost half the size of the city of Zurich.

Entrance to the
Central Cemetery
 119
Mozart’s
memorial grave

Mozart
Museum,
Vienna

Mozart is still
very much a
part of Vienna

Memorial Church built by Max the place is so huge that walking

Hegele in the same style. Several
large memorial buildings spread
out their arched galleries as
welcoming arms. The graves,
some overgrown, others perfectly
maintained, exude a solemn grace,
especially in the early morning
fog. Normally cars are not allowed
in a cemetery, let alone buses, but
from one side to the other can
be challenging. Most elderly
visitors take the bus provided,
travelling between the Catholic,
the Protestant and the two Jewish
cemeteries. Orthodox Christians
and Muslims are buried here as
well, Buddhists joined the eternal
ranks in 2005, Mormons in 2009.
There are a special areas for people
who donated their bodies to
science and for babies and young
children.
Simmering was originally far from
the central city and it was quite a
journey to visit deceased relatives.
As a result, its popularity suffered
120
FEATURE

Beethoven’s
death mask

and the city council decided that
the cemetery should be made
more appealing, not just to future
clients, but also to tourists and
visitors. The idea was quickly
developed to creative an exclusive
Behind the area for the rich and famous. And
memorial
galleries we in a city like Vienna, the classical
can just see the music capital of the world, they
Karl Lueger
Memorial
had to be musical celebrities. In
Church 1888 many of the most famous
composers of all time were moved
to their new resting place in
the Central Cemetery and with
great success. The tourists from
across the globe no longer have
to travel from parish church to
parish church to honour their
heroes, they can just stroll from
one composer to the next. Ludwig
van Beethoven lies next to Franz
Schubert. The Strauss family is
just around the corner. Brahms,
Von Suppé, Gluck, Salieri, Wolf,
Schönberg and Robert Stolz, to
name but a few, are all resting
shoulder to shoulder. Even Mozart
puts in an appearance. Mozart
is buried somewhere in the St.
Mark’s cemetery but the exact
location is unknown. Popular
myth tells us that Mozart was
dumped in a mass grave but that

