On 10 July 2004 Austria bade farewell to Thomas Klestil (71). The Federal President, who had died shortly before midnight on 6 July 2004 from a heart failure, was laid to rest in a state funeral in the Presidents’ tomb at Zentralfriedhof in Vienna. Before Vienna’s Archbishop Cardinal Christoph Schönborn had celebrated a requiem mass at St. Stephen’s Cathedral.
Thousands of citizens, Austria’s entire political leadership, representatives of all European royal dynasties as well as 25 heads of state and government – among them Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, German Federal President Horst Köhler and Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as the USA’s delegate – attended the obsequies.
On the occasion of the funeral ceremonies, Austria’s new Federal President Heinz Fischer and Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel held bilateral talks with high-ranking guests. After the funeral the official guests were invited to a reception in the President’s rooms in Vienna’s former imperial palace Hofburg.
The federal government and the Members of Parliament had paid tribute to the memory to Thomas Klestil after Fischer was sworn in as the new President in a special memorial session of Parliament on 8 July 2004. ■

Heinz Fischer was sworn in as Austria’s eighth Federal President of the Second Republic on 8 July 2004. In his inaugural speech the new head of state solemnly promised before the Bundesversammlung (Upper House of Parliament) to perform his official functions on a non-partisan basis: “I cannot and will not deny my origins in Austria’s Social Democracy and betray the ideals of my youth – but I can and will leave behind any bias“, said Fischer.
In addition to the federal government headed by Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, about 1,000 guests participated in the inaugural ceremony, among them former Federal President Kurt Waldheim, the widow of the dead Federal President Thomas Klestil, Margot Klestil-Löffler, as well as former Federal Chancellors Fred Sinowatz and Franz Vranitzky. The social partners and religious communities had also sent delegates.
Fischer assured the federal government of his willingness to engage in “cooperation based on facts” and pleaded for fairness in political conflicts and for social justice. Schüssel offered the Federal President “cooperation based on confidence” with the federal government. ■

On 12 July 2004 Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel presented together with the coalition partner the key elements of the reform to harmonise Austria’s different pension systems.
“We create a modern, fair and just system. The harmonisation of pension systems is based on the principle that equal contributions will entail equal benefits. There was no alternative to this model founded on the 2002 pension reform and there were no compelling arguments against it in the discussion. The reform will introduce with effect 2005 a uniform pension insurance system for all those under 55 covering all occupational groups. It was important to us that pension rights acquired in the past will not be lost. This is guaranteed by the reform”, stressed Schüssel. He also pointed out that 80% of the population demanded a harmonisation of pension systems.
Pension claims under previous schemes will be continued to be calculated in parallel. Thus as from 1 January 2005 there will be a hybrid system of old and new pension rights. All occupational groups will have uniform pension entitlements. Hence, at the age of 65 years and after 45 contribution years 80% of the average life-time earnings will be granted as a pension.
According to Schüssel, important improvements were for example the continuous valorisation of the contributions paid (increasing the basis of contributions), limiting losses to 5% as well as significantly improved pension credits for child-raising periods. ■

On 12 July 2004 a meeting was held to exchange views on e-government in Austrian municipalities in Weikersdorf (Lower Austria), in which Secretary of State for the Media Franz Morak participated. The e-government model municipalities Weikersdorf, Inzersdorf-Getzersdorf (Lower Austria), Hitzendorf (Styria), Steyr and Kremsmünster (Upper Austria) presented their projects. Morak, who underlined the importance of electronic transactions for the administration at the municipal level, said inter alia: “They are our gateway to the future. Internet use has become indispensable for Austria’s administration, and a re-orientation process is needed for which the mayors of the e-government municipalities have paved the way. Applications have to be as simple as possible to ensure that really all users may handle them easily“.
In 2003 the Association of Austrian Municipalities initiated together with the federal government’s Chief Information Office responsible for information and communication technology the project “model communities“, where e-govern¬ment is implemented in an exemplary way and functionalities such as electronic signature, web forms, online payment and electronic delivery may be integrated into existing administrative systems. ■

