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Austria and Culture |
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Culture
Classicism and Modernism equally influence Austrian culture. In addition, Austria has a vibrant contemporary art scene.
In the field of music, the “Vienna Classic” is regarded as one of Europe’s great cultural achievements. It ranges from Joseph Haydn to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert. Johannes Brahms, Hugo Wolf, Anton Bruckner and Gustav Mahler were key figures of the Romantic period. Johann Strauss and Franz Lehár are kings of the Viennese operetta. The “Second Viennese School” with Arnold Schönberg, Alban Berg and Anton Webern influenced the “off-beat“ music of the moderns through the fusion music of Joe Zawinul and the “Third Stream“ of Franz Koglmann. The broad spectrum of compositions in contemporary music includes musicians such as Friedrich Cerha, Heinz Karl Gruber and Georg Friedrich Haas.
The Vienna State Opera is held in the highest international regard. The numerous festivals in Austria’s federal provinces range from the Bregenz Festival, the “Schubertiade“ (Schubert Festival) in Vorarlberg, the Salzburg Festival, founded in 1920 by Max Reinhardt and Hugo von Hofmannsthal, the Carinthian
Summer Festival and the International Bruckner Festival in Linz (Upper Austria) to the Vienna Festival Weeks and the Haydn Festival in Eisenstadt (Burgenland).
In Austrian literature, authors who are still read and put on stage today include Franz Grillparzer, Fer-dinand Raimund, Johann Nestroy and Adalbert Stifter. Twentieth century authors include Franz Kafka, Arthur Schnitzler, Stefan Zweig, Joseph Roth, Robert Musil, Ingeborg Bachmann, Thomas Bernhard, Wolfgang Bauer and Ernst Jandl. Peter Handke, Barbara Frischmuth, Gert Jonke, Arno Geiger, Daniel Kehlmann, Friederike Mayröcker and Elfriede Jelinek are among the most important writers in German at the start of the 21st century. Elfriede Jelinek received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2004.
In the visual arts, “Art Nouveau“ with Gustav Klimt became legendary. His contemporaries Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka were among the greatest painters of the epoch. The contemporary fine artists who have made a name for themselves especially include Arnulf Rainer, Maria Lassnig, Valie Export, Hermann Nitsch, Bruno Gironcoli, Alfred Hrdlicka, Franz West and Erwin Wurm.
Otto Wagner, Josef Hoffmann, Adolf Loos, Margarethe Schütte-Lihotzky (“Frankfurt Kitchen“), Clemens Holzmeister and Roland Rainer were key figures in modern architecture. Today, Gustav Peichl, Hans Hollein, Günther Domenig, Heinz Tesar and the group Coop Himmelb(l)au, are among Austria’s most famous international architects.
In the area of film, Austria has increasingly gained international recognition in the last few years. Austrian film personalities have achieved international prizes both for feature films and for documentary films – people such as Robert Dornhelm, Axel Corti, Franz Novotny, Michael Haneke, Peter Patzak and Hubert Sauper.
Traditionally, great store has been set by art and culture in Austria, as is demonstrated by the comparatively well-developed system for promoting culture and arts, which under the Austrian constitution falls within the competence of the federal provinces. However, the federal government also takes responsibility, particularly with regard to promoting contemporary art.
Total expenditure on culture by public bodies (federal, provinces and municipalities) amounted to around EUR 2.01 billion in 2005, which represents 0.84 % of GDP. EUR 680 million of this was covered by the federal budget. Per capita expenditure for culture in Austria totalled EUR 235, which is the highest in Europe, ahead of France, Italy and Germany.
Federal promotion of the arts (Arts Promotion Act 1988) seeks to provide supplementary financing for activities carried out in the federal provinces and municipalities. The 2006 arts budget was just over EUR 87 million. Funding was provided for theatre, music, dance, the visual arts, literature, architecture and film, as well as for regional cultural initiatives. A large propor-tion of arts funding was spent on promoting individuals and grants.
The basic funding of the federal theatres, which has been independent of federal administration since the 1999 / 2000 theatre season, amounts to EUR 133 million. The federal theatres include the State Opera (Staatsoper), the Volksoper, the Burgtheater and the Akademietheater. The federal museums, which became independent legal entities between 1999 and 2003, and the Austrian National Library also receive basic funding of EUR 89 million.
The number of people who attend the theatre, operas and concerts dramatically highlights the key role that art and culture play in the public awareness of Austrians, in addition to the economic effects of cultural events. The festivals in Salzburg and Bregenz, which each attracts around 200,000 visitors, are a prime example of this phenomenon. The Bregenz Festival generates total annual revenue averaging EUR 167 million. The total revenue generated in Salzburg is EUR 168 million.
In addition to festivals, theatre and musicals are also great attractions. Austria compares most favourably with other European countries in terms of the number of full-time venues. Around 6 million visitors attended the 14,000 productions at the theatre and concert venues included in the statistics.
Austria’s museums are especially diverse. According to UNESCO and the international Council of Museums, Austria boasts 422 museums
and 511 sites, which attracted around 11 million visitors over the previous year.
With its wealth of historical buildings, the protection of historical monuments is extremely important in Austria. Under the constitution such protection is the responsibility of the federal government. No fewer than 36,669 buildings had been registered as landmarks at the end of 2006. The federal government promotes the restoration and maintenance of historical buildings to the tune of EUR 13 million in 2006. Supplemented by tax-deductible donations with an average variable annual volume of about EUR 4 million.
The Austrian federal government promotes films through the Austrian Film Institute (ÖFI), the television film promotional fund at Rundfunk-und Telekomregulierungs-GmbH (RTR), and the experimental and short films through the federal chancellor’s office. EUR 22.25 million was granted for this purpose in 2005. Including promotions in the different federal provinces, total government funding of around EUR 36 million was made available for the promotion of Austrian film-making.The EUR 5.9 million in funds provided by the ORF in the framework of the film / television agreement with the film institute is another important contribution to the funding of Austrian cinema films. 15.1 million people visited Austria‘s cinemas in 2005. There are more than 300 first showings of cinema films each year. More than 100 come from the USA, which achieves a market share of significantly more than 70 %.
Culture shapes the image of Austria in the world. For the purpose of
illustrating the cultural diversity of Austria an active international
cultural policy is therefore a vital Austrian interest. More
information on this topic is available under International Cultural Policy on this website.
Famous past and present representatives of each of the following categories may be found in the Famous Austrians section.
Further information on cultural-related topics may also be found on the "Sightseeing"-section on the top menu-item "Going to Austria".
These websites also offer information on topics of Austrian culture:
Austrian Cultural Forum Washington
Federal Ministry for Education, Arts & Culture
Federal Ministry of Science and Research
Austrian Federal Museums Online (German only)
KunstNET (German only)
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Austria and Culture 
