Projects
Controlled Freedom – The Allied Forces in Vienna
When Vienna was liberated in early April 1945, the city was characterized by destruction, housing shortages, hunger, and cold. Nonetheless, culture came back right away. On April 27, arts events resumed on the orders of Soviet officers. Shortly thereafter, the other Allies – France, Great Britain and the USA – also became culturally active. The resulting influx of international culture was unprecedented in the city’s history.
Accompanying the country’s economic and political reconstruction, the many activities were intended to create the emotional basis for the emergence of a distinct national consciousness – in other words, the development of an identity independent of Germany.
The exhibition “Controlled Freedom” (April 10th – September 7th 2025, curators: Oliver Rathkolb, Elisabeth Heimann-Leitner, and Anne Wanner) sheds light on the formative influence of the diverse cultural offerings. It documents a transformative project that lives on to the present day – the creation of a democratic Austria.
The exhibition is accompanied by publications in German, English, French and Russian with contributions from Thomas Angerer, Wolfgang Duchkowitsch, Veronika Floch, Christian Glanz, Richard Hufschmied, Monika Knofler, Marion Krammer, Michael Kraus, Johanna Maria Lerchner, Wolfgang Mueller, Agnes Meisinger, Karin Moser, Manfred Mugrauer, Wolfgang Pensold, Hans Petschar, Monika Platzer, Oliver Rathkolb, Peter Roessler, Günther Stocker, Markus Stumpf, Margarethe Szeless.
Oral history Interviews on the history of Vienna and the social, political and cultural developments in the period of the Allied administration 1945-1955
In cooperation with ORF.at, the Wien Museum and the Österreichische Mediathek life history interviews were conducted with formative personalities from the worlds of art, culture and politics on the subject of Vienna 1945 to 1955.
The “long” history of the Vienna Secession
In time for the 125th anniversary of the opening of the Vienna Secession building on November 15, 2023, a preliminary study of the long cultural-political history of its leading members will be completed. The history of the Vienna Secession is marked by ruptures, but also by long-lasting stability. This marked chronology covers the time of the authoritarian Habsburg monarchy as well as the embattled and militant First Republic; the Catholic-pervasive Dollfuß-Schuschnigg dictatorship; as well as the totalitarian regime of National Socialism; and, the curating, but also aesthetic consequences and stability after 1945.
Straussmania – Pop culture before 1900
The multimedia project Straussmania, beginning in December 2022, is dedicated to the places and protagonists of popular culture of the 19th century. In individual chapters, Straussmania tells of remarkable venues throughout the districts of Vienna such as the New World (Neue Welt) in Hietzing, Sperl in Leopoldstadt, and, the Apollo Hall (Apollosaal) in Schottenfeld. All of the visited locations appropriately vibrate in three-quarter time because they are connected to the music of the Strauss family and their contemporaries. Straussmania is a joint project of ORF.at, the Vienna Institute for Cultural and Contemporary History (vicca.at) and the Library of Vienna. All chapters on ORF Topos.
Publications
Controlled Freedom: Allied Cultural Policy in Vienna, 1945–1955
Edited by Oliver Rathkolb and Agnes Meisinger
Translated by John Heath
Following liberation in April 1945, Vienna was characterized by destruction, cold, hunger, and an acute housing shortage. Yet cultural life soon returned: as early as 27 April, Soviet officers ordered its revival. It was not long until the other Allies – France, Britain, and the USA – launched their own cultural campaigns. The many cultural activities under Allied occupation were intended not only to underpin economic and political rebuilding, but also to promote an Austrian national consciousness – a separate self-image independent from Germany. This volume is the first to show the impact of Allied cultural policy in the fields of fine art, film, literature and libraries, music and theatre, press photography, print media, radio, and sport, thereby documenting an achievement that can still be felt today: the creation of a democratic Austrian identity.
235 pages, including 40 illustrations
ISBN: 978-3-8471-1852-7
EUR 36,00
How can we counteract the observable rise in authoritarian attitudes and the loss of trust in European societies? Experts and literary writers provide survey-based answers.
The global financial crisis, Covid, Russia’s aggression in Ukraine: against the backdrop of major crises, European societies are looking for security, and many find this security in the longing for strong leadership, without elections and parliaments, such as in Italy and France.
Growing dissatisfaction with the functioning of democracy is the key finding of a study commissioned by Oliver Rathkolb for the Institute of Cultural and Contemporary History at the University of Vienna: People in eight European countries were asked about their views on history and democratic dispositions in 2022 and their answers were compared with a survey from 2019 before the Covid pandemic.
Based on the results of this comparison and an analysis of the causes, renowned scholars develop models and strategies in this book to raise democratic awareness in an attempt to reduce the trend towards an authoritarian age – an age that the sociologist Ralf Dahrendorf predicted in the 1990s as a consequence of the social crises of neoliberal turbo-globalization. These scientific findings are deepened by literary reflections on the themes of democracy and authoritarianism by European writers.
Projects and Focus of VICCA