His first official trips took Austria’s new Federal President Heinz Fischer to the two neighbouring countries Hungary (12 July 2004) and Slovakia (15 July 2004). He was accompanied by his wife Margit and Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner. The talks focused on EU issues and bilateral questions.
After his meetings with Hungarian President Ferenc Madl and Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy in Budapest, Fischer concluded that there was “full agreement” about the EU Constitution and praised the “wonderful atmosphere”. Madl reiterated that the adoption of a European Constitution was a major concern of Hungary.
In Slovakia’s capital Bratislava Fischer conducted talks inter alia with his counterpart Ivan Gasparovic and Prime Minister Nikolas Dzurinda. Concerning infrastructure, he stated that Austria wanted to “push ahead vigorously” with transport routes to Slovakia. “The green light has been given for the construction of a motorway”, said the Federal President. ■

Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot arrived in Vienna on 14 July 2004 for official talks with Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner. The meeting focused on the Dutch EU Presidency’s priorities, EU accession negotiations with Bulgaria and Romania as well as the situation in the Western Balkans and in Iraq.
In line with the Dutch plans, Ferrero-Waldner pleaded for sticking to the schedule of negotiations with Bulgaria and Romania and the envisaged EU accession date 2007.
Concerning the situation in the Western Balkans both sides agreed that the result of the recent presidential elections in Serbia was positive. Ferrero-Waldner emphasised that the prospect of EU integration had a consolidating effect on all states of this region.
Kosovo remained a matter of special concern. The participation of Austrian soldiers in KFOR – with 600 men Austria’s most numerous contingent abroad – illustrated Austria’s great efforts to contribute to the stabilisation of Kosovo, explained the Foreign Minister. ■

On the occasion of a four-day private visit to Vienna, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan met with Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner on 15 July 2004. According to the Foreign Minister, they had discussed international issues focusing not only on the situation in Iraq, Iran and Kosovo but also on the settlement of the crisis in the Darfur region in Sudan.
Federal President Heinz Fischer hosted a dinner in Annan’s honour at Vienna’s Hofburg in the evening.
Furthermore, the UN chief participated in a meeting of the “UN Panel on Threats, Challenges and Changes“ in Baden near Vienna. It is the task of the Panel founded last year by Annan to analyse future scenarios of threats to peace and security and propose measures. The Panel consists of 16 members of different nations. Its fourth meeting was held in Baden. ■

“The efforts to improve the investment climate in South Eastern Europe are showing favourable results. This is attested by the “International Investors of the Year Awards 2004” conferred today. As Austria’s Minister for Economic Affairs I am highly pleased that two companies from Austria are among the prize winners“, explained Minister for Labour and Economic Affairs Martin Bartenstein at the welcome reception of the third Ministerial Conference of the “South East Europe Compact for Reform, Investment, Integrity and Growth“ held under the aegis of OECD and the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe in Vienna on 8 July 2004. The co-chairs of the Investment Compact have been held by Austria, Romania and the OECD since 2002.
Among the items of the agenda of the conference were the evaluation of the economic reform process in the region and the adoption of measures to improve the investment climate. The Ministers of Economy from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro as well as Stability Pact Special Coordinator Erhard Busek, high-ranking OECD members and economic experts participated in the meeting.
The aim of the awards granted this year for the second time is to present successful examples of international investments in the South Eastern European countries with a view to raising the awareness of chances and opportunities in this region.
The Austrian prize winners are Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG, that made investments in Albania totalling 126 million euro, and SPB Industrieholding GmbH, which invested 60 million euro to establish a sawmill with 320 new jobs. ■

