The Austro-American Society Salzburg

Promoting Deeper Understanding Since 1947

By Julia Aßl

Top Photo: President of the Austro-American Society Salzburg Maria Ganauser (second from left) next to (then) Chargé d’Affaires Eugene Young of the U.S. Embassy in Austria (third from right). Austro-American Society Salzburg

Only one year after the Austro-American Society in Vienna was founded, a regional branch in Salzburg was established. The society’s prime task in the aftermath of WWII was to coordinate the distribution of CARE packages. During the following years, the society grew into a major international friendship society offering a great variety of activities in the fields of culture, education, science and politics to foster better understanding among Austrians, Americans and friends of both countries. On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Austro- American Society Salzburg, President Maria Ganauser hosted a celebration in the Knight’s Hall of the Salzburg Residenz Palace in March of 2017.

“In 1947, as Europe was striving to recover and return to normalcy, a number of forwardthinking Salzburgers in the U.S. zone at the time banded together to establish the Salzburg chapter of the Austro- American Society. It was the visionary character of these founding members that would help shape the relationship between the United States and Austria right up until today,” said then Charge d’Affaires Eugene Young of the U.S. Embassy in Austria in his remarks.