The split in the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) – anticipated for weeks – has become official on 4pril 2005. Ursula Haubner announced her resignation and changed, together with the entire party leadership and a majority of the FPÖ Members of Parliament, to the new “BZÖ”, short for “Bündnis Zukunft Österreich” (Alliance for the Future of Austria), boasting an orange logo. Carinthia’s Governor Jörg Haider will become the chairman of BZÖ. According to the party’s parliamentary leader Herbert Scheibner, the majority of the coalition government in Parliament is guaranteed.
17 April 2005 was fixed as the date for the BZÖ foundation convention. Besides Social Minister Haubner, all the other FPÖ cabinet members will join the new alliance.
The reshuffle of the FPÖ’s regional groups has not been concluded. Chairman designate of the former nationwide FPÖ is Heinz-Christian Strache, head of Vienna’s regional party organisation.
After the Council of Ministers on 5 April 2005, Federal Chancellor Schüssel informed that the “constructive government cooperation” in the interest of the Austrian population would be continued until the end of the parliamentary term 2006 and that the coalition partner guaranteed the stability of government cooperation. ■

On 31 March 2005 the special issue of “Europäische Rundschau“ (edited by Paul Lendvai) dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Austrian State Treaty was presented. Chancellor Schüssel and former Federal Chancellor Franz Vranitzky emphasised the favourable development of Austria after that landmark in the history of the nation.
Against the background of the current jubilee year, Schüssel demanded to “concentrate on the really important issues” in Austria instead of fighting over trivial matters. Between the end of WW II and the conclusion of the State Treaty external events had affected Austria, e.g. the “Communist revolutions“ in Czechoslovakia and Hungary in the late 1940s. When the US Marshall Plan had been phased out after the Korea war, Austria had to “stand on its own feet“ also in economic terms, said Schüssel. ■

On 30 March 2005 the Council of Ministers adopted an amendment to the Constitution abolishing the two-thirds majority requirement for school legislation. According to Federal Chancellor Schüssel, school should not become a “test field“. Teachers, parents and pupils had to be guaranteed “safety” by setting clear objectives. The exemption of compulsory schooling from tuition fees was undisputed and also guaranteed under international agreements. As Minister of Education Elisabeth Gehrer informed, there are plans to introduce the five-day week for all pupils aged between six and 14 years in the school year 2006/07. ■

The Committee on Equal Treatment set up under the Equal Treatment Act (which entered into force on 1 July 2004) started to work in early April. It ensures effective monitoring of the implementation of the Equal Treatment Act, which inter alia forbids racial discrimination in all public spheres and enshrines the equal treatment of women and men at work. ■

Federal President Heinz Fischer welcomed about one hundred former Viennese displaced by the National Socialists at his official seat Hofburg on 6 April 2005. The invitation was a gesture of “cordially welcoming the displaced” by the Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna.
Guests from the USA, Canada, England, Israel and Argentina had been invited to stay in Vienna for one week by the “Jewish Welcome Service Vienna“. Sophie Templer-Kuh, a nice of the legendary Viennese coffee house poet Anton Kuh, came from Berlin. It goes without saying that Leon Zelman, the committed and meritorious director of the platform “Jewish Welcome“, was one of the guests. ■

