Culture
by Henry Blood. In studying the development of railroads in the Habsburg Empire, I initially had no idea there would be any link between Europe and the United States of America. However, while doing archival research, I learned that in the neighborhood of Meidling in Vienna’s twelfth district there is a bridge, the Philadelphiabrücke. It’s…
“Introduction: Highlighting Austria’s Migration History” 2015 marked the culmination of the so-called “European immigration crisis,” which was, at that time, the largest increase of displaced persons seeking asylum in Europe since the end of World War II.1 Located between two major refugee routes, Austria received around 90,000 asylum requests that year which was the third…
Travelling Titles: Imported Doctorates and Educational Protectionism in a Globalizing World, 1890-1920. From the end of the 19th century, rapid globalization led to an increase in transatlantic educational mobility. While many American medical students went to the major faculties in Vienna and Berlin to complete their studies, at the same time numerous Austrian and German…
Gerda Lerner: Film, Politics and Activism. Gerda Lerner (1920–2013) is widely recognized as a pioneering feminist historian, yet her contributions to film remain largely understudied. This project addresses a critical gap by examining her involvement in independent filmmaking, political activism, and the intersection of Jewish and Black civil rights alliances during the McCarthy era and…
THE ETHNOGRAPHIC GAZE OF EMIL HABDANK DUNIKOWSKI (1855-1924): TRACING CULTURAL TRANSFERS AND IDENTITY-FORMATION PROCESSES WITHIN THE UNITED STATES AND AUSTRIAN GALICIA. Emil Habdank Dunikowski (1855–1924), a Galician geologist and traveller, traversed the American continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific during his four scientific journeys (in 1891, 1892, 1893 and 1906). By investigating previously unexplored…
Railroads and the Transformation of State and Society in the Habsburg Empire. In the 1830s and 1840s, engineers from the Habsburg Empire, such as Matthias von Schönerer, Franz Anton von Gerstner, and Karl Ghega all travelled to the United States of America to learn about the development of railroads in America. Why did Austrians travel…
In 1571, a Habsburg wedding was celebrated in Vienna which included personifications of the four continents, one of which was the “King of America.” Among the artists involved in designing and planning the celebrations were Giuseppe Arcimboldo and a circle of humanist thinkers including Giovanni Battista Fonteo and Jacopo Strada. An investigation of drawings related…
Together with her daughter Leonille Wittgenstein and son Constantin Wittgenstein, celebrated Swiss-Hungarian actress Sunnyi Melles, who has i.a. performed the role of Jedermann’s lover (Buhlschaft) at the Salzburg Festival 1990-1993, will trace the eventful journey of Max Reinhardt’s life in a multimedial way, by reading from writings and contemporary documents, with music and sound design…
The research project will study the life and work of Yoichi Okamoto, personal photographer of General Mark Clark 1945–1948 in Austria, head of the United States Information Service Pictorial Section in Austria 1948–1954 and Presidential Photographer of Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House 1963–1969. Surprisingly enough, despite Okamoto’s extraordinary career in Europe and later…
This project examines Austrian engagement with American musical theatre from postwar innovations at the Vienna Volksoper through to transnational programming and new musical development by contemporary Austrian institutions such as Vereinigten Bühnen Wien (VBW) and the Landestheater Linz. Having learned and developed from the Broadway musical, Austria is now influencing the growth and development of…