Projects
The Suppressed Cultural Internationalization Push 1945-1945 during the Allied Administration of Vienna
Never before in history – and certainly not after the totalitarian terror regime of the National Socialists and their racist anti-Semitic cultural policy – was international art and culture from all areas – from France, Great Britain, Russia and the USA – presented in Vienna or in the respective “occupation zones.” However, only in Vienna was it actually an interallied cultural offering.
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 – Vienna 1945-1955
Rathkolb, Oliver
A comprehensive reconstruction of the previously overlooked cultural influence of the four Allies on the development of art and media after 1945.
The companion to the exhibition “Controlled Freedom. Vienna 1945-1955” at the Wien Museum from April 2025 presents research on the effects of the cultural zeitgeist: Visual arts, film, literature, librarianship, music and spoken theater, press photography as well as film, print media, broadcasting, sports, and the buildings and spaces used by the Allies.
The political goals of this cultural offensive ranged from denazification and the construction of a non-German identity to the struggle for ideological integration in the Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union.
The book aims to fill a gap in cultural history, as young artists in particular came into contact with critical modernism, which was banned under National Socialism, and rebelled against the dominant cultural regression.
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
