The Marshall Plan in Austria
From October 24-November 1, 2009, nine Austrian high school teachers and nine American high school teachers will convene in Salzburg, Austria for the opening sessions of a workshop entitled “A Visionary Partnership across Continents: George C. Marshall and the European Recovery Program in Austria.” A product of collaboration between the George C. Marshall International Center in Leesburg, Virginia and the Austria Wirtschaftsservice (AWS) in Vienna, the workshop will give the teachers the opportunity to interact with recognized Austrian experts on the European Recovery Plan—the “Marshall Plan”—as they visit sites in Austria that were impacted by this critical mid-20th century program. High School level American/European history teachers, German teachers who cover the Marshall Plan era, and teachers of modern economics are encouraged to apply by September 21. All expenses, including airfare, meals, and lodging are covered.
While the principal objective of the workshop is to provide participants with an understanding of Marshall and the plan he conceived, which they can take back to their classrooms, the lectures and tours that are included are designed also to foster international cooperation and cultural exchange.
The workshop will begin at the historic Schloss Leopoldskron Hotel in the Global Seminar Conference Center in Salzburg. Following presentations and films on Marshall’s life and a lecture by Dr. Reinhold Wagnleitner entitled “The Coca-Colonization and the Cold War: The Cultural Mission of the United States in Austria after the Second World War,” the group will travel by bus over three days to a series of “Marshall Plan sites,” places where the impact of the Marshall Plan can still be seen: the Loden-Steiner factory in Mandling, the large hydro-electric complex at Kaprun, and the Voest-Alpine Steel Plant at Linz. Lectures, visits to local museums, and discussions with Austrian citizens with memories of the late 40s have been arranged at each site.
The workshop ends in Vienna with lectures on the Marshall Plan in the Soviet Sector by Dr. Barbara Stelzl-Marx, on Marshall Plan Counterpart Funds by Dr. Thomas Nowotny, and on the Marshall Plan negotiating process by a former ERP project coordinator, Dr. Hans Seidel. A very special scheduled stop in Vienna will be a visit to the Austrian National Library Archives for a presentation by Dr. Hans Petschar on the Library’s extraordinary collection of Marshall Plan photographs.
The Idea for an Austrian Marshall Workshop
Former Austrian Ambassador to the United States, Eva Nowotny, played a key role in forging the collaboration between the Austria Wirtschaftsservice (AWS) and the George C. Marshall International Center that led to the Austrian Marshall Workshop. She learned of the Center’s on-going summer Marshall Immersion Workshop, now in its seventh year, and proposed that the AWS develop a similar workshop for delivery in Austria. Professor Guenter Bischof of the University of New Orleans, a preeminent expert on the Marshall Plan in Austria, suggested the Marshall Plan sites to be visited and provided introductions to those who will be lecturing.
The Austrian Ministry of Education agreed to join with the AWS in providing financial support for the workshop. In addition, the Ministry offered to recruit the Austrian teachers. The American teachers, who will come from across the United States, will be selected by a committee of the George C. Marshall International Center. Rachel Thompson and Alisa Soderquist, professional educators and members of the Center staff, have developed the itinerary, and will direct the overall implementation of the program.
For questions, please contact Rachel Thompson: TNLady57@aol.com; or Alisa Soderquist: asoderquist1@verizon.net.
Austria seminar application
Apply by September 21!
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