is not really true. He was buried
in a wooden coffin in a spot
shared with four others, as was
the normal custom at the time
for people of the middle class.
The graves were later reused and
Mozart’s bones probably ended
up in an ossuary. The grave in the
Central Cemetery therefore does
not contain an actual body - it is a
funerary memorial.
The Zentralfriedhof in Vienna
is an amazing place to wile away
a Sunday afternoon. Take your
walking shoes and spend some
time in the company of the old
Viennese. Some grave monuments
are constructed on ideas of
simplicity and functionality while
others are making grandiose
statements, flanked by marble
sculptures and poetic citations.
121
An occasional crow may make Schönberg
an appearance but the peace and Suppé
quiet in the cemetery make it a
welcome escape from the busy city.
Just take tram 71 from the centre of
Vienna - although for many locals
‘taking the 71’ is a euphemism for
death! And where else can you
walk among the world’s greatest
composers?
122
PARTNER
‘Society should be supported by banks’
The ideals of
ERSTE Foundation
Long before ERSTE Foundation
became a strong partner and friend
of European non-governmental
organizations such as Europa
Nostra, there was the First
Austrian Savings Bank. The
founding of the bank in 1819 was a
pioneering, civil-society initiative.
It empowered ordinary people
to take their fate into their own
hands by making provisions for
the future. It was run by dedicated
volunteers in a poor neighbourhood
of the capital. The symbol of
the original bank, a bee, and the
slogan ‘work, collect, proliferate’
evokes an image of a prosperous
beehive and the role played by bees
in pollinating flowering plants.
The roots of the organisation are
still very much part of today’s
commitment.
ERSTE Foundation currently
controls a little over 20% of Erste
Group Bank AG, one of the largest
financial services providers in
Central and South Eastern Europe.
It invests its dividend revenue in
social development projects in
Austria and Central and South
Eastern Europe. The foundation
supports social participation and
civil-society engagement; it brings
people together and disseminates
knowledge of the recent history of
this region, which since 1989 has
been undergoing dramatic change.
Filip Radunović
ERSTE Foundation has a very
strong commitment to Europe as
a whole. They strongly believe,
as they state, ‘in a social, cultural
and economic area without borders,
with all its diverse natural beauty,
individualism and identities.’
The organization initiates
hundreds of projects to engage
citizens of all backgrounds: from
film festivals to social gatherings,
from community programmes
to a children’s choir, from a
library to the ERSTE Foundation
Community, a network of engaged
organizations and individuals in
civil society and culture. ERSTE
Foundation offers an active
approach to social problem-solving,
cultural and artistic development
and European integration. They
have invested over 70 million Euros
since the official foundation in
2003.
Let’s take time to sit down with
Filip Radunović, Project Manager
Europe. This dynamic young
man was born in Podgorica in
Montenegro and grew up in
Munich, San Antonio and Vienna.
With a background in semiotics and
media psychology, he was a perfect
fit for a new and fast-growing
organization geared towards
exchanging ideas and creating
synergies on a European scale.
What attracted you to work for
ERSTE Foundation?
I was 26 years old when I joined
ERSTE Foundation. That was
nearly six years ago. At that
moment the Foundation was in
its fourth operational year as a
philanthropic institution. I clearly
remember the first contact with
my boss and our first talks and
interviews. The fascination of
moving from Podgorica to Vienna
to work for this unfamiliar (to
me, at that time) entity called
ERSTE Foundation lay in the
overall context of its existence
and mission – a young, dynamic
organization which was set up to
enhance social welfare in Central
and South Eastern Europe. The
opportunity to become involved
in such a broad spectrum of work,
covering various transformative
processes in culture, contemporary
arts, and social policy, with media
freedom and entry into youth
work, seemed to me a remarkable
and most unusual privilege. And
in the end, being young and willing
to contribute to the development
of such a body – and therefore be
part of its social impact - seemed
to be a huge bonus. After six years
I can only confirm this very first
impression.
Banks suffered a lot of image
damage over the last few years: it
must have been quite the opposite
for you, as a bank which does
good for the community?
Yes and no. Certainly, being a
shareholder in a bank which uses
part of its profits to support civil
society is great. We are the good
ones! ERSTE Group has been doing
retail business for people and real
economy for almost 200 years. It’s
a very old and, in the best sense of
the term, conservative business
model. But on the other hand many
people have been severely affected
and also scared by the financial
crisis. We – bank and foundation
- therefore have to convince them,
every day, through steady work
and investment in the both the
profit and non-profit sectors,
that there are models which can
provide positive alternatives for an
economic system that increasingly
seems to ignore people’s real needs.
It’s not the banks which should be
saved by society, but society which
should be supported by the banks.
What are the main objectives that
lie at the heart of the projects and
the initiatives of ERSTE?
123
Poster of
Our objectives are defined in
‘Pioniri: My
our mission and vision for the History, Our
future. If one looks at Europe History’-project
in the Balkans
in 2014, a hundred years after
the start of one of the greatest Film festival in
Romania
human tragedies, it can appear
that we – as Europeans – haven’t
learned much from history. After
the bloody Balkan conflicts of the
1990s, it seemed somehow natural
for all of us to think that war on
European soil was impossible. But
recent developments in Ukraine,
and social unrest in Bosnia
and Herzegovina and other EU
countries, show us that we still
need a peace-building process. 25
years after 1989 the old divisions
seem suddenly to be more alive
than we thought. Although we
do not have huge ideological
differences any more, the potential
for conflict never seems far away.
And it’s exactly here that the part
of our mission which contributes to
the European idea lies – to support
those change processes so essential
after the tragic socio-economic
developments occurring after
Democracy
the fall of the iron curtain, and to workshops in
empower a broad cultural exchange Montenegro
124 and understanding between the
PARTNER
formerly-divided parts of Europe.
Do you see possibilities of
cooperation in the field of
cultural heritage especially in
Central and Eastern Europe?
We see cultural heritage in the
first place through non-material
goods and products of culture. We
believe that only through creating
a common cultural space in Europe
- and one day hopefully beyond
it - can we ensure that the material
products and remains from our
past, and those yet to come, are
conserved for future generations. It
is thus also important to mention
that our focus lies on contemporary
art and culture which is in a broad
Superar Choir, sense the heritage of tomorrow.
photo by Silvia
Lelli
We work intensively with some of
the most interesting practitioners
and researchers from the cultural
sector, supporting various cultural
and artistic initiatives and
collectives which deal with current
curatorial practice and academic
research in those fields.
The dynamic relationship
between architecture and society
is also something the foundation
is interested in, for instance the
Balkan Reloaded project?
Actually, our focus on architecture
reflects dominant socio-economic
developments in the region.
The entire project which you
mention kicked off in Kosovo, a
couple of years after the war. We
do believe that architecture is a
participative and integral form of
social interaction which directly
influences the quality of people’s
lives and their willingness to take
part in various social processes. We
therefore started supporting small
urban development initiatives
throughout the region: to form
local and regional networks and
enable neighbors to form a critical
discourse about ongoing spatial
and demographic challenges
in a post-conflict region, still
divided by entrenched ethnic-
national attitudes. The new money
phenomenon which hit many of
those countries and endangered
some of the most beautiful
European cultural sites is just one
aspect of the story. We try to create
spheres of common understanding,
because we can see pretty much
the same things happening with
architectural heritage sites in
different parts of Europe. It is
unfortunately a long process,
mainly to do with education and
fostering a critical understanding
in those citizens who are - or are
becoming - aware that their urban
and rural surroundings do have a
huge impact on their lives.
The New Narrative for Europe is
an EU initiative in which Europa
Nostra actively participates: but
you have had a similar platform
for exchanging ideas, knowledge
and initiatives for many years,
haven’t you?
Yes, we have. And still do. We call it
the ERSTE Foundation Community
Meeting - an annual meeting of our
main project partners. It serves as a
platform for exchanging concepts,
getting to know each other and
creating an umbrella of possible
initiatives which one day might be
realized within the framework of
some of our ongoing, or even new,
projects. The exchange of ideas and
knowledge is one of our foremost
working principles. We believe
that society’s development can
only be assured if free individuals
are motivated to create a common
discourse about ongoing challenges
and the issues which affect us all.
Therefore, we try to emphasize
this kind of thinking, not only
throughout our Community
Meetings, but in all of our main
projects.
The Foundation has a strong and
clear conviction about Europe as
one continent: what are the major
challenges in that for Central and
Eastern Europe in the years to
come?
The general idea and road to a
peacefully united continent, the
same one which produced some
of the most brutal atrocities
in human history, is one of the
most fundamental civilisational
visions. We strongly believe that
all the people we work with,
all the NGO-activists, artists,
researchers, curators, journalists,
school teachers and many others,
are the guardians of peace and
form society’s progressive voices.
Our mission is to support them
and their ideas in creating an
atmosphere of mutual respect,
understanding and tolerance.
International solidarity,
connection and cooperation are
some of the core values of ERSTE
Foundation: do you feel that this
sentiment is sufficiently shared
by the governmental structures
in the region?
The region we are active in is part
of an ongoing, long term transition
process. A lot of work is still lying
ahead for those young democracies,
and the process requires patience
and diligence on the part of
everyone involved. However, many
of the results are already visible
and tangible. Many countries
are already part of the European
family; others are strongly
committed accession candidates.
What I can say for the Foundation
is that we are committed to provide
support, dismantle prejudices and
encourage cooperation as long as
may be necessary.
The Bank and the Foundation
are an interesting and successful
combination: are there other
European banks interested in
following suit?
Well, we are not the first, nor the
only one. Like other savings banks
foundations, ERSTE Foundation
inherited its commitment to
serve the common good from its
founder, in our case the ERSTE
Österreichische Spar-Casse, a
savings banks association founded
in 1819 to assist individuals who
were unable to provide for their
future by themselves. Therefore,
serving the common good is not
for us a choice but a basic part of
our DNA. There are other savings
banks in Europe who follow a
similar model, like the much older
Italian foundations, for example,
Compagnia di San Paolo, or in
Spain, like La Caixa Foundation. In
Germany you have many corporate
foundations, Robert Bosch
Foundation e.g., that own their
companies and invest profits into
society. And it would be great if
many more would get on board and
make similar commitments.
You have spent tens of millions
of Euros on hundreds of projects
in the last 10 years. How do you
manage all that?
We have a team of nearly 30
employees which is a perfect fit
for this kind of challenge. And we
do differentiate between our in-
house projects, which we develop
and implement by ourselves,
and external projects, which are
connected with strong project
partners to implement the main
work, with our coordination and
support. Beside the huge numbers,
there is still much to be done. Social
injustice is on the rise in Central
and South Eastern Europe and
democracy is at stake. 25 years
after the fall of communism we
still have many open questions
in the region which the official
state structures cannot solve by
themselves. Non-governmental
support is therefore crucial in many
fields. Naturally, we cannot fill all
the gaps, but we can make small,
decent contributions to change the
landscape for the better.
The children’s choir Superar, one
of your projects, will perform in
the Burgtheater in Vienna for
the 2014 EU Prize for Cultural
Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards
ceremony. Can you tell us more
about that initiative?
Superar is one of the most
125
successful projects of the
Foundation, one we are also most
proud of. If you ever had the chance
to see the kids perform live you
would immediately know why.
Beside the emotional dimension
which dozens, or hundreds, of
kids can bring along on stage
while singing and dancing, we see
this initiative as one of the most
genuine ways of bridging social
differences at an early age, be
they ethnic, religious, national,
gender or any other. Unfortunately
all these differences start to
become embedded at an early age.
Therefore it is part of our mission
to create areas and spaces of
unbiased equality, especially for
the youngest ones. We do this not
only through Superar but also other ‘Between
Prishtina and
school and youth projects. The
Skopje’-project
main reason for supporting Europa by artist Kai
Nostra’s congress lies in our basic Vöckler
understanding that by supporting
Superar as part of the ceremony,
we contribute to the promotion
of a common European cultural
heritage, whose real impact will
become clear only after many
years, if not decades. It is very hard
to measure social impact; therefore
only our very subjective feelings
of empathy and tolerance can
navigate us through the darkening
jungle of social injustice.
http://www.erstestiftung.org
126
PARTNER

Chancellor Angela Merkel and the

President of the European Commission
José Manuel Barroso during the
presentation of the declaration of
the New Narrative for Europe in the
Akademie der Künste in Berlin on 1
March 2014

Europe is a State of Mind

On 1 March 2014, the declaration of the New Narrative for Europe was presented to
President Barroso and Chancellor Merkel at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. Drafted
by Europe’s artists, intellectuals, scientists and cultural practitioners, this text stresses
that “Europe is a State of Mind.” It also calls for a new Renaissance in Europe based on
cosmopolitanism and on a strong collective commitment to our shared cultural values,
which include our cultural heritage.