Red Bull, Swarowski and Spar Österreich are Austria’s most valuable corporate brands. As the first study on the value of brands conducted in Austria shows, the top 10 brands have a total value of 25 billion euro, with Red Bull alone accounting for 6.5 billion euro.
After Red Bull, the Swarowski group ranks second with a market value of almost 4 billion euro. Spar Österreich worth nearly 3 billion euro is placed third. According to the study, other enterprises among the top 10 are Casinos Austria, Austrian Railways (ÖBB), Austrian Airlines, Österreichische Lotterien, VA Technologie AG, A1 mobilkom Austria and the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF). The total value of the domestic top 50 brands was about 40.5 billion euro, informed the author of the study, Gerhard Hrebicek, at a press conference in Vienna on 7 July 2004.
Based on the “News“ ranking of the 1,000 companies with the highest sales volume in Austria of June 2004, the market value study identified the top 100 corporate brands, which are owned at more than 45% by Austrian companies. The brand enterprises were selected on the basis of a comparison of benchmark figures taking into account criteria such as industry, brand strength, trend development and market potential as well as sales volume. ■

The Austrian National Bank (Oesterreichische Nationalbank/OeNB) predicts a significantly accelerated economic growth in Austria after the second quarter 2004. This was mainly due to booming export activities. However, the unemployment rate was not expected to decrease considerably, informed the National Bank on 16 July 2004.
The OeNB’s economic indicator suggests that Austria’s real gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 0.5% (seasonally adjusted, compared to the previous quarter) both in the second and third quarter 2004. Compared to the previous publication in April, the growth forecast for the second quarter was raised by 0.1 percentage points. Economic growth year-on-year is therefore 1.1% and 1.4%, respectively.
Due to the strong growth of labour supply, no significant decline of the unemployment rate is expected in the next months. The number of registered vacancies – a useful leading indicator – has been increasing continuously since February compared to the prior year. This could be a first sign of a possible trend reversal on the labour market, announced the OeNB. ■

The first season of the Carinthian Summer (CS) festival under its new manager, Thomas Daniel Schlee, was opened on 11 July 2004. The welcome statement of Austria’s new Federal President, Heinz Fischer, who had to cancel his participation on a short notice due to the sudden death of his predecessor Thomas Klestil, was read by Carinthia’s Governor Jörg Haider. Fischer’s statement read inter alia: “Art – and in particular modern art – is an integral part of our lives“. Fischer was represented by Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who came directly from from Belgrade, where she had attended the swearing-in ceremony of Serbia’s new President Boris Tadic. She emphasised that a music festival of this kind could only take place in a “peaceful and prospering country like Austria” and added that only a few years ago the distance from Ossiach to Vienna had been greater than to the theatre of war in ex-Yugoslavia. Gerda Fröhlich, who had been in charge of the Carinthian Summer from 1980 to 2003, was awarded the title “honorary festival manager”. In his speech her successor Schlee stressed that he was annoyed by the fact that art was under a constant pressure to justify itself. For real art was characterised by a “lasting impact”. And referring to contemporary art, he explained: “Unfortunately most festivals are afraid of the contemporary”. In fact, it was their task to perform as many new works as possible. This was obviously music to the ears of Secretary of State for the Arts Franz Morak, who spoke of “a new era of the Carinthian Summer” and showed himself pleased about the fact that with Thomas Daniel Schlee the festival was headed by an artist, who would further develop it and set new priorities. In his festive speech Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Composer in Residence 2004, highlighted the fact that contemporary composers were usually divided into members of the avant-garde and traditionalists, which in his opinion was untenable. Besides, his study of Old Music had again and again provided him with pioneering new findings. By way of conclusion, Governor Haider praised the Carinthian Summer as a “lighthouse“ of Carinthia’s cultural scene, which was on a par with great international festivals. The Carinthian Summer festival will end in Villach on 28 August 2004. ■

