On 8 November 2005 the federal government and the Conference of Presidents of Austrian Universities (ÖRK) agreed on a set of measures for universities funded with about one billion euro. From 2007 to 2009 universities will receive an additional 175 million euro on annual average. Moreover, 500 million euro will be made available for the general renovation of university buildings in the next five years.
At a joint press conference in Vienna, Chancellor Schüssel highlighted the “investment boom giving an impetus to universities”. He described the fact that a unanimous decision had been reached at the Presidents’ Conference as a “small Austrian miracle”. Minister of Education Elisabeth Gehrer stressed that “in all of Europe there was not a single university that has been informed of its overall budget for the next three years”. She also emphasised that, in contrast to Austria, the universities of other countries were affected by austerity programmes and personnel reductions. ÖRK Chairman Christoph Badelt also considered this a “significant improvement over the status quo“.
The overall budget for the university sector totalling 1.725 billion euro in 2006 will increase by 150 million euro in 2007, by 175 million euro in 2008 and by 200 million euro in 2009. If the clinical expenditure of the medical universities is added, this results in an 11% budget increase from 2006 to 2007, informed the Ministry. ■

On 12 November 2005 Federal President Heinz Fischer attended a commemorative event at the memorial to the Roma and Sinti victims of the NS regime in Lackenbach (Burgenland). In his statement he underlined that it was impossible to ignore the history.
In the presence of former Federal Chancellor Franz Vranitzky as well as representatives of the Austrian Parliament and the regional parliament, Fischer, Governor of the Burgenland Hans Niessl and the Chairman of the Cultural Association of Roma and Sinti, Rudolf Sarközi, laid wreaths at the memorial. “In my opinion this event was an integral part of the efforts not to pass over the incidents of the past and not to keep silent. We have to adopt a stance on what has happened in our country”, said the President. People had been tortured and killed in the Lackenbach detention camp during the Third Reich, reminded Niessl. Politics and society were called upon “to never forget and to take a stand against the unteachable“. Chairman Sarközi demanded an EU commissioner for minorities and emphasised that in the EU eight million Roma and Sinti lived on the fringe of society. ■

"9 November is one of the key remembrance days of Austria’s recent history", stated Secretary of State for the Arts and Media Franz Morak on 9 November 2005 in commemoration of the 67th anniversary of the November pogrom in the night from 9 to 10 November. It was important to remember the pogrom of November 1938, especially in the anniversary year 2005, “to reflect on Austria’s more recent past from a comprehensive perspective.“ The November pogrom had ushered in the systematic annihilation by National Socialism and the destruction of Jewish culture in Austria. “Remembrance of 9 November 1938 should make us watchful for all forms of xenophobia, intolerance and anti-Semitism”, said Morak. ■

Vienna’s Jewish Religious Community (IKG) has officially demanded also in the USA that the last restitution class action lawsuit against the Republic of Austria still pending should be discontinued. To this end, a motion had been filed with the US court of appeal, informed IKG President Ariel Muzicant on 10 November 2005.
In May the IKG and the Republic of Austria had reached an agreement on restitution payments for losses in the NS period. The Jewish Religious Community receives 18.2 million euro from the remaining funds of the Reconciliation Fund indemnifying forced labourers. On 16 November 2005 the Austrian Parliament adopted a resolution to make anticipated restitution payments to victims of the NS regime as soon as legal certainty is guaranteed in the USA. ■

The conference “Islam in a Pluralistic World“ at Vienna’s Hofburg conference centre from 14 to 16 November 2005 – attended by numerous luminaries and attracting international attention – ended with statements of the representatives of the three great monotheistic world religions placing common values above differences and completely rejecting terrorism and religious fanaticism. More than 1,000 guests as well as leading religious dignitaries and heads of state of Islamic countries participated in the conference of inter-religious dialogue organised by the Austrian Foreign Ministry and the Hammer-Purgstall Orient Society. Besides the hosts, Federal President Heinz Fischer and Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, the list of attendees included Vienna’s Archbishop Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. of Constantinople (head of the Eastern Orthodox Church), Syria’s Grand Mufti Ahmad Bader Hassoun, the Rabbi of New York, Arthur Schneider, the Presidents of Afghanistan and Iraq, Hamid Karzai and Jalal Talabani, as well as former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.
All participants agreed that the reason for the conflicts between the religions were politics and not religious belief striving for a more humane and spiritual world free from violence. Inter-religious dialogue was indispensable. “Islam” will be a priority in the framework of Austria’s forthcoming EU Presidency.
The President of the Islamic Religious Community in Austria, Anas Shakfeh, thanked Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik for hosting the conference and praised the “intelligent policy” of the federal government vis-à-vis the Muslims in Austria. ■

