Spring 2015

Top photo: "Re-Enacting Isadora Duncan mit Roberta Lima II, 2009" by Austrian photographer Anja Manfredi

Dear readers,

The pleasant though demanding task of Editor-in-Chief of our long-standing magazine Austrian Information comes with the job of any Director for Press and Information at the Austrian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Therefore, this first issue under my supervision gives me an opportunity to thank my versatile team as well as my predecessors, who have taken the magazine from strength to strength over the last 60 years. Regrettably, it is also an occasion to wholeheartedly thank and bid farewell to our editor and colleague Anja Mayer, who has been appointed spokesperson of the Österreichischer Wirtschaftsbund, the conservative Austrian Employer’s association, and returned to Vienna in March – we wish her success for the challenging tasks ahead!

For the present issue of Austrian Information, gender matters were chosen as a Leitmotif: From the landmark achievement of women’s suffrage after World War I to the developments in gender policy over the last decades. These developments are illustrated by the fates of women from all walks of life - from the first female Nobel Peace Prize laureate 110 years ago, Bertha von Suttner, to the Austrian scientist of the year, Verena Winiwarter, you will discover a wealth of interesting stories, also lesser known ones, mirroring the invaluable contribution of women to humanity.

This issue also takes up the sad duty to offer an obituary for the late Speaker of the Austrian House of Representatives, Barbara Prammer, written by her Chief of Staff, Helfried Carl. Finally, as May 2015 marked the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, including the liberation of the infamous Nazi labor and death camp Mauthausen in Upper Austria, alas one of many atrocious sites of industrial mass murder, we bow to the memory of the victims, the survivors and their families – LEST WE FORGET!

Thorsten Eisingerich
Director, Austrian Press & Information Service