Europa Nostra’s Secretary
General, Sneška Quaedvlieg-
Mihailović took an active part
in this process as a member of
the New Narrative for Europe
Culture Committee. In Berlin, she
made an exclusive interview for
Heritage in Motion with President
of the European Commission José
Manuel Barroso.
Your conviction that our culture
is a power for positive change
in Europe has become even
stronger over the years. What
made you give culture an even
greater priority than before?
When I was a young student in
Geneva, I had the great privilege
to meet and work with Denis de
Rougemont. He was not just a
great thinker and a great author -
the author of the beautiful book,
L’amour et l’Occident - but also
the man behind the creation of
the European Centre of Culture
in Geneva, a man who has always
emphasized the importance of the
cultural dimension of European
unification. He used to say that
“Europe is a culture, or else it is
nothing.” So I have always been
very sensitive to the fact that
culture is an essential part of
the foundations of the European
project.
That said, most of the work that
went into the process of European
integration has in fact been
devoted to our economies and to
our markets and comparatively
little has been devoted to our
cultural dimension. This was not
wrong at all. European integration
would have failed if it had not
started with the economies and
the markets. But I think that the
European Union has now reached
a stage in its history where its
cultural dimension can no longer
be ignored. Culture is not a nice-
to-have, but a need-to-have. And
Europe is more than a market.
We must use our creative energies
to the full. And this includes our
cultural potential as much as our
economic potential, which thus
far we have been using for much
longer, and much more intensively.
We also need common ground, and
common reflection about the kind
of European Union we want for
the future, and we cannot succeed
without a proper look at Europe’s
cultural dimension.
This is why, during my first
mandate as President of the
European Commission, I decided
to open a new area of cooperation
on cultural policy with the
127
President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso with Europa Nostra President Plácido
Domingo and European Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou during the opening of the special exhibition on
the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards in the Berlaymont building in Brussels.
adoption in 2007 of the first-ever organisations so that they can
European Agenda for Culture work across borders and ensure
in a Globalizing World. We set a that their works reach as many
framework for real cooperation people as possible.
across Member States and
entities. Besides, the intrinsic You also became personally very
value of culture was considered committed to the ‘New Narrative
key to fostering social cohesion, for Europe’ initiative. Why?
economic growth, job creation,
innovation and competitiveness. This initiative is very close to my President of
the European
heart, because it is not enough Commission
This cultural dimension is to say that we Europeans share José Manuel
Barroso with
also expressed in our external a common destiny! A sense
Europa Nostra
relations. Joint action plans of belonging to Europe, to a President
have been signed with China, community of values, culture and Plácido
Domingo
India, Mexico and Brazil, aimed
at supporting local cultural
policies and structural capacities
conducive to socio-economic
development.
More recently, I strongly
advocated a robust Creative
Europe programme, the new
European funding programme for
the cultural and creative sectors,
which entered into force on 1st of
January of this year.
Our aim is to help artists, cultural
professionals and cultural
128
PARTNER
Plantu in Berlin during the New Narrative for Europe
meeting
During the presentation of the New Narrative for
Europe declaration on the ‘Mind and Body of Europe’,
Jean Plantu, the renowned editorial cartoonist at Le
Monde, was invited for a ‘live cartooning’ performance.
The projections of his cartoons introduced humour
in a very solemn event, especially when he showed
his cartoon The Future of Europe is l’Art - see photo.
President Barroso and Chancellor Merkel and all other
200 participants were visibly very amused...
Jean Plantu is the founding President of the association
‘Cartooning for Peace’, which promotes a better
understanding and mutual respect between people of
different cultures and beliefs using editorial cartoons
as a universal language. Plantu is also a convinced
European: “I was delighted to contribute to the New
Narrative for Europe event in Berlin. Europe is indeed
a state of mind. It is also a peace project, a historic
adventure based on the openness of our minds and
respect for each other. We the cartoonists can help
Europeans to overcome conflicts through the relaxing
power of laughter.”
cartooningforpeace.org
interests, is essential to forge that
“common destiny.”
Today there is clearly a growing
feeling of estrangement among
European citizens, and we even see
a growing disillusionment among
pro-Europeans. There is a deficit
of confidence in our own strengths
and skills; a lack of confidence in
the future itself.
This is a serious problem that we
have to resolutely address, because
Europe is us, each of us. We
cannot build a Europe that is only
considered to be the responsibility
of the European institutions. We
have to make Europe a reality from
the citizens’ point of view.
Peace, democracy, freedom and
prosperity - and the European
Union itself - should not be taken
for granted. They are not a given
once-and-for-all. They have to be
fought for. And this is a fight to
be fought by each of us. A fight
that challenges each of us to think
of the role we can play in helping
Europe.
This means that the founding
raison d’être of the European
project remains more valid than
ever. This is about peace and
freedom, democracy and human
rights. We should be true to this
vision of Europe. We have to stand
up clearly for these core values
while we also have to continue
our narrative, to continue to
write the book of the present and
of the future, that is the book of
Europe in the age of globalization.
And this new narrative is not
only about a new commitment
to Europe but also about a new
enthusiasm for Europe.
On 1 March, the text of the
‘New Narrative for Europe’ was
presented in Berlin. Chancellor
Merkel and yourself attended
this event. Can you share with us
your impressions?
This declaration is really an act of
faith in Europe. You all, the artists,
cultural activists, intellectuals
who participate in this initiative,
you have precisely decided not to
turn your back on Europe but to
engage, to be critical sometimes
but to be constructive. You don’t
say that our Europe is perfect. But
you say that Europe is our future.
And I was happy to see in this
declaration something I have been
saying very often: Europe is “a
moral and political responsibility,
which must be carried, not just by
institutions and politicians, but
by each and every European.”
Because as I have just said
Europe is not them, that is the
European institutions in Brussels,
Strasbourg or Luxembourg, but
Europe is us, each of us. And each
of us can make a difference in
Europe and contribute to driving
positive change.
In your view, how relevant and
important are Europe’s heritage
and history for Europe’s future?
Is our heritage an asset or a
burden for Europe?
Europe’s rich history and amazing
reserves of creativity are some of
the strongest cards we hold when
it comes to building a prosperous
European future. And as President
of the European Commission
I have always been strongly
committed to bring Europe’s
cultural heritage to the fore and to
protect and promote our cultural
diversity.
The richness of European unity
stems precisely from the fact that
it is achieved through a fruitful
blending of differences, contrasts,