The Presidents of Afghanistan and Iraq, Hamid Karzai and Jalal Talabani, also conducted official bilateral talks with representatives of Austria during their stay in Vienna on the occasion of the international Islam conference. Their agenda included meetings with Federal President Heinz Fischer and Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel.
The guests praised Austria’s “supportive role” in the reconstruction of their countries. ■

On 14 November 2005 Pope Benedict XVI. received Austrian Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel at the Vatican. Schüssel told the press that the talks had been “unusually long” and had covered political and religious subjects. The Pope had been especially interested in topics concerning EU enlargement as well as in integration and immigration issues. “Benedict XVI. is definitely a man of dialogue“, stated Schüssel. ■

Bavaria’s Premier Edmund Stoiber met with Austrian Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel in Vienna on 16 November 2005. At a press conference after the talks, Schüssel highlighted the intensive economic relations between Bavaria and Austria. The bilateral trade volume amounted to about 20 billion euro, making Bavaria Austria’s most important regional economic partner.
Stoiber emphasised that the recent reforms in Austria, notably the fiscal and pension reforms, were a model to Germany. ■

Federal President Heinz Fischer and his Slovenian counterpart Janez Drnovsek held bilateral talks in the bilingual community of Ludmannsdorf in Carinthia on 9 November 2005. Both sides underlined the favourable development of the bilateral relations. ■

On invitation by the Bertelsmann Foundation, Federal Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel presented the opening statement at the Transatlantic Conference in Washington on 8 November 2005. He appealed to Europe and the USA “to listen to one another more and to join forces“. ■

The Economic Research Institute (Wifo) confirmed that economic growth had continued to accelerate in Austria in the third quarter 2005. According to a rough estimate published on 15 November 2005 by Wifo, the real GDP – adjusted for seasonal and working day effects – had increased by 0.6% compared to the previous period and by 2% year-on-year.
Exports rising by 1% were the growth engine in the third quarter. But also consumption by private households developed dynamically.
This trend can be observed across Europe. Despite high oil prices, an upturn in the business cycle has been registered EU-wide. According to Eurostat, the gross domestic product (GDP) of the euro-zone and the entire European Union has increased by 0.6% in the third quarter 2005 compared to the previous three-month period. Based on the EU autumn outlook, the economy of the 12 euro-zone countries is likely to grow by 1.9% in 2006 and by 2.1% in 2007. For Austria the European Commission has forecast a GDP growth of 1.9% and 2.2%, respectively. ■

With its economic reforms Austria has outshone Switzerland and Germany, as a three-country comparison presented in Berlin on 17 November 2005 demonstrates. “The reforms in Austria are those with the most sustainable effects”, concluded Michael Hüther of the Institute for the German Economy, which had conducted the study jointly with the Economic Chamber Austria and Avenir Siusse. Among the measures praised by the experts were the pension reform, the flexibilisation of the labour market and the reduction of the corporate income tax due to the competition of the Eastern European neigh-bouring countries. According to the study, Austria’s GDP now ranks very closely behind that of Switzerland.

Transport planning issues were high on the agenda of a meeting of Austrian Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Transport Hubert Gorbach with his Czech counterpart Milan Simonovsky in Prague on 9 November 2005. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed to intensify the cooperation in improving the cross-border transport corridor A 5 and R 52 between Drasenhofen and Mikulov. “This will speed up the further development of high-level transport corridors between Austria and the Czech Republic and create efficient connections between the economic areas Vienna, Brno and Prague“, said Gorbach.
The talks had taken place in the framework of Gorbach’s “Tour des Capitales” preparing the Austrian EU presidency. ■

Growth rates well above the European average and the perspective of joining the European Union – these are the two factors determining the growing attractiveness of the South Eastern European region. The second “Vienna Economic Forum“ (VEF) held on 7 November 2005 focused on the manifold economic and political aspects of a closer cooperation. Among the participants were leading representatives of the economic and political arenas in Austria and the countries of the region, e.g. the heads of government of Macedonia and Mon¬tenegro, Vlado Bucovski and Milo Dukanovic.
Minister for Economic Affairs Martin Bartenstein emphasised the importance of South Eastern Europe in his opening statement. As the “European growth champion”, it had achieved a cumulative growth of 23% within the past four years, while the ten “new” EU countries had registered a growth of 16% in total. Just in 2004 South Eastern Europe’s economy had grown by 6.5% compared to a plus of 2.4% in the entire EU. Bartenstein pledged his support for the region and stressed that it was Austria’s vital interest that Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in early 2007 as scheduled. However, continued efforts, notably to combat corruption, were a prerequisite. ■