The funeral ceremony for Pope John Paul II. was held under tight security in St. Peter’s Basilica and St. Peter’s Square in Rome on 8 April 2005. According to official sources, about four million people participated in the historic event, which was also transmitted live on giant screens installed in other squares of the Eternal City. Among the 200 internati¬onal official attendees were US President George W. Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Austria was represented by Federal President Heinz Fischer, Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, Vice-Chancellor Hubert Gorbach and President of Nationalrat (First Chamber of Parliament) Andreas Khol.
Up to 4,000 journalists from all over the world reported on the obsequies. The two Arab TV stations Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya had also sent reporters to Rome.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, dean of the College of Cardinals, presided at the Mass for the deceased. The Cardinals and Patriarchs of the united Eastern Rite Churches present in Rome concelebrated.
Austria also mourned the dead Pope. To express the nation’s sympathy, the flags of the Parliament, the President’s seat at Hofburg and the Federal Chancellery were flying at half-mast. On the day of the funeral black flags were hoisted on all public buildings.
In the reactions on the death of the Pontifex Maximus his extraordinary personality and commitment to peace were highlighted. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn called him a “courageous nonconformist“ opposing the “spirit of the time“. Federal President Fischer praised the late Pope as a “generally recognised moral authority dedicated to peace, human rights, justice and the combat against poverty”. Chancellor Schüssel stressed that the Pope had been an “enormous threat” to Communism. The Pope had considered Austria a “bridge and gate” to reunification. ■

In a letter of condolence to Monaco’s new ruler Albert II. Federal President Heinz Fischer paid tribute to Prince Rainier III. of Monaco, who had died on 6 April 2005. The letter stated: “His extraordinary cordiality and outstanding human qualities have won him the sympathy of all citizens of Monaco, who will remember him with deep respect and love”. Fischer conveyed “sincere condolences in his own name and on behalf of the Republic of Austria”. ■

Iran’s outgoing State President Mohammad Khatami held official talks with Federal President Heinz Fischer and Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel on 4 April 2005 during a short stay in Vienna. He emphasised that his country wanted to continue the peaceful use of nuclear power due to Iran’s great demand for energy and environmental pollution caused by fossil fuel. Khatami condemned, however, the production of nuclear weapons. He hoped that a unanimous agreement would be reached at the negotiations on nuclear power between the EU and Teheran. Both sides described the bilateral relations as “excellent”. ■

The Council of Ministers adopted the new EU Constitution on 30 March 2005. The Treaty has then been submitted to Parliament, which will vote on it on 12 May 2005. Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel referred to the EU Constitution as an “important document for the next years and decades“ forming the basis for the work of the Union. In view of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Austrian State Treaty, he regarded the EU Constitution as a “kind of second, more modern State Treaty“. ■

Austria expected Romania to join the EU in 2007 – and this was a goal to be achieved by common effort, explained Austria’s Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik on 7 April 2005 after a meeting with her Romanian counterpart Mihai Razvan Ungureanu in Vienna. Both politicians called for a European perspective“ for the Balkan states. ■

The First Chamber of the Austrian Parliament (Nationalrat) adopted the budget 2006 with the votes of the governing coalition on 7 April 2005. For 2006 the Minister of Finance estimated the expenditure at 66.17 billion euro and the revenue at 60.36 billion euro, resulting in a federal government deficit of 2.2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Thanks to surpluses registered in the federal provinces, the overall state deficit was expected to amount to 1.7%.
One day later Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel defended the budget policy of the federal government in the plenary session. With reference to the current anniversary year, he pointed out that in the past 60 years Austria had boasted an impressive success record, to which, in fact, all political parties had contributed. Austria’s position was quite good compared to its neighbours as “we have effected the reforms in time which will hopefully safeguard Austria’s strong position as a business location also in the medium term”, said Schüssel.
The Chancellor again stressed the recent tax relief package and reform measures concerning education, youth, women and pensioners. ■

According to the European Commission, Austria’s economy will grow by 2.1% in the next two years. Thus the spring forecast of the EU institution published on 4 April 2005 differs only insignificantly from the data provided by the experts of the Economic Research Institute (Wifo) and the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) predicting a growth of 2¼ to 2½% for 2005/2006. Based on the EU forecast, unemployment will drop to 4.1% this year and to 3.9% in 2006.
The domestic economy is expected to register stable growth also in the future. Domestic consumption is likely to respond favourably to the recent tax cuts and employment growth. The reduction of corporate income tax boosted Austria’s attractiveness for foreign investors, stated the EU Commission confirming also the budget deficit of 1.7% estimated by the Austrian government for 2006. ■