and even tensions. The wealth of
our culture lies in our openness to
other societies, our openness to
the world; and this is clearly one of
our main strengths. First, because
our Union shows that it is possible
to come together in a Community
of values and interests, with a
common determination to act
together in a coherent manner,
whilst recognizing and respecting
our differences. Second, because
in the age of globalization, such
a culture of openness is a very
valuable asset. It creates bonds
that extend beyond borders.
When I had the great honour to
represent the European Union
receiving the Nobel Peace Prize
2012 in Oslo, I made a point about
stressing that culture and science
are at the core of our European
project, precisely as a way of going
beyond borders. Because you
cannot really commit to this idea
of culture without accepting the
idea that you have to go beyond
borders. Culture offers us a
unique insight into today’s diverse
societies and shows us what can
be achieved when people meet and
inspire each other.
Do you believe in Europe as a
“soft (super)power”?
I believe in Europe as a power
with the different attributes of
power and yes, of course, this also
includes what is called soft power,
that is, attractiveness of our
values, of our way of life, of our
cultural diversity.
You know, I directly experienced
it myself. I grew up under a
dictatorship. And when I think
of Europe, I think of it as an
idea much more than a place.
The European Union is about
democracy, it is about freedom, it
is about justice.
More recently these powerful
images of the people of Ukraine
waiving the European flag give us
a very vivid and telling illustration
of Europe’s soft power. They tell
us more about the strength and
influence of Europe’s soft power
than a long speech could.
Just let me add that culture is a
very precious tool of diplomacy,
because it is about connecting
with people all over the world.
Sneška 129
Quaedvlieg-
Mihailović,
Secretary
General of
Europa Nostra
and member
of the Cultural
Committee
of the New
Narrative
for Europe
as the Master
of Ceremony
during the event
of 1 March 2014
in Berlin
It is about universal values and
inspirations. And indeed Europe’s
global influence also lies in
our cultural openness to other
societies, our openness to the
world.
Please share with us your own
“European dream”...
This is the dream of a more
political and a more cultural
Europe.
A more political Europe, because
I believe we need a political
Union. Indeed the solidity of
our economic and monetary
union will eventually depend
on its underlying political and
institutional structure.
And a more cultural Europe,
because I believe that politics is
instrumental – it allows us to turn
the dream of European unity in a
political reality - and culture, art,
knowledge are existential. Culture
is about fulfilling the individual
dreams of each one of us; it is for
each one of us the opportunity to
realize our own potential.
130
Saving the Jewel of
SPECIAL MENTION
the Taferlberg
There is a new kind of European
Erwin
Hameseder banker that has been slowly
emerging over the past decades:
bankers who are committed
to society, who view banks as
organisations that should make
life better, should protect art
and culture and help the socially
vulnerable. A rare breed still,
you may say, but their numbers
are growing. Visionaries who see
that a society that is inclusive
and interacts on every level is a
society that will flourish; socially,
culturally and economically.
Elsewhere in this magazine you
will encounter the exemplary
activities of the ERSTE Stiftung
Maria Taferl Church
but there are also exceptional
individuals who feel it is their
responsibility to step up to the
plate and be counted; to go beyond
the call of duty as a banker and
show a professional and personal
dedication to the world around
them.
Erwin Hameseder (b.1956)
received a Special Mention in the
category Dedicated Service in
the European Union Prize for
Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra
Awards 2014 for his personal
commitment, determination
and perseverance in the field of
cultural heritage preservation.
 131
Basilica treasure
room before and
after restoration

He is an active supporter of the

monasteries Stift Zwettl, Stift
Herzogenburg, Stift Altenburg and
the Basilica Mariazell to name but
a few. He served as President of
the Association of the Benedictine
Monastery Göttweig, was on the
advisory board for the P. George
Sporschill non-profit organisation
and even the Sri Lanka tsunami
relief. But his finest moment to
date is probably the restoration of
the Maria Taferl Church above the
Danube river.

Built on an ancient Celtic site,

legend says that the statue of the
Pietà at the Maria Taferl shrine was
a gift from Alexander Schinagel,
a forester, who had a miraculous
recovery from a serious illness. It
has been an important pilgrimage
site ever since and the church is a
symbol of Austria’s history with
Catholicism. The church is built
in Baroque style with gold leaf
ornaments and a beautiful frescoed
ceiling. The impressive monument
gave the local inhabitants hope
and courage after the Plague, the
Turkish Wars, and the Thirty
Years’ War.
The necessary restoration of the
church was extremely challenging
as the 850 inhabitants of the
village of Maria Taferl had to
somehow come up with one third
of the costs. Erwin Hameseder
became chairman of the association
to raise awareness and to raise the
funds. In seven years he managed
to collect 1.5 million Euro through
concerts, golf tournaments, classic
car tours, pilgrimages and many
other events, not just enough for
the restoration but also for the rose
garden, the cloister garden and
the parish offices. The jewel of the
Taferlberg is now back to its former
glory and ready for the future.
The preservation and restoration Rose garden
not only revived the monument, before and after
restoration
it also created jobs and revitalised
the whole region. Cultural heritage
became the motor for the local
economy, for tourism and for the
religious life of the area.
Erwin Hameseder is already an
honorary citizen of Maria Taferl
and a highly respected Austrian
banker and businessman. The
importance of his work has
now also been recognised at the
European level.
132
PARTNER

Commissioner Vassiliou during the

opening of the exhibition of the EU
Prize for Cultural Heritage
with Europa Nostra President
Plácido Domingo and President
of the European Commission José
Manuel Barroso

‘Budget for Creative

Europe increased by 9%’
An interview with Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for
Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth

