Dear Readers,

This year marks the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the first SOS Children’s Village. Since 1949, SOS has grown to become the largest charity in the world dedicated to children in need, providing families and homes for orphaned and abandoned children.

Fifteen years ago Austrian aeronautical engineer Dietrich W. Botstiber created a charitable foundation. One of its missions was to promote an understanding of the historic relationship between the United States and Austria. In 2007, the Botstiber Institute for Austrian-American Studies was founded to support Austrian-American studies through historical research, and it recently held the constitutional meeting of its Advisory Board in Washington, D.C.

Because of its long history in environmental policy and its innovative environmental technology industry, Austria has the potential of answering the growing demand in the USA for green technologies. Austrian Environment Minister Nikolaus Berlakovich and a delegation of environmental technology companies recently visited the U.S. to demonstrate and promote green technologies “Made in Austria.”

We are pleased to present an article on Austrian artist, Lily Spandorf, who is most famous for her paintings of Washington, D.C. Her life and works were celebrated with a special exhibition at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. Other cultural topics include the upcoming tour of Austrian cellist Friedrich Kleinhapl through the United States.

Finally, I regret to inform you that current budgetary restrictions have made it necessary to reduce the publication frequency of "Austrian Information" from bi-monthly to quarterly. I hope for your understanding and would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued interest in our publication and for all the support and positive feed-back we have received over the last few years.

Yours sincerely,

Wolfgang Renezeder

Editor-in-Chief

Former Austrian Vice-Chancellor Androsch Awarded Honorary Doctorate

Former Austrian Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister, head of Creditanstalt Bankverein, industrialist, entrepreneur and global investor Dr. Hannes Androsch received an honorary doctorate in economics from the University of New Orleans during the celebration of spring commencement in May.

Born in 1938 in Vienna, Dr. Androsch studied Economics and Business Administration at the University of Vienna, receiving a PhD in 1969. As a distinguished Austrian and European public servant of the post-World War II era, he was appointed Minister of Finance at the age of thirty-two by Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky. He held the post for eleven years (1970-1981), serving five years as Vice-Chancellor (1976-1981). He was appointed general director of Austria’s largest bank, Creditanstalt-Bankverein, and served as a consultant to the World Bank. In 1989 he founded Androsch International Management Consulting (AIC) and then became an industrialist in 1990s.

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Greetings from the New Austrian Ambassador

Dear Readers of “Austrian Information,”

It is a privilege for me to have been appointed as new Austrian Ambassador to the United States of America, and it is an honor to serve my country in this capacity in the coming years. I have spent eleven years of my professional life in the United States, having served at the Austrian Embassy from 1981 to 1988 and as Austrian Consul General in Los Angeles from 1991 to 1995.

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Growing U.S. Demand for Green Technologies “Made in Austria”

by Hans Kordik

Environmental protection is globally a growing market and increasingly contributes to creating new jobs. This has been recognized by the United States of America as the new administration under President Obama has put climate change next to health reform on top of their agenda. Besides the creation of green jobs and improving energy efficiency in buildings and transport, the wish has been expressed to become energy independent by promoting clean energy sources.

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The Botstiber Institute for Austrian-American Studies

Dietrich W. Botsiber (1912-2002)

During his lifetime, Austrian aeronautical engineer and philanthropist Dietrich W. Botstiber established a charitable fund, the Dietrich W. Botstiber Foundation. Among other goals it was established primarily to promote an understanding of the historic relationship between the United States and Austria. In 2007, the Botstiber Institute for Austrian-American Studies was founded to support Austrian-American studies through historical research.

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Austrian Legacy SOS Children’s Villages Celebrates 60th Anniversary

This year marks the 60th Anniversary of the founding of SOS Children’s Villages. Since 1949, SOS has grown to become the largest charity in the world dedicated to children in need and providing families and homes for orphaned and abandoned children. Founded by Austrian Hermann Gmeiner in the years following World War II, its original mission was to care for children whose families had been killed during the war. Today, SOS Children’s Villages International cares for more than 80,000 children who have become orphans for a variety of reasons. HIV/AIDS, drugs, natural disasters, civil war, or massive breaches of children’s rights, such as child trafficking, has made  the mission of SOS all the more important in the 21st century.

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Austrian Cellist Friedrich Kleinhapl

A highlight of the Austrian Cultural Forum’s fall program will be the appearance of  Austrian cellist Friedrich Kleinhapl on October 1, 2009 at the Embassy of Austria in Washington, D.C. This will be followed by a concert tour through the United States and Canada.

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Lily Spandorf

The life and works of Austrian artist Lily Spandorf was celebrated with a special exhibition at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. For over thirty years she has  captured the essence of Washington in watercolors and gouache. Fifty-four paintings document the urban landscape of old Washington, D.C. and its historical buildings, many of which have been lost through modern real estate development which began in the 1960s. By juxtaposing views of these buildings with Spandorf’s visual depiction of the sites, the exhibit clearly reveals how urbanization has changed the face of Washington.

Austrian native Lily Spandorf was born in 1919 and was an honors graduate of the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. In 1938 she left Vienna for London where she spent twenty-one years from 1938-1959. During those years she studied at St. Martin’s School of Art and worked as an artist and author before traveling to Italy where her work in watercolor and gouache met with wide acclaim.  In 1959 she came to New York where impressionistic works were very popular, but she felt the city was too vast and too hectic and in 1960 she came to Washington. She was captivated by the city’s charm and beauty and immediately met with artistic success. With her paintings and other artistic endeavors she soon became “something of a Washington trademark,” as the Washington Post reported on February 7, 2000.

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Austria’s Powerful Performance at International Plastics Showcase NPE 2009

Despite challenging economic times, Austrian plastics companies showed a strong presence at the National Plastics Exposition NPE 2009 held in Chicago in June. At the Austrian Pavilion fourteen companies presented their products and innovative technologies ranging from recycling plants, shredders, injection molds, processing machinery, extrusion tools, plastic sheets and films to measuring devices. In addition,  three companies were represented at the Austrian Trade Commission information desk as part of a catalog exhibit. Throughout McCormick Place, there was an Austrian company on almost every corner. Austria was one of only ten countries with a group exhibit.

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Karl Gertel (1925 – 2009)

Karl Gertel, agricultural economist and researcher, who worked some forty-three years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, died in June at the age of 84.

He was born in Vienna and came to the United States as a fourteen- year-old after escaping the National Socialists. He lived with relatives in New York until his parents joined him. He graduated from Cornell University and received both a master’s and doctorate degree during the late 1940s from Iowa State University in resource economics. He also did postgraduate work at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Gertel worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture from about 1950 until his retirement in 1993. He did research and taught in Hawaii and Brazil during his career and also taught at Penn State University. The USDA gave him its Superior Service Award in 1974.

Photo Credits

© BMLFU/Georges Schneider/Kern; Center for Austrian Studies; The White House; European Center for Renewable Energy, Güssing; Magna International Europe AG; The Botstiber Foundation; SOS Children’s Villages; Lily Spandorf Trustee; and Chicago Austrian Trade Commission