In recognition of Sigmund Freud’s legacy as the father of Psychoanalysis and in honor of his 150th birthday, the Austrian Embassy in Washington, D.C. hosted a symposium September 15th on Freud’s significance in the 21st century. It was ‘A Day of Reflection on Freud’s Place in Our Minds,’ as expressed by the symposium’s title. The high-profile event brought together representatives from four major U.S. psychoanalytic organizations as well as prominent Freud experts from the academic and cultural world.

On the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, we present a translated article written by Martin Pammer on the special role played by Austria’s diplomatic mission in Budapest at the time of the Hungarian national uprising. It highlights the effects the crisis had on Austria, when implementing its newly gained neutrality by securing its borders and offering humanitarian assistance in Budapest and to Hungarian refugees coming to Austria. The Young Austrian Republic emerged as a haven of freedom, democracy and humanity at a time when Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain and sinking back into the Cold War.

From October 31 to November 8, 2006 , the Austrian Cultural Forum in Washington, D.C. set the stage for a dance extravaganza - The Austrodance Festival 2006 - Beyond the Waltz.

Un|still: Contemporary dance and photography. An Interview with Austrian photographer Laurent Ziegler.

It was a sixty-eight year odyssey that began when the Nazis seized the masterpiece created by Gustav Klimt in 1907, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. The painting is deemed a 20th century icon - of gold leaf inspired by Japanese lacquer and Byzantine mosaics - and was sold in April for the highest-known price ever paid for a painting. Its sojourn is an interesting one, a saga worth telling.