Since 1996 the Ministry of Science has annually awarded the Wittgenstein prize. Austria’s most richly endowed award is considered the “Austrian Nobel prize”. This year the prize went to the historian of the Middle Ages, Walter Pohl (50), Director of the Institute for Medieval Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften/ÖAW). Pohl has been the first historian to receive this prize named after Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951). The Viennese has dedicated himself to the emergence of European peoples in the early Middle Ages (about 5th to 9th century) for 25 years. His books, e.g. “Die Völkerwanderung“ or “Die Awaren“, are famed international standard works. With his research Pohl wants to contribute to a better understanding of today’s world. According to him, the early Middle Ages are an epoch providing insight into the development of ethnic identities. In discussions about the emergence of modern nations often only inadequate attention is paid to the fact that ethnicity rooted in the Middle Ages. With the prize money Pohl plans to expand his ÖAW Institute and to continue investigating the connection between past identities and the emergence of modern nations – also based on the studies of his doctoral supervisor Herwig Wolfram, who – according to Pohl – was a founding father of the “Viennese school of research on the early Middle Ages“. ■

Michael Mitterauer, 67, professor emeritus for economic and social history at Vienna University, was the first Austrian to receive the prize of the German “Stiftung Historisches Kolleg“ (which had previously been conferred on Jan Assmann in 1998). Mitterauer received the award for his book “Warum Europa? Mittelalterliche Grundlagen eines Sonderwegs“ and his life’s work. German Federal President Horst Köhler personally paid tribute to Michael Mitterauer in Munich on 26 November 2004. In his book Mitterauer analyses the specificities of Europe dating back to the early Middle Ages in intercultural comparisons with the Islamic world or China. His life’s work covers historical family research, youth history, the history of the division of labour, mediaeval market and town history, history of the estates of the country and of the Empire, history of the “common people“ (e.g. based on “oral history“). The historian, who worked with missionary zeal in his research area, had significantly contributed to the establishment of this discipline in Central and Eastern Europe. He investigated for example family structures in the Balkans. For many mediaevelists Mitterauer’s reserach on the Middle Ages sets new standards, e.g. his masterly work “Markt und Stadt im Mittelalter“ (Stuttgart 1980). ■

While the Wittgenstein prize is awarded to scholars for their life’s work, the START prize is granted to young researchers. This year five scientists were granted the award. They receive 200,000 euro each for their work during the next six years to enable them to set new priorities in research. At the awards ceremony Minister of Education Elisabeth Gehrer stressed the significance of promoting research since “to promote research means to promote people”.
The prize winners in 2004:
- Gerhard Schütz, 35, Institute for Biophysics at Linz University, does immunological research at the level of the individual molecules involved.
- Thomas Bachner, 36, jurist at Vienna’s University for Economics, was granted the award for his project “the evolution of legislation and EU harmonisation of company law“.
- Michael Kunzinger, 35, mathematician at Vienna University, does research into “non-linear distributional geometry“.
- Thomas Prohaska, 36, chemist at Vienna’s University of Agriculture, works on the further development of “isotope analytics”. This method allows to determine the origin of plant and animal substances.
- Vassil Palankovski, 35, dedicates himself to improving computer simulation in microelectronics at Vienna’s Technical University. ■

Gilberto Gil (62), master “tropicalismo” and currently Brazil’s Minister of Culture, gave an open air concert in the Court of Arcades of Vienna’s town hall. He carried away his Viennese audience with his songs and his band, of which the Viennese violinist Georg Mautner (currently living in Brazil) is a member. Before his performance the cultural politician was awarded the “Goldene Rathausmann“ (a replica of the knight on top of Vienna’s town hall) by his “counterpart”, Vienna’s City Councillor for Culture Andreas Mailath-Pokorny. Gil had occupied the position of a city councillor for culture in Salvador de Bahia. The singing Minister radiating joy of living describes his task: “A politician is a manager” who had to understand above all social problems. Gilberto Gil’s musical socio-political work – his latest CD was dedicated to Jamaica’s Bob Marley – obviously is highly efficient. After his concert in Vienna, Gil and his Brazilian musicians gave an electrifying performance before 300,000 people in the gardens of Villa Borghese in Rome. ■