After the change of government in 2000, the government-owned holding company ÖIAG sold nine of total of 14 state enterprises to implement the privatisation programme. Among the fully privatised companies are voestalpine, Böhler Uddeholm, Austria Tabak, Vienna Airport, P.S.K., the Government Printing Office, Dorotheum and VA Tech. Telekom Austria (TA) was partly denationalised, with a remaining state holding of 25.2% (excluding the convertible bond). The government still holds 100% of Österreichische Post AG, 31.5% of OMV, 39.7% of AUA and Graz-Köflach Bergbaugesellschaft.
ÖIAG reaped a total profit of about 5 billion euro from the sales, which was mainly used for debt repayment. Since 1999 ÖIAG’s debt position has decreased from 6.3 billion euro to practically zero. With 5.3 billion euro, the gross value of the ÖIAG holding has remained almost constant as the value of the remaining stakes increased. The state holding company’s dividend earnings from the shareholdings declined from 472 million euro (2001) to 123 million euro (2004).
As debt servicing is no longer required, ÖIAG may in the future pass on its revenue directly to the Minister of Finance. This year the ÖIAG dividend, which is reflected in the budget, will therefore surge to 255 million euro from previously 100 million euro. ■

In 2004 the capital assets of the Austrians increased by 6.7% to 329.4 billion euro as a result of investments and share price gains. However, the private households also piled up debts, above all in the form of loans for buying apartments or houses. According to provisional data of the Austrian National Bank, total indebtedness rose by 7.8% to 118 billion euro from the prior-year level.
The increase in financial assets of the Austrians was also due to life insurance claims and a new trend to invest in securities. Last year private households invested a total of 16.8 billion euro – almost 15% more than in 2003 (14.6 billion euro) – in new funds. With almost 330 billion euro, the private financial assets corresponded to 140% of the domestic GDP in late 2004. ■

60 years after the end of WW II and 50 years after conclusion of the State Treaty in Vienna, Schallaburg near Melk (Lower Austria) presents a comprehensive show to commemorate the State Treaty anniversary. It highlights the multi-facetted development of Austria from 1945 to 1955 at the political, economic, social and cultural level. It is the first time that the Austrian public will have access to numerous documents from Russian archives and aout 1,000 loan exhibits collected in a nationwide campaign organised by the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) and Austrian print media. The exhibition will be opened on 15 April 2005, exactly 50 years after the historic day on which the then Federal Chancellor Julius Raab brought “good news” back home from the Soviet Union announcing on the airfield of Vöslau to the Austrians: “We will be free!“. The highlight of the exhibition is the moment in which Foreign Minister Leopold Figl expressed the innermost thoughts of all Austrians on the balcony of Belvedere Palace in Vienna on 15 May 1955: “Austria is free!“ Figl and Raab are – besides Cardinal Franz König, Minister of the Interior Oskar Helmer or Vice-Chancellor Adolf Schärf – the main protagonists of the exhibition. Their political careers and the decisions they took for Austria are made transparent and comprehensible. Although the exhibition is dedicated to Austria as a whole and the four occupation zones, the main focus is on the Soviet zone: Lower Austria, major parts of Vienna, Burgenland and Mühlviertel (Upper Austria). Styria and its capital Graz had also been occupied by the Soviets for some months. Together with Russian historians, the basic concept has been developed in a special research project on the “Red Army in Austria” supported by the Ministry of Education (BMBWK). ■

