Theatre
After the Second World War Austrian theatre soon reclimbed international levels. The Wiener Burgtheater ranks among the foremost stages in Europe. The Vienna State Opera is regarded as one of the best operas in the world, as is the Wiener Volksoper. The traditional Theater an der Wien has been the house for musicals since 1965 and also serves as site for performances during the annual Vienna Festival. Countless festivals are held around the country, including the Bregenzer Festspiele at Lake Constance, the Schubertiade, the prestigious Salzburg Festival which was founded in 1920 by Max Reinhardt and Hugo von Hofmannsthal, the Carinthian Summer, the International Bruckner Festival and the ars electronica in Linz, the Haydn Festival in Eisenstadt and the Mörbisch Festival on the Lake.
The Visual Arts and Architecture
The Jugendstil movement, pioneered by Gustav Klimt, flourished in Vienna around the turn of the century. Other important twentieth-century artists from Austria include Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, Anton Lehmden, Ernst Fuchs, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Hermann Nitsch, Günter Brus and Arnulf Rainer. The sculptors Fritz Wotruba and Alfred Hrdlicka have also established international reputations. Above all, three names were significant for Austrian architecture in the beginning of the twentieth century: Otto Wagner, Josef Hoffmann und Adolf Loos. With the Kirche am Steinhof and the Postsparkasse Wagner created the most important buildings of the Wiener Jugendstil. Josef Hoffmann, architect of the over-all work of art "Palais Stoclet" in Brussels, was a co-founderot the Wiener Werkstätte. Modern architecture is influenced among others by Clemens Holzmeister, Gustav Peichl, Hans Hollein and Coop Himmelblau.
Film
With just under 6% the share of the Austrian film in the domestic cinemas is relatively low. Despite the predominance of US productions there were a number of successful Austrian films in recent years, such as "Indien" (1993) by Paul Harather, "Freispiel" (1995), "Hinterholz 8" (1997) both by Harald Sicheritz - or "Komm, süßer Tod" (2000) by Wolfgang Murnberger. The fact that there is a noticable upward trend is evidenced by film makers like Michael Haneke ("Funny Games", "Code unbekannt"), Stefan Ruzowitzky ("Die Siebtelbauern", "Anatomie"), Goran Rebic ("Jugofilm"), Florian Flicker ("Suzie Washington", "Der Überfall") or Barbara Albert ("Nordrand), whose works make for a strong Austrian presence at international film festivals. The unforgotten director Axel Corti ("Welcome to Vienna") was the first laureate of the Austrian State Award for Cinematics in the seventies. Movie stars of international reputation: Oskar Werner, Romy Schneider, Helmut Berger and Klaus Maria Brandauer. Arnold Schwarzenegger became a success in Hollywood.
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