Vienna’s Albertina is presenting “The Era of Michelangelo“ (until 25 October 2004). The exhibition comprises about 100 works: drawings, copperplate engravings, coloured woodcuts and etchings. It shows the artistic development of the great master from Florence between 1490 and 1564: from the early High Renaissance to the end of Mannerism in the great artistic centres of Italy. The exhibition illustrates the discovery and interpretation of the human body representing virtue and vice. For many centuries the main works of Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael now shown at Albertina have been the unsurpassed standard of any form of art striving for a harmonious balance between imitation and noble idealisation. Besides key works of the above masters, pieces by disciples of Raphael (Giulio Romano, Perino del Vaga, Polidoro da Caravaggio) are on show. Michelangelo’s ideas were introduced in France by his friend Rosso Fiorentino. Michelangelo’s cartoon “The Battle of Cascina” played a surprisingly important role. For many contemporaries it became the standard in terms of the proportion and movement of bodies. Rubens was also a fan of Buonarroti (1475-1564). All the Michelangelo drawings of the Albertina were originally owned by him. ■

Paul Gauguin has been the epitome of all those dreaming the dream of distant worlds, a paradise far from modern civilisation – a dream inspiring trips to the South Seas to the present day. This is the first exhibition in Austria dedicated to this yearning for a distant paradise in the late 19th and early 20th century: 160 exhibits from 40 museums and private collections present painters ranging from Gauguin to Emil Nolde and Max Pechstein. Numerous ethnological objects of the South Seas round off the show. Within its programmatic focus “paradise”, Kunsthalle also presents a show of the Austrian artist Susanne Wenger, the “white priestess on a river deep in Africa”. To celebrate her 90th birthday, important batik works and paintings are exhibited. Wenger has been living in Nigeria for 55 years. ■

Plácido Domingo sings the title role of Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera “Goya“, which the Italian composer wrote for him based on his proposal, at Theater an der Wien. Menotti’s three-act work – premiered in 1986 – describes (similar to Lion Feuchtwanger's novel) the fight of the Spanish court painter for his artistic integrity between love and power. It is the first time Domingo performs the role of Goya tormented by conflicts in Vienna. Other singers are Michelle Breedt, Iride Martinez, Andreas Conrad, Maurizio Muraro, Christian Gerhaher and Nadia Krasteva. Emmanuel Villaume conducts the Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna. The opera was produced by Kasper Holten. The stage design is by Steffen Aarfing, while Jesper Kongshaug was responsible for the light design. The music of Menotti’s opera is strongly influenced by the bel canto tradition of the 19th century. The composer also authored the libretto. For Vienna he even revised his score. The opera will be performed on 19, 22, 25, 28 and 31 July 2004. Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) is in vogue in Austria: until 20 September 2004 the Leopold Museum at Vienna’s Museum-Quartier is presenting a show of his etchings, Vienna’s Museum of Art History opens its comprehensive Goya exhibition on 26 July 2004. ■

Europe and Asia are the focus of this year’s International Film Festival in Locarno (Ticino/Switzerland) from 4 to 14 August 2004. 18 films from 17 countries participate in the competition, 12 films are first showings. Austria is represented in the international competiton with Götz Spielmann’s episode film “Antares“. Thomas Woschitz’ “Josef“ trilogy and Georg Misch’s documentary “Calling Hedy Lamarr“ are shown outside competition. ■

On 18 July 2004 the Austrian painter Christian Ludwig Attersee received the Lovis Corinth prize of Künstlergilde Esslingen (Baden-Württemberg/Germany). The laudatory speech was given by art critic Andreas Kühne. On the occasion of the awards ceremony, the Attersee exhibition “Rechnung zur Braut“ with large-scale paintings from the years 1992 to 2004 is presented at Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie (Regensburg). Attersee was honoured for “his comprehensive and multi-facetted oeuvre of global importance as well as his inventive and unique visual language”. The prize founded 30 years ago and named after Lovis Corinth (1858-1925) had been awarded to Oskar Kokoschka, Sigmar Polke, Markus Lüpertz and others. ■