The Austrian EU official Heinz Zourek (55) was appointed Director General for Enterprise and Industry in the European Commission. ■

Austrian Secretary of State for the Arts and Media Franz Morak showed himself pleased about the partial compromise on the control of Internet addresses reached at the UN World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia. “The problem has been identified“, now it had to be tackled, stated Morak, who attended the Summit in Tunis. On 16 November 2005 the delegates of the 170 countries participating voted in favour of a proposal under which the USA would continue to control the domain-name system of the World Wide Web. The quasi independent organisation Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will be in charge of the management of assigned names also in the future. At the same time an international forum will be set up to discuss all Internet-related questions – from Internet crime and computer viruses to spamming. At the UN Summit in Tunis Austria presented the “World Summit Award“, a prize granted for excellent e-content. The competition held for the second time has been conceived as a contribution to bridging the gap between the rich and poor countries in access to the Internet (“digital divide“) and to high-quality content (“content gap”). Moreover, the “Austrian e-Content Village“ was a showcase for numerous examples of “best practices” focusing on content. Content forums offered an opportunity to exchange experience with international experts. ■

Federal President Heinz Fischer awarded the Medal of Honour for Science and Art to former Czech President Vaclav Havel in Vienna on 18 November 2005. This is the highest distinction granted by Austria for achievements in culture. The former dissident and playwright has inter alia received the Austrian State Prize for Literature, the Charlemagne Peace Prize and about 40 honorary doctorates. As the former Czech President, he had always borne in mind the bilateral relations between the Czech Republic and Austria, explained Fischer. To the poet-president it had been important that the relations between Prague and Vienna were founded on fairness and mutual respect. Vaclav Havel was touched by the words of Heinz Fischer, with whom he had inaugurated the Retz summer festival in Weinviertel (Lower Austria) initiated by the author Peter Turrini. There they had read from Havel’s famous “Letters to Olga“ (1979), which the co-founder of the Charter 77 civil rights movement had written to his deceased former wife from prison. Among the guests participating in the award ceremony were former Chancellor Franz Vranitzky, Czech senator Karl Schwarzenberg, Austria’s ambassador to the Czech Republic Margot Klestil-Löffler, Jiri Grusa, President of the international PEN Club, and Peter Turrini. ■

The third volume of the Minutes of the Council of Ministers of the Figl I Cabinet has been issued in Austria’s commemorative year 2005. The volume presented by Secretary of State Morak in the Federal Chancellery continues the series of minutes covering the period after 1945, which had started with the minutes of the Renner Cabinet. The series of publications will comprise 12 volumes. The complete edition offers expert comments and basic source material on the early years of the Second Republic. The Minutes of the Council of Ministers make a fundamental contribution to research on the (re-)construction of the official bodies and political institutions in Austria’s Second Republic. The series is issued by the Österreichische Gesellschaft für historische Quellenstudien (Austrian Society for the Study of Historical Sources), with editor Gertrude Enderle-Burcel playing a leading role. It has edited and published the Minutes of the Council of Ministers of the First Republic in a period of more than 20 years and that of the Second Republic in the last few years. ■

Composer Jenö Takács died aged 103 years in Eisenstadt (Burgenland) on 14 November 2005. Born in 1902 in Siegendorf, which then belonged to Hungary and is now in Burgenland, he studied at the Vienna Academy of Music in the class of Joseph Marx. In 1926 he met Béla Bartók, who influenced him by introducing him to folklore and a wider range of tonality. From 1939 to 1948 he was director of the conservatoire in Pécs (Hungary). As an influential music teacher he was active in Cairo, Manila and Cincinnati. Takács’ compositions drawing on the Hungarian heritage are often characterised by impressive melodic patterns and rhythms. After 1970 the acclaimed composer dedicated himself to his musical oeuvre in his parents’ house in Siegendorf, a village Secretary of State for the Arts Morak described as an “interface between the Viennese and Hungarian traditions”. He also stated that the “cosmopolitan had remained faithful to his double roots in all his works and academic studies”. Morak said in his homage: “Austria has lost a world citizen of music, who has opened up many foreign worlds of sound for his native country and who had a decisive impact on contemporary music in Austria“. ■

