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