Commissioner for Education,
Culture, Multilingualism and
Youth Androulla Vassiliou has
been a friend of Europa Nostra
for many years and her personal
commitment to Europe’s cultural
heritage is clear. For many years
now she has presented, together
with Europa Nostra’s President
Plácido Domingo, the EU Prize for
Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra
Awards. This year the ceremony
will take place in the Burgtheater
in Vienna. It will also be her last as
Commissioner as there will soon
be a new European Commission.
Like most Europeans, Vassiliou
has passionate views on education,
culture, languages, youth and
sport. Luckily she found time to
sit down for an exclusive interview
with Heritage in Motion and
discuss her new policies in the
field of cultural heritage as part of
the Commission’s ‘Europe 2020’
strategy for a competitive, green
and sustainable economy.
‘Heritage First!’ was the title of an
important conference organised by
the Hellenic Presidency of the EU.
Will this also be the message of the
European Commission?
In the next few weeks, I intend to
launch a new Commission strategy
on cultural heritage. My aim is to
propose a blueprint for promoting
the intrinsic and societal value
of cultural heritage and for
maximizing its contribution to
sustainable economic growth and
job creation. We will emphasise
the need to strengthen cooperation
among Member States, local
authorities, civil society and all
stakeholders to develop new
133
Commissioner
models of governance that foster Vassiliou,
community participation. Europa Nostra
President
Plácido
These ideas are very much in line Domingo
with what was discussed at the and grand
prix winner
Heritage First!’ conference in Paraschiva
March. Kovacs, during
the 2012
ceremony at
How can we promote together a the Jerónimos
Monastery in
‘New Narrative for Europe’ which
Lisbon
puts a much stronger emphasis on
culture and cultural heritage as a
key resource for Europe?
A successful ‘New Narrative for
Europe’ will be one created by
European citizens themselves. The
‘Mind and Body of Europe’ text
proposed by the New Narrative’s
Cultural Committee, in which
Europa Nostra plays an active
role, provides us with a starting
point which will hopefully inspire
Europeans of all ages.
Culture and cultural heritage are
central to any European narrative,
as they are an important part
of our way of life. Our cultural
heritage, in particular, is our
collective memory and, in that
sense, it is also a key resource
with tremendous potential for
encouraging integration.
134 In defining the New Narrative for
PARTNER
Europe, the process of discussion
is as important as the outcome.
It is through the process of
engagement and dialogue that
citizens will be more directly
involved in the European project
and able to develop their own
understanding of what it means to
be part of the European Union.
I am convinced that we must
continue to highlight culture and
cultural heritage in all areas of
policy-making, raising awareness
of the sectors’ potential for
sustainable and inclusive growth,
quality jobs and social cohesion.
Commissioner Creative Europe, the EU’s new
Vassiliou during
her speech at
programme for the cultural and
the ceremony in creative sectors, will continue to
Athens in 2013 support cultural heritage projects.
How will this support specifically
help the sector? In what other ways
will the EU support heritage in the
next seven years?
Under the former Culture
programme, more than 130
cooperation projects in the area
of cultural heritage received
funding totalling €38 million. This
support will continue and expand
under our new Creative Europe
programme.
I am very proud of the
Creative Europe programme,
which supports both culture
and audiovisual policy. The
programme has a €1.46 billion
budget to support the cultural
and creative sectors over the next
seven years, which represents a
9% increase compared with the
previous Culture and MEDIA
programmes combined.
A substantial portion of this
funding will support heritage,
by financing trans-national
cooperation projects involving
cultural organisations in different
countries. It will also finance
European networks dedicated to
cultural heritage.
These two funding streams
will help to provide heritage
professionals with up-graded
skills, competences and
know-how in areas such as
digital technologies, audience
development and new business
and management models. Creative
Europe will also encourage cross-
border mobility and international
careers.
In addition, there will be other
opportunities for EU funding for
cultural heritage, in particular
through the Regional Funds,
but also other EU schemes
including the programme for the
Competitiveness of Enterprises
and Small and Medium-sized
Enterprises (COSME), Horizon
2020 and Erasmus+.
The European Regional
Development Fund specifically
highlights the protection,
promotion and development
of cultural heritage among its
priorities under the protection
of the environment and resource
efficiency objective. COSME
will provide indirect support to
cultural heritage by promoting the
diversification of tourism and the
development of European cultural
routes.
Horizon 2020 will support
research projects related to
cultural heritage, financed
primarily under the ‘societal
challenges’ priority. The
Erasmus+ ‘Knowledge Alliances’
and ‘Sector Skills Alliances’,
fostering closer links between
higher and vocational education
and enterprise, can help design
curricula that meet the new needs
of the heritage sector.
Can you share with us your
best heritage memory as EU
Commissioner: which awarded
project made a lasting impression
on you? Which ceremony of the
awards?
It is impossible to single out a
single project because there are
so many fantastic ones to choose
from! In the same way, each of
the award ceremonies which I
attended was impressive and
memorable in its own way.
If I were forced to pick one
moment that made a lasting
impression, however, it would
be when the Grand Prix for
dedicated service was awarded
to Paraschiva Kovacs, a retired
schoolteacher from the Hungarian-
speaking community of Harghita
in Romania, during the 2012
ceremony at the Jerónimos
Monastery in Lisbon. Mrs Kovacs
dedicated over 40 years of her
life to keeping an inventory of
artefacts from her village and
was responsible for preserving a
collection of 100-year old carved
wooden ‘Szekler’ gates.
She came up to the podium in
magnificent traditional dress and
it was clear how much the award
meant to her as she took the
microphone and spoke rapidly in
her native tongue. It didn’t matter
that few of us could understand
what she was saying. Her
enthusiasm was infectious. It was
a memorable and moving moment.
What importance do you attach
to the work of civil society
organisations like Europa Nostra?
Any special recommendations for
their future EU related strategy and
action?
Europa Nostra and other civil
society organisations have a
crucial role to play as advocates
for European heritage. My staff
in the European Commission’s
Directorate General for Education
and Culture has worked side-by-
side with Europa Nostra for many
years now. I can only encourage
you to continue your excellent
work and to reach out to even more
decision makers at European,
national, regional and local
levels. This will be particularly
important in the coming year as
the European Parliament will have
a new look after the elections and
there will also be a new European
Commission soon.
At local level, you are in
contact with cultural heritage
professionals and with the
millions of volunteers who care
for European heritage, restore it,
preserve it, love it, make it part of
their lives and of their community.
They need to know that we value
their contribution very highly, and
that we listen to them.
What is your proudest achievement
(so far) during your mandate as
Commissioner who is responsible
for Culture?
I think we did an amazing job to
secure a 9% increase in the budget
for Creative Europe, despite the
fact that the overall European
Union budget was cut and at a
time when many Member States
are unfortunately reducing their you know, I am passionate about
135
public expenditure on culture. literacy and I hope I can do more
This increase was something we in this field too: it is unacceptable
fought hard for. We may not have that one in five people in Europe
got as much as we hoped, but I are illiterate or lack basic reading
was very happy that the European and writing skills.
Parliament and the Council backed
our arguments. The new budget What are you most looking forward
means we will not only be able to about nót being a Commissioner?
maintain our previous levels of
grant support for the cultural and I will enjoy having more time for
audiovisual sectors, but also to myself and my family. I am also
launch a new financial guarantee looking forward to visiting many
facility, enabling small cultural different places with a sense of
and creative businesses to access ease rather than rushing from one
up to €750 million in bank loans. meeting to another!
In which area or on which subject
do you wish you could have done
more?
I think we have achieved a great
deal at the European level over
the past few years, despite a very
challenging economic situation.
I would have certainly liked to
have actually visited more of the
cultural heritage sites which we
have honoured at the awards – and
also to have found the time to see
more of the wonderful European
films we have funded through the
MEDIA programme.
Will you stay involved in some of
the areas of your large portfolio
also after the end of your mandate
as Commissioner? And how?
I plan to remain active in the
cultural sector, by supporting and
strengthening the work of Europa
Nostra in general and in my home
country, Cyprus, in particular.
I also hope that my experience
and expertise can be used in the
area of education, especially in
furthering the cause of reform
and modernisation. This is crucial
if we are to ensure our young The Berlaymont
people have the skills needed to Building of
the European
find employment and secure the Commission in
long-term prosperity of Europe. As Brussels
136
PARTNER

The new
brochure of the
organisation

A bright future for the past

Austrian Castle Association

Alexander, count Kottulinsky is a
137
Alexander
busy man. The 40-something easy- Kottulinsky, the
going President of the association President of the
Ostereichische
talks quickly and enthusiastically Burgenverein,
about his mission and his passion. is always at
work for his
From his bright offices he is
organisation and
continuously on the phone, on his Europa Nostra,
tablet or computer to represent the of which he is a
Council member.
members of the Österreichischer
Burgenverein: Verein zur Erhaltung
historischer Bauten, or Austrian
Castle Association in English. The
member organization of Europa
Nostra has been through many
changes over the last few years. In
2012, Kottulinsky took over from
Bernard von Liphart, who had led
the organization effectively for
close to 30 years. The association
was formed almost 60 years ago
by private castle owners and their
friends to protect and preserve
the castles, fortresses and historic
houses of Austria.