Austrian conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the US researchers George Heilmeier and Simon Levin were awarded the Kyoto Prize on 11 November 2005. Harnoncourt had established Old Music as a living language, with his wife Alice and the Ensemble Concentus Musicus he had not only made popular performances with historical musical instruments but also created new sound patterns. Heilmeier received the award for his research on liquid crystals. Levin was selected as a laureate for developing spatial ecology. Besides Princess Takamado, about 1400 guests of honour participated in the ceremony in Kyoto (Japan). The prize is one of the highest international awards for achievements in science and arts and had been initiated by the Japanese engineer Kazuo Inamori, who had founded the global group Kyocera in 1959. The Inamori Foundation set up by the group’s chairman has offered the Kyoto Prize since 1984. ■

On 10 November 2005 former Federal Chancellor Franz Vranitzky was awarded a gold medal by B’nai B’rith – the highest distinction of the international Jewish humanitarian organisation granted only rarely – for his commitment to confronting the Austrian past after WWII and for his close relations with the Jewish community. The laudatio was given by parting German Minister of the Interior Otto Schily. Ariel Muzikant, President of the Jewish Religious Community (IKG), thanked the ex-Chancellor “for his commitment”, demonstrated for example in the “Mauerbach Act“, the restitution of works of arts looted during the NS regime as well as by setting up the National Fund. “Vranitzky had stopped the debate about Austria’s role as a victim and had for the first time publicly admitted that Austria was partly guilty of the Shoa“. B’nai B’rith (“Sons of the Covenant“), founded by Henry Jones in New York in 1843, is today’s largest international Jewish humanitarian organisation with about 500,000 members. ■

“I think, especially in this commemorative year, it is crucial to remember the November pogrom (9 November 1938). On its anniversary we should be very much aware of the respect of the dignity of the individual human being”, stated Secretary of State for the Arts Morak on 7 November 2005 at a pre-opening ceremony of the exhibition “Minhag Styria – Jewish Life in Styria“, which is shown at the Jewish Cultural Centre in Graz until 30 June 2006. “Minhag” means “custom” or “religious tradition” in Hebrew. Looking back on an eventful history of 500 years between rejection and acceptance, unity and separation, displacement and repatriation, the exhibition is “an important step towards better understanding and peaceful co-existence”, said Morak. The show has been organised on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the synagogue in Graz as a joint project of the Jewish Religious Community Graz, the Jewish Museum Vienna and the Jewish Cultural Centre Graz. It was re-opened on 9 No¬vember, the anniversary of the destruction of the synagogue built in the style of the “Gründerzeit” (the ‘founders’ period’ in the late 19th century) during the pogrom in November 1938. The new house of prayer has made many people in Austria aware of the fact that Jewish life and Jewish religion make a remarkable contribution to Styria’s history and culture. A wider interested audience is to be familiarised with the rich Jewish culture in Styria – its festive events, art and literature – by numerous lectures, guided tours as well as special programmes for children and young people. ■

The Hermitage presents the joint exhibition “Vienna, Budapest and St. Petersburg – between historicism and the avant-garde 1870-1920. Works of art from Austrian, Hungarian and Russian museums“ (ending on 5 February 2006). About 450 exhibits from the Museum of Art History (KHM), the Austrian Gallery Belvedere, the Vienna Museum, the Austrian Theatre Museum, the Hungarian National Gallery, the Hungarian National Museum and the St. Petersburg State Hermitage illustrate the close artistic and cultural connections between the three large cities. The starting point is the development of the arts in the second half of the 19th century, commencing with historicism. Artists’ groups like the Secession and Hagenbund, Kéve or the Gödöllő artists’ colony created outstanding works in all the arts, which still mark the cityscapes of Vienna and Budapest or are museum highlights. A main section of the exhibition is dedicated to the fine paintings of August von Pettenkofen, Tina Blau, Emil Jakob Schind¬ler, Eugen Jettel, Theodor von Hörmann and others. The artistic avant-garde of the epoch is represented in the exhibition by Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele, Albert Paris Gütersloh, Anton Kolig and Max Oppenheimer. The show had been presented in different versions and adaptations at Palais Harrach in Vienna in 2003 and in Budapest in 2004. ■

As announced by the Austrian Film Commission, Michael Haneke’s film “Caché“ (“Hidden”), which has already won the director’s award in Cannes, competes in seven categories of the European Film Awards 2005. Thus the film leads the field in nominations for this year’s competition. It has been nominated in the following categories: European Film 2005, European Director (Michael Haneke), European Actress (Juliette Binoche), European Actor (Daniel Auteuil), European Screenwriter (Michael Haneke), European Cinematographer (Christian Berger) and European Editor (Michael Hudecek & Nadine Muse). The winners of the European Film Awards will be announced in Berlin on 3 December 2005. Michael Glawogger’s “Workingman’s Death“ participates in the category “Best European Documentary” of the European Film Awards. ■