From 20 April to 4 July 2005 the Jewish Museum Vienna shows the exhibition “Now Tennenbaum is angry. The Second Republic and its Jews” The first statement has been drawn from “Herr Karl“, a satirical one-man play by Helmut Qualtinger and Carl Merz unmasking the Austrian petty bourgeois as a stiff-necked opportunist. Returning to Austria after 1945, the Jew Tennenbaum obviously couldn’t take a joke and held a grudge against “Herr Karl” for the Jew-baiting in March 1938 and thus did not return his greeting. Besides, xenophobia, anti-modernism and anti-Semitism were not the monopoly of the Conservatives but also Liberals and Socialists resorted to them when deemed necessary. The exhibition focuses on neuralgic issues: the so-called “zero hour“ with the liberation of the concentration camps and the establishment of camps for displaced persons, the role of the “first victim” of Nazi aggression quickly assumed by Austria after WW II, the attitude of the post-war judicial system and hesitant denazification and restitution. The demand for confronting the Second Republic with its NS heritage is addressed in the form of an “interactive” dialogue. The Museum is to serve as a platform for active discussions, with visitors becoming players, rather than mere consumers. ■

A gala concert at Vienna State Opera on 5 November 2005 celebrating the 50th anniversary of its re-opening after WW II. will star conductors like Zubin Mehta, Christian Thielemann and Franz Welser-Möst. In 1955 Karl Böhm had conducted the premiere of Beethoven’s “Fidelio“. Thus the opera became a symbol of the free and neutral Austria. On 5 November 2005 the programme will include excerpts from the operas that were performed after the post-war re-opening. Singers like Johan Botha, Thomas Hampson, Edita Gruberova will interpret Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss and Verdi. The gala concert will be broadcast around the world. ■

To mark the 60th anniversary of the end of WW II, the Austrian Film Archives focus on “Cinema and National Socialism“ (until 1 May). The section “Hitler’s Hollywood“ presents NS propaganda films, while “Hollywood vs. Hitler” illustrates the response of the USA. ■

On 3 April 2005 incumbent Federal President Heinz Fischer participated in a commemoration ceremony for Rudolf Kirchschläger, Austria’s President from 1974 to 1980 and serving a second term of office ending in 1986. Together with widow Herma Kirchschläger, Fischer unveiled a bust of the former President in his birth place Niederkappel (Upper Austria) in the presence of Governor Josef Pühringer and his deputy Erich Haider. A “Dr. Rudolf Kirchschläger Centre“ is currently being established in Niederkappel. Fischer praised Kirchschläger as a man of law and justice, who had been committed to combining the two concepts warm-heartedly. Kirchschläger’s re-election for a second term of office had been a “proof of love of the Austrians“. The joint candidate of the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the People’s Party (ÖVP) Kirchschläger – as a non-party member he had been appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs (1970 to 1974) by the then Chancellor Kreisky – received 79.9% of the votes at the re-election in 1980. ■

The poet Michael Donhauser (48) has become the third recipient of the Ernst Jandl Prize for Lyric Poetry in 2005. The Prize had been created by Secretary of State for the Arts Franz Morak in 2000 to commemorate the great Austrian poet Ernst Jandl (1925-2000) and is awarded every two years. In 2003 the prize went to Felix Philipp Ingold from Switzerland. The first prize had been conferred on the German lyric poet and essayist Thomas Kling in 2001, who died aged 47 on 1 April 2005. With his linguistic poetics (“erprobung herzstärkender mittel“, “Auswer¬tung der Flugdaten“), he was a model for performers of lyric poetry and rock poets. As Morak stated, German-language literature had “lost a great literary artist. His death is not only a great loss for German-language poetry but in particular for the Austrian literary community, to which he felt close because of his radical attitude towards language and his outstanding elocution“. Kling was full of regard for Austrian poets like H.C. Artmann, Ernst Jandl and Friedericke Mayröcker.
Michael Donhauser is the first Austrian to receive the Jandl Prize. His work includes the prose poems “Die Wörtlichkeit der Quitte“, the volume of poems “Sarganserland“ and Rimbaud translations. ■

