Cultural bridges in the world - 50 years of Austrian culture abroad # 2023

Croatia shares a long history with Austria. After the collapse of the Danube monarchy and the political and military turmoil of the followed years, many of the connections to Austria were lost. With the founding of the Cultural Forum (Kulturforum) in Zagreb, Austrian foreign culture succeeded in building on the cultural cooperation between Austria and Croatia from earlier days in an extremely successful way. The work of Foreign Culture Office in Croatia is also a good example of the commitment to foreign culture in former Yugoslavia and the entire Balkans, but also demonstrates in generally Austria's cultural and scientific commitment in the world.

The actress Mercedes Echerer goes to Zagreb and the small town of Osijek in eastern Croatia to present the diverse cultural activities on behalf of the Austrian Office using the example of the activities of the Zagreb Cultural Forum. This platform, founded around 50 years ago in the foreign office, went back to existing Austrian cultural institutes, of which the one in Rome was built in 1935. Cultural institutes in Paris, London, New York, Tehran and Cairo followed in the 1950s. From these, Austrian culture and its initiatives were carried out into the world. Based on a visit to an exhibition opening in Zagreb, the Austrian library in Osijek or a conversation with the organizers of the festival for Austrian culture in Osijek in a neat theater from the Imperial and Royal period, Echerer sheds light on both the colorful history of foreign culture and its own very different fields of activity. In addition to a large number of Austrian and international artists, key players in foreign culture such as Helga Rabl-Stadler, Emil Brix, Christoph Thun-Hohenstein and Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg also have their say.