On 27 January 1756 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born. To mark the 250th anniversary of his birthday, the City of Vienna offers an outstanding festival (27 to 29 January 2006), which will be broadcast by TV around the globe. The programme offered will be top quality and high-priced: orchestra concerts, chamber music, songs and aria, readings, films, New Music and church music. In Vienna’s most important music halls and theatres world stars, fledgling talents and favourites of the audience will give performances. 50,000 tickets will be on sale. In a “Mozart tent“ at Stephansplatz comprehensive information will be provided on the genius, who lived in the nearby Domgasse 5 from 1784 to 1787. The new spectacular museum “Mozarthaus Vienna” can be visited around the clock (free admission). Here Mozart played billiards and wrote “Figaro’s Wedding“. The EU supported the project with 8 million euro. The Mozarthaus has been realised by Wiener Holding, Raiffeisen-Holding NÖ-Wien and the Vienna Museum. ■

Manfred Matzka, head of the division for administrative and protocol affairs of the Federal Chancellery, authored a richly illustrated book about 20 palaces in Vienna used by the state. As a connoisseur of politics and cultural history, he presents witty stories about the Hofburg, Prince Eugene’s Winter Palace, the Modena, Starhemberg, Trautson and Laudon palaces. Star architect Wilhelm Holzbauer gave a pointed lecture at the book presentation in the Länderbank building designed by Otto Wagner. ■

The amended Federal Sport Promotion Act has been adopted by the Nationalrat (1^st chamber of Parliament) and will enter into force on 1 January 2006. “This Act guarantees the efficient use of the funds earmarked for federal sport promotion schemes and absolute transparency“, stressed Secretary of State Schweitzer. “Thanks to the promotion of exercise programmes, school cooperation projects and structural measures, the sport federations may once more demonstrate their core competences and realise the enormous potential of organised sports in Austria“, said Schweitzer. Under the new law, the Verband Alpiner Vereine Österreichs (Association of Mountaineering and Climbing Clubs of Austria) as well as the countrywide mass-sport and health campaign “Fit for Austria” will for the first time become eligible for financial aid. The subsidies from the Special Federal Sport Promotion Fund will be granted by a steering committee taking into account evaluable objectives and an annual financial plan. In addition, an evaluation committee will be set up. “It is our aim to ensure that the additional financial funds are invested optimally and to the benefit of sport“, stressed Schweitzer. ■

A two-day “Fit for Austria” exercise congress titled “Quality of Physical Exercise in Kindergartens, Schools and Sport Clubs“ was held at the University and Regional Sport Centre Rif/Salzburg. The event was subsidised in the framework of the mass-sport campaign “Fit for Austria“. “Exercise, play and sport in early childhood – this is what I consider giving children an optimal start in life“, stated Schweitzer. “As parents, educators, teachers but also politicians it is our task to create an optimal framework for a balanced future of our children and young people. Exercise programmes support the healthy development of our children on a long-term basis and create physical and emotional well-being. Our own attitude should be an example for our kids and adolescents. With attractive exercise programmes suited to the individual age groups we can lay a foundation for life-long sport activities“. The congress organised by SPORTUNION Austria addresses all pedagogues working with children aged between three and fourteen. ■

“The application for hosting the Olympic Winter Games 2014 is directly linked to economic factors like value added, employment, purchasing power, taxes and impetus to tourism. The organisation of an international mass-sport event of this dimension should arouse boundless enthusiasm in Salzburg as well as across Austria“, stressed Secretary of State Schweitzer in Parliament. “As a host of the Olympic Winter Games, Salzburg would benefit from major economic stimuli. The few opponents should be made aware of the advantages in a constructive way. Austria must not miss this great opportunity. The federal government lends its full support to this application!“ ■

Every year the Federal Sport Organisation (BSO) and the Federal Chancellery award the hotly contested sport crystals in five categories. Swimming trainer Robert Michlmayr became the “Trainer of the Year“. The “Top Officials” were Julika Ullmann, President of Sportunion of Lower Austria, and Peter Putzgruber, Chairman of the Sport Association of Kapfenberger, a club winning the title “Top Association”. The “Women’s Power Award” was granted to the project “Volleyball Goes Scholl“ of the Viennese women’s volleyball club “volley16wien“.