Practically as a follow-up to the large-scale Max Weiler exhibition presented in Beijing in 1998, six artists of the younger generation have been touring Shanghai, Beijing, Xian and Guangzhou with about 200 works, partly of large formats. Mumok Director Edelbert Köb appointed Erwin Bohatsch, Herbert Brandl, Gunter Damisch, Hubert Scheibl, Walter Vopava and Otto Zitko as curators and will present the show also at the Museum of Modern Art in Vienna under the title “China retour” (opening in December). The touring exhibition was praised as a “highlight in the cultural exchange between China and Austria” by Lu Yonghua, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Austria. The works of the Austrian artists are versatile and colourful, with a general tendency towards abstraction. From 22 April to 31 May 2005 they are exhibited at the Shanghai Art Museum, from 10 June to 18 July at the Chinese National Gallery Beijing Foundation Ludwig, from 28 July to 5 September at the Shaanxi Art Museum Xian and finally at the Guangdong Museum of Art in Guangzhou. ■

The Benedictine Abbey Seitenstetten in Mostviertel (Lower Austria) is showing until 31 October 2005 the special exhibition “Work and Feasts – Paintings Become Alive“. Custos Patres Martin Mayrhofer: “The work of the peasants in the fields and that of our monks has always been a miraculous interplay“. In the show this is documented impressively in the every-day lives and the feasts of plain people in the Mostviertel throughout the centuries. The Italian master Leandro Bassano portrayed the work and life cycles in the 16th century – which remained practically unchanged until the 1950s. Cooperage, cheese production and harvesting are vividly depicted in his paintings. A selection of paintings of numerous masters breathes new life into the feasts and traditions in the course of a year throughout the epochs. On the sidelines of the exhibition, craftsmen present their skills in the Promulgation Hall of the Abbey. The old basket maker Franz Reisinger from St. Georgen am Ybbsfeld as well as broom makers, ropers and spinning peasants can be admired by the visitors. The programme offers a flail threshing show, a district must-tasting session and a lot more. Abbot Berthold Heigl emphasised: “The rich traditions of the people in our region should be revived“. The visitors of the exhibition must not miss the Abbey’s rose garden with more than 100 historic rose varieties. It has opened at Eastern and invites for meditation. ■

“Le Monde“ reporter Daniel Vernet was awarded the Joseph Roth Prize in Vienna on 2 April 2005. The Prize has been named after the journalist and writer Joseph Roth, who authored for example “Radetzky March” and “The Emperor’s Tomb”. Roth was born in the Danube monarchy and died in Paris (1894-1939). At the award ceremony French Ambassador to Austria Pierre Viaux, Austrian Ambassador in Paris Anton Prohaska as well as Paul Lendvai, editor-in-chief of “Europäische Rundschau“, praised Vernet’s services benefiting the relations between Austria and France. ■

Under the title “From Goya to Picasso“ Vienna Albertina presents the private collection of Jan Krugier and Marie-Anne Krugier-Poniatowski, which can be seen for the first time in Austria. Krugier is one of the most important art dealers of the present. Together with his wife, he has established a globally unique art collection just within a few decades. The exhibition shows 180 masterpieces – from the beginning of the 19th century (Goya, Géricault, Ingres and Delacroix), representing realism (from Menzel to the early Van Gogh) and impressionism (with key works by Manet, Monet, Degas and Seurat), as well as paintings by the three individualists Cézanne, Matisse and Picasso. This overview of the history of modernism is rounded off with Giacometti, who had been a friend of Jan Krugier for many decades. ■

Kunstforum Bank Austria in Vienna shows Austria’s first retrospective of the Belgian surrealist (1898-1967) titled “René Magritte. Der Key to Dreams” (running until 24 July 2005). About 70 masterworks are presented, e.g. icons like the pipe painting “The Treachery of Images“, the oversized apple in “The Listening Room“ or the versions of the “The Man in the Bowler Hat“ as well as “Good Faith“ and “The Great War“. Language and semiotics were also important to the painter appreciated by French philosopher and social scientist Michel Foucault. Magritte’s paintings are also enciphered images of words. ■