Kottulinsky: “With over 40,000

heritage sites in Austria and with
1,200 private castle owners the
potential for the organisation is
very large. We are opening the
doors and windows to the outside
world and re-connect even more
than in the past to our European
partners like the European
Historic Houses Association and
Europa Nostra. We also have a new
board which perfectly fits with our
new approach. We are proud to be
a leading organisation for the 2014
Europa Nostra congress in Austria
and the awards ceremony of the
EU Prize for Cultural Heritage
/ Europa Nostra Awards in the
Burgtheater.”

“At this moment we represent

200 owners of heritage and about
300 friends. The numbers are
growing - we are working very
hard on that. We are continuing
with our heritage tours and our
practical seminars and we have
created a new modern look for
138
PARTNER

our magazine. We are actively

looking at our colleagues in other
countries and liaise with them
to see how they tackle certain
challenges. We also focus on the
political side of our mandate with
attention to tax and legal matters.
We want zero VAT on maintenance
for instance. There are many
things that need our attention. I
see the role of our association as an
intermediary, between the owners
and the national government and
the regional departments that
are responsible for monuments
and sites. We want to be an active
platform, a spokesperson, an
adviser on heritage. Let me give
you an example. A ruin on your
property can be a registered in a sense, the ‘family silver’ of of our European colleagues.
monument, but what happens if Austria and as such should be We also need to bring in young
a wall topples, if consolidation is well preserved and protected. castle owners, of which there are
necessary to preserve it? How can ‘When you do not know where you many, and show them what the
we lobby for improved rules and come from, you do not know where association is doing for them, the
regulations to help the owners you’re going,’ Otto von Habsburg, political steps we are taking. We
protect privately owned heritage the last Crown Prince of Austria- are ambitious and we have set
sites? We do not just want to Hungary, used to say. And if I may a goal to attract new members.
issue a yellow card when the paraphrase; we at the Austrian We want at least 600 owners and
government makes a wrong move, Castle Association know where we 3,000 friends.”
we want to work in dialogue, to come from and we know where we
be at the right place and the right want to go,” Kottulinsky explains Alexander, count Kottulinsky and
time to change things for the with an easy smile. his young and energetic board
better. The privately owned castles are ready to face the challenges
and historic houses in Austria are “One of the things we decided to do and grab the opportunities. The
an essential part of our country’s is to take the organisation on the privately owned heritage of
attractiveness. They are a central road. To go into the countryside, Austria is in capable hands with
element for our tourist trade. Our to re-introduce ourselves, to talk this active partner of Europa
castles, fortresses and country to the people involved, to learn Nostra. The future of Austria’s
houses are the visual and historical about their concerns, to discuss past looks bright.
figureheads for our counties, our new ideas and initiatives, to share
towns and our villages. They are our knowledge and the knowledge www.burgenverein.at
 The Philharmonics regard the opportunity to
perform at the ceremony for the EU Prize for
Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards
as a great honour.
Saving and supporting the cultural heritage
of our wonderful continent should be one of
our deepest concerns. If everyone endeavors
to put their own individual effort into this
great idea,
all those little drops of good will and
enthusiasm will create an ocean of positive
energy, pointing to a successful and peaceful
future.

thephilharmonics.com

Benvenuto!
Ristorante Sole proudly supports Europa Nostra.
Annagasse 8-10, Vienna - www. ristorante-sole.at
140

‘Europe needs smart,

PARTNER

green and inclusive

growth’
An interview with Commissioner Johannes Hahn

Commissioner Johannes Hahn

(b.1957) has been responsible for
Regional and Urban Policy in the
European Commission since 2010.
The former Austrian Minister is
passionate about creating new jobs
and boosting the internal market
through effective regional policies.
In his opinion Europe faces big
economic challenges and has to
compete with new powers like
China, India and Brazil. Regional
policy is the key instrument to
achieve a smart, inclusive and
green growth, as he describes it.
During this exclusive interview
for Heritage in Motion he points
to the importance of investments
in cultural and creative industries
and the role cultural heritage plays
in regional development policies.
Do you see a strong role for cultural
heritage as a key resource for
Europe’s new smart, sustainable
and inclusive ‘Europe 2020
Strategy’ framework?
renewable energies and energy
efficiency, etc.: areas that will
contribute to smart, green and
inclusive growth.
Investments into cultural and
creative industries, due to their
strong growth potential, have a
place in the future programmes, in
particular if they are linked to new
technologies and innovation: using
ICT to provide better access to
cultural experiences, for instance
through mobile apps, improving
the user experience through
service innovation, enhancing the
entrepreneurial dynamics around
cultural attraction points.