In the framework of the cultural programme “Concerts at the Palace” (Laudon Palace in Vienna-Mauerbach), initiated by Head of the Division for General Administrative Affairs of the Federal Chancellery Manfred Matzka, the first artist, Nataša Veljković, gave a breathtaking piano solo concert. The pianist born in Belgrade, winner of the Clara Haskil prize and associate professor at Vienna’s University of Music, delivered a brilliant performance, especially of the repertoire of High Romanticism, with her interpretation of Franz Liszt’s works deserving special mention. One of the aims of this fine concert series is to grant “excellent young artists from the neighbouring countries” of Austria the opportunity of performing. The proceeds from the tickets go to the artists. ■

The XXVIII Olympic Summer Games will be held in Athens from 13 to 30 August 2004. To enable athletes to top performance at mass sports events of this kind and thus permit them to be successful, measures to promote sports and funds from the federal government’s budget have to be selectively targeted and carefully planned. TOP SPORT AUSTRIA (TSA) acts as the coordination platform of the presiding and managing Federal Chancellery for Austrian sports facilities and institutions granting aid countrywide by involving the freely elected representatives of sports as well as the federal provinces. At the same time TSA performs the functions of an advisory and decision-making body responsible for the granting of federal subsidies. The financial resources may not be used for the basic financing of federal specialised sports associations but exclusively for the implementation of short-term, mid-term and long-term athlete-specific top-level sports projects likely to be successful at mass sports events. Programmes eligible for financial aid are training camps with a concrete goal (e.g. height training camp, climate training, preliminary visits to and familiarisation with the venues of forthcoming mass sports events), the purchase cost of special sports equipment (e.g. bobsleds, rowing boats, wind sails), sport-scientific (e.g. biomechanics, performance diagnosis, training and competition analyses), sport-psy¬chological and sport-medical (e.g. nutrition, therapy, check-ups) support, regenerative measures, delegations to competitions, above all in the event of extraordinary strain due to specific qualification criteria of the international association for future mass sports events as well as various rental fees in the context of competitive sports. Aid to athletes who provable ranked among the top six (or among the top three in the event of junior world championships) in international mass sports events (Olympic Games, world and European championships) will be prioritised. Furthermore, the athletes entitled to support should already be covered by the Austrian programme supporting top-level sports; eligible athletes ideally meet the following requirements: member of the Olympic cadre, world-class or top-level classification by Österreichische Sporthilfe as well as contracts awarded to competitive athletes of the Federal Army by the Ministry of Defence. In 2003 the decision-making panel of TSA – headed by Matthias Bogner – granted for the Olympic Games in Athens funds totalling 825,560 euro under the sports promotion programme “SPITZENSPORT“ and 1,498,975 euro under the “OLYMPIA“ programme.
Thus 133 athletes of 19 federal sports associations were supported with a total of 2,324,535 euro. This amount also included a subsidy of 169,940 euro for the medical pool at the Institute for Medical and Sport-Scientific Consultancy. In addition, out of this sum 50,000 euro were paid for various transport needs of the Austrian Olympic Committee to the Olympic Games.
Financial support (in euro) was granted to the following recipients (branches of sport) under the above-mentioned programmes (“Spitzensport” and “Athen”):
badminton 7,000, fencing 63,000 + 141,000, handball 44,000 + 60,000, weight lifting 20,000, game and clay pigeon shooting 9,000, judo 34,200 + 100,000, canoeing 12,000 + 77,000, track-and-field sports 75,220 + 27,000, cycling 30,500 + 67,000, horseback riding and driving 86,000, amateur wrestlers 29,000 + 58,000, rowing 80,600 + 51,175, rifling 10,800 + 150,000, swimming 74,700 + 175,300, sailing 54,800 + 178,000, tae kwon do 35,000 + 14,000, table tennis 57,000 + 112,500, triathlon 20,300 + 52,000, volleyball 18,500 + 100,000. ■