Auguste Renoir will be in the limelight of an exhibition on impressionism at Kunsthalle Krems comprising 120 works of art. The show ending on 31 July 2005 reflects the splendour and glamour of late 19th-century Paris with its boulevard cafes, night clubs and brothels. It goes without saying that the exhibition also shows the ballet dancers by Edgar Degas as well as works by Toulouse-Lautrec, Bonnard and Gauguin. Female impressionist painters like Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot and Eva Gonzalès created a remarkable oeuvre. The works on show are loans from about 30 museums and private collections from all over the world, e.g. the Musée d’Orsay and the Metropolitan Museum New York. No less than 73 exhibits come from the depot of the Belgrade National Museum, which has been closed since the war in former Yugoslavia. A large collection of French impressionists, including 70 works by Renoir and numerous fine charcoal drawings by Degas, is stored there. The paintings once belonged to the Serb Erich Chlomovitch, who returned to his native country after acquiring great wealth in Paris and was probably killed in a concentration camp in 1942. His valuable collection was later transferred to the Belgrade National Museum. ■

From 30 April to 15 May 2005 an Ice-Hockey World Championship with an almost unprecedented number of stars will be staged in Austria. As the season in the National Hockey Lea¬gue (NHL) was cancelled, many top stars will participate in the World Championship in Vienna and Innsbruck. Secretary of State Schweitzer is also convinced that this event will become a success: “Austria has once more demonstrated that it can create optimal framework conditions for mass-sports events. The Austrians have great expectations, both in economic and athletic terms.“ This was confirmed in a macroeconomic study by Johannes Kepler University in Linz. The analysis takes into account all ratios relevant for the value-added, including ticket sales estimated on the basis of the assumed rate of capacity utilisation and the value-added-relevant expenditure of foreign visitors and the individual teams. To assess the macroeconomic profitability of the event, the costs of hosting the Ice-Hockey World Championship were set against the economic benefits. A comparison of the macroeconomic effects with the budget costs shows that Austria will reap a considerable profit. However, the quantitative economic benefit has to be related to the rate of capacity utilisation, the propensity to spend of foreign guests and the general economic situation. Thus a profit between about 60.5 and 72.6 million euro can be expected in 2005. The anticipated employment effect consists in 660 to 743 jobs safeguarded or newly created. ■

Winning two gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal in Denmark, Austria can look back on its best result in the 47-year history of the European championship. Werner Schlager and Karl Jindrak snatched the European title in the men’s double competition. Liu Jia was crowned European champion in the women’s single competition. Silver went to Chen Weixing/Viktoria Parlovich in the mixed double. Werner Schlager/Liu Jia were awarded bronze also in the mixed double. The Austrian men’s team earned silver. As an extra bonus, Austria for the first time won the medal ranking. This is a good omen for the World Championship in China (30 April to 6 May 2005). After the sensational results of the last few years, the Austrian Table Tennis Association and Secretary of State Schweitzer have devoted their best efforts to bringing the 2009 Table Tennis World Championship to Linz (Upper Austria). The hopefully favourable decision will be taken during the team world championship in Bremen from 24 April to 1 May 2006. ■

Jointly with the Nordic Walking Organisation and the Technical University Burgenland in Pinkafeld, the Running & Walking Arena in Bad Tatzmannsdorf has organised the International Nordic Walking Congress for the third time. The mission of the Arena based in southern Burgenland is to promote healthy exercise. Enjoyable activities like running, Nordic walking and hiking are integrated in a wide range of health programmes. The congress highlighted the importance of Nordic walking in terms health promotion and lasting salutary effects. In Finland this sport has been offered as a health training since 1997. “An optimal training of the entire body for everyone”, stressed Schweitzer in his opening statement. The following four blocks of the congress presented interesting facts about Nordic walking and medicine, biomechanics, equipment and innovation. Moreover, professional tips were given on the organisation of workshops. “In the age of trendy sports Nordic walking is gaining ground also in Austria. This is not only benefiting the economy but the young and old“, Schweitzer stated optimistically. ■