The reformed Cohesion Policy Being at the crossroads between

for 2014-2020 is indeed a more
focussed and results-based
investment framework that
channels funding to thematic
objectives that are closely linked
to Europe 2020’s targets, such as
innovation, entrepreneurship and
Commissioner
SME (Small and Medium-sized
Hahn in Pompeii Enterprises) competitiveness,
arts, business and technology,
the cultural and creative sectors
are also in a strategic position
to trigger positive economic
spillover and to act as enablers for
innovation in other industries,
creating growth and high-skilled
jobs.
The new EU budget for 2014-2020
will make about 325 billion Euro
available for sustainable regional
or local development. In the past,
a relatively small part was used to
finance heritage related projects.
Can we expect more in the coming
budgetary period?
For 2007-2013, the Member
States have allocated € 6 billion
for the heading ‘Culture,’ but the
cultural industry is supported
through many more Cohesion
Policy investments, for example
in the areas of tourism, urban
regeneration, RTD (Research and
Technological Development),
SMEs (Small and Medium-sized
Enterprises), etc. The Regulations
for 2014-2020 equally offer many
possibilities to invest in cultural
and creative industries as well as
the protection, promotion and
development of cultural heritage.
It is up to the Member States, in
discussion with our services, to
decide where they want to focus
their investments. Preserving
cultural heritage is indeed
important but such investments
must be part of an integrated
approach that is also supported
by other resources and efforts.
Cultural investments should be
embedded in viable and integrated
strategies that tackle all important
aspects of developing indigenous
potential, including the potential
for creating jobs and growth in the
region.
You have announced an increased
support for the World Heritage Site
of Pompeii, following the reports of
new damage to Pompeii’s famous
archaeological structures caused by
heavy rainfall. What role can the
EU play?
Indeed, the site of Pompeii is of
huge cultural importance not
just to Campania or Italy alone,
but to Europe and to the rest of
the world. Beyond the intrinsic
cultural value of the site, the
economic benefits of conserving
Pompeii for future generations
could be enormous. Driven by
high quality tourism and new and
improved services we can create
new jobs and protect existing ones.
This wider aspect is of vital
importance. When we invest in
preserving cultural heritage,
we must always bear in mind
the ‘spillover effect’ to the local
area – the benefits to be reaped
by SMEs, the need for accessible,
well-connected transport links,
the demand on local services etc.
Protecting cultural heritage is
indeed close to our hearts, but we
are not investing in culture for
culture alone: we must consider
it in the context of the economic
growth of a region.
Many more heritage sites in Europe
are in danger due to various types
of threats. Last year, Europa Nostra
has launched a new programme
The 7 Most Endangered, in
partnership with the European
Investment Bank Institute. Could
we imagine a stronger involvement
141
Commissioner
of EU structural funds to help Hahn meets
save Europe’s sites selected on our European
students in
annual list of endangered heritage? the European
Parliament
Future Cohesion Policy
investment priorities must focus
on delivering Europe 2020 growth
goals and concentrate on areas
where EU action has an added
value. Funding must not be spread
too thinly, and it must be effective
to yield results. Therefore,
where cultural investments
are embedded in a holistic and
integrated approach to the
economic development of an area
or a region, EU investments can
contribute to growth in that sector.
As I mentioned before, Cohesion
Policy will also continue to support
cultural heritage not only through
direct funding, but through
investment in a wider sense, for
example, in urban regeneration,
sustainable urban development
and support to SMEs. Europe’s
cities are hotbeds of culture and we
foresee over 50% of the European
Regional Development Fund
(ERDF) being invested in urban
areas from 2014-2020, improving
the urban economy, the quality
of life of citizens and promoting a
more inclusive society.
142
PARTNER
Commissioner
Johannes Hahn Caring for our heritage can help
to improve the standard and
quality of our life and our living
environment, both in cities and
in the countryside. Cultural
heritage is also a defining aspect of
regional distinctiveness, regional
products and regional tourism.
Do you think that all those benefits
have been sufficiently taken into
account within EU policies and
instruments?
We are fully aware of the fact that
culture can stimulate urban and
regional development and of the
close links of culture and tourism.
It has been demonstrated that
the ‘European Capital of Culture
label’ for example brings many
benefits to cities and regions and
can create a significant social and
economic legacy, particularly
when it is embedded into a long-
term culture- and creativity-led
development strategy. We also
believe that cultural initiatives can
contribute to social inclusion and
poverty reduction, particularly in
urban areas and notably through
innovative projects, such as those
funded through ERDF (European
Regional Development Fund).
But only cultural Investments
with a sustainable economic
impact can be prioritised for
ERDF, particularly in light of its
‘jobs and growth objective’. Our
Funds cannot replace national
budgets in terms of maintenance
of cultural heritage but must
supplement and reinforce Member
State investments. ERDF also
promotes regions’ comparative
advantage by requiring them to
put forward smart specialisation
strategies. For example, design
plays a key role as an intangible
asset for innovative companies.
21% of European companies use
design as a strategic means to
encourage innovation and the
EU’s design sector has an annual
turnover of €36 billion.
Recently in Athens, civil society
organisations active in the field of
cultural heritage, such as Europa
Nostra, sent a strong message
to the 6th European Summit
of Regions and Cities urging
Europe’s regions and cities to fully
deploy the potential of cultural
heritage and culture as a strategic
resource for developing a society
based on ethical, aesthetic and
ecological values. What can be
done by the EU to stimulate such
a culture-orientated approach
to development, also in line with
the principles of the Hanghzou
Declaration (May 2013)?
We share the view of the
Hanghzou Declaration that
we should ‘harness the past to
create the future’ but we also
learn from our experience in
terms of the efficiency and
effectiveness of investments.
While ‘a vibrant cultural life may
be key to achieving a sustainable
city’, only a holistic approach to
development, which embraces the
transition towards a knowledge
society, building on social,
organisational and technical
innovation and entrepreneurial
dynamics, can make it a ‘smart’
one.
 open happiness

Coca-Cola since 1886.

And refreshes
since 1929.

We are proud to support Europe’s cultural heritage and

welcome all guests of Europa Nostra’s Congress in Vienna.
corporate.coke.at

©2014 The Coca-Cola Company. “Coca-Cola”, “Coke”, the designs of the “Coca-Cola Contour Bottle”
and the “Dynamic Ribbon device” are registered trademarks of The Coca-Cola Company.
144
Historic
HERITAGE IN DANGER

neighbourhoods
of Dolcho
and Apozari,
Kastoria,
GREECE
Photo: Courtesy
of Elliniki Etairia
- Society for the
Environment and
Cultural Heritage
and Municipality
of Kastoria

‘The 7 Most
Endangered’ 2014
On 6 March 2014, Europa Nostra and the European Investment
Bank Institute announced the 11 monuments and sites
shortlisted for ‘The 7 Most Endangered’ 2014.
Among the threatened landmarks
Monastery of 145
Bardzrakash St.
selected by an international Gregory, Dsegh,
ARMENIA
panel of experts are a Roman
Photo: Courtesy
archaeological site in the Former of Ministry of
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Culture of the
Republic of
a medieval monastery in Armenia, Armenia
two historic neighbourhoods in
Paço de Vilar
Kastoria in Greece, an 18th century de Perdizes in
citadel in Italy, 19th century stage Montalegre,
machinery in Belgium, and a PORTUGAL
Photo: Courtesy
20th century housing complex in of Associação
Russia. Some are in danger due Portuguesa das
Casas Antigas
to lack of resources or expertise,
others due to neglect or inadequate
planning. The final list of 7 sites
will be made public on 5 May 2014
during the European Heritage
Congress in Vienna.

“These monuments and sites were

selected taking into account not
only their remarkable heritage
and cultural values but also
the serious danger that they
are facing. The engagement of
the local communities and the
commitment of various public or
private bodies to saving them were Stage Machinery
also considered vital. Another of the Bourla
Theater,
important criterion was the Antwerp,
potential of these sites to stimulate BELGIUM
Photo: Courtesy
socio-economic development,”
of PERSPECTIV
stated Piet Jaspaert, Chairman of – Association
‘The 7 Most Endangered’ advisory of Historic
Theatres in
panel. Europe

Thracian
“Europa Nostra welcomes the
Sanctuary
increasing recognition by EU in Mishkova
Institutions, including the niva area,
BULGARIA
European Investment Bank Photo: Courtesy
(EIB), that cultural heritage is of Historical
Museum
both a strategic resource and a
Alexander Fol in
driving force for a sustainable Malko Tarnovo
Europe. We therefore very much
Colour Row
count on the commitment of Settlement in
those Institutions to assist local, Chernyakhovsk,
RUSSIA
regional and national authorities Photo: Courtesy
throughout Europe in their efforts of International
to save and enhance our heritage,” Centre of the
Roerichs
stressed Denis de Kergorlay,
Executive President of Europa
Nostra. “In 2013, in its pilot
year, ‘The 7 Most Endangered’
146
HERITAGE IN DANGER
Carillons of the Mafra National Palace, PORTUGAL
Photo: Courtesy of Centro Nacional de Cultura
Wooden Churches in Southern Transylvania and
Northern Oltenia, ROMANIA
Photo: Courtesy of Pro Patrimonio Foundation
Roman Archaeological Site of Golemo Gradište, Konjuh,
Former Yugoslav Republic of MACEDONIA
Photo: Courtesy of Archaeological Museum of Macedonia
Synagogue in Subotica, SERBIA
Photo: Courtesy of Europa Nostra Serbia
programme successfully raised
awareness about the most
threatened monuments and sites
in Europe and mobilised multiple
stakeholders in several countries,
from Portugal to Turkey. The
potential of this programme is
enormous and we have made great
progress,” he added.
“The successful restoration and
promotion of cultural heritage
can have significant social and
economic benefits at the local,
regional and even national levels,
in terms of increasing tourism,
creating jobs and improving
investment opportunities. To this
end, the European Investment
Bank Institute is backing ‘The 7
Most Endangered’ programme.
Experts from the Bank will
provide analysis and advice and
will help formulate a feasible
action plan for each of the seven
sites,” explained Rémy Jacob,
Dean of the EIB Institute.
Citadel of
Alessandria,
ITALY
Photos: Folco
Quilici
‘The 7 Most Endangered’
programme was launched in
January 2013 by Europa Nostra
with the European Investment
Bank Institute as founding
partner and the Council of Europe
Development Bank as associated
partner. It was inspired by a
successful similar project run
by the US National Trust for
Historic Preservation. ‘The 7
Most Endangered’ is not a funding
programme. Its aim is to serve as a
catalyst for action and to promote
‘the power of example’.
To find out more go to www.
europanostra.org/7-most-
endangered for updates on the 2013
missions and the 2014 short list.
On the Google Cultural Institute
website a special exhibition was
created in partnership
with Google.
 EU Commissioner
Androulla Vassiliou
and Europa Nostra
President Plácido
Domingo

Europa
Nostra Rose
Cultivate your passion for heritage with
the exclusive Europa Nostra® Rose
Support Europa Nostra with the stunningly beautiful
Europa Nostra® Rose, exclusively cultivated for Europa
Nostra. This attractive rosebush, also lovingly known
as the Esprit d’Amour, the Spirit of Love, has already
been awarded by the horticultural experts with the
Golden Medal ‘The Rose of the Year’ in Monza 2012
and the Silver Medal in Kortrijk 2012 as well as the
second prize in the Belgian Rose selection. The Europa
Nostra Rose has the pleasant smell of wild roses, is
loved by bees and easy to care for. This charming
moschatahybrid with a maximum heights of 160cm is
an addition to any garden and a meaningful gift for any
occasion. Cultivate you passion for heritage with
the Europa Nostra Rose, available at
www.rosamundoshop.com

®VISamalbi, M. Vissers 2010

Become a Member of Europa Nostra
Make Cultural Heritage a European Priority

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 CALL FOR ENTRIES*
EUROPEAN UNION PRIZE FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE/

EUROPA NOSTRA AWARDS 2015

The European Union Prize for Cultural
Heritage was launched in 2002 by
the European Commission as part of
the implementation of the Culture
Programme. Europa Nostra, the Voice of
Cultural Heritage in Europe, was selected 3. Dedicated Service by Individuals or
to run this Awards Scheme on the
basis of its long experience in publicly
recognising individual or joint excellence Raising
in the field of Cultural Heritage at a
European level.
The European Union Prize for Cultural
Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards is
granted annually to identify and promote and social value, setting, authenticity
best practices in the conservation of
tangible cultural heritage, to stimulate
the trans-frontier exchanges of
knowledge and experience throughout
Europe, to enhance public awareness
and appreciation of Europe’s cultural
heritage, and to encourage further
exemplary initiatives through the Power Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards
of Example.
Outstanding heritage achievements will
be awarded in the following categories:
1. Conservation
2. Research and Digitalisation
Organisations
4. Education, Training and Awareness-
Criteria for the assessment of entries
include excellence in the work executed
and preliminary research conducted,
as well as respect for artistic, cultural
and integrity. Entries can be on a
scale ranging from small to large,
local to international, and should
display a standard of work considered
outstanding in a European context.
The European Union Prize for Cultural
CLOSING DATE : 15 OCTOBER 2014
The ceremony will take place on 11 June 2015 at the Town
consists of two award levels. Up to Hall of Oslo, Norway
seven entries will be awarded a Grand For further information:
Prix, which includes a monetary award EUROPA NOSTRA, Elena Bianchi: Heritage Awards Coordinator
of € 10 000. Up to twenty-five entries T + 31 70 302 40 58 eb@europanostra.org
will receive an Award. Download an entry form: www.europanostra.org
* DISCLAIMER: Subject to the positive decision by the European Commission after
the completion of the current selection process for the partner organisation responsible
for the running of the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage in the next 7 years period 2015-2021.

Published by EUROPA NOSTRA
The Voice of Cultural Heritage
in Europe
European Cultural Heritage
Review (May 2014)
ISSN:1871-417X
President
Plácido Domingo
Executive President
Denis de Kergorlay
Secretary-General
Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović
Editor in Chief Production Websites EUROPA NOSTRA All rights reserved.
Wolter Braamhorst MYRA, Istanbul, Turkiye europanostra.org INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT
No part of either publication may
myra.com.tr myra.com.tr Lange Voorhout 35
Concept be reproduced in any material
TV Culture Design Supervisor tvculture.nl NL - 2514 EC The Hague
form, including electronic means,
Rauf Kösemen odysseus-print.at T +31 (0) 70 302 40 50
Articles written by without the prior written
F +31 (0) 70 361 78 65
TV Culture (except where noted) Coordination permission of the copyright
info@europanostra.org
Damla Özlüer owners.
Special Thanks
Österreichischer Burgenverein: Periodical Design The views expressed are those of
Alexander Graf Kottulinsky Tülay Demircan, Banu Y. Ocak The printing of Heritage in Motion
the authors and not necessarily
Alexander Fürst zu Sayn- was supported by the European
Page Layout those of Europa Nostra.
Wittgenstein-Sayn Commission representation in
Gülderen Rençber Erbaş Austria Every effort has been made to
Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović
Technical Controls trace the copyright holders of old
Text editing material.
Harun Yılmaz
Roger Woodley
Paper and Printing Where these efforts have not been
Photography
Druckerei Odysseus Himberg successful, copyright owners are
TV Culture
Philip Löffelmann invited to contact the editor.
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(except where noted)
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Dorukhan Arslan
 ISSN: 1871-417X
EUROPEAN CULTURAL HERITAGE REVIEW
SUMMER 2014

EUROPA NOSTRA represents a rapidly growing citizens’ movement for the

safeguarding of Europe’s cultural and natural heritage. Our pan-European
network is composed of 250 member organisations (heritage associations
and foundations with a combined membership of more than 5 million people),
150 associated organisations (governmental bodies, local authorities and
corporations) and also 1500 individual members who directly support our
mission.

TOGETHER,
• we form an important lobby for cultural heritage in Europe;
• we celebrate excellence through the European Heritage Awards organised
by Europa Nostra in partnership with the European Union; and
• we campaign to save Europe’s endangered historic monuments, sites and
cultural landscapes.

We are the Voice of Cultural Heritage in Europe.

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