Europahaus Burgenland
The Europahaus Burgenland is an educational and meeting place in Burgenland , Austria. It sees itself as a studio for cosmopolitan theory, practice and poetry. Its facilities and activities include a Cosmopolitan Library; a cosmopolitan garden; the organization of international conferences; a research on the life's work and political wisdom of the Second UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961); Measures of European and development policy information, education and advice; the publication of a magazine WELT (GE) WISSEN and the "Polis Pannonia", an imagined political region that brings together Burgenland and the neighboring western Hungarian region. The sponsor is an association with 130 members (2015), most of the activities are financed from public funds, partly from EU programs.
Foundation / organization
The Europahaus Burgenland was founded as Europahaus Eisenstadt in September 1966. The initiative came from the European political commitment of the President of the Austrian Young Workers Movement, Bruno Buchwieser junior , who was guided by the Europahaus Marienberg, the parent company of the Europahausen. In 1997 the name was changed to Europahaus Burgenland, combined with a change in the statutes, which ended the representation of Burgenland state politics in the bodies of the Europahaus. The Europahaus Burgenland strives for a culture of dissidence in conscious distancing from the Burgenland state politics and has been working on leaving Burgenland state politics since 2015, which is supported and shaped by an international advisory board.
Board
Term of office 2018–2020:
- Edith Axmann-Spielberger, Lackenbach (Chair)
- Karin-Annette Fricke, Erlangen, Germany
- Peter Winkler, Eisenstadt
- Veronika Stegbauer, Vienna
- Gabi Weber-Grasl, Schattendorf
- Birgit Prochazka, Trausdorf
Advisory Board
The task of the advisory board is to advise the board of directors.
Term of office 2015–2018 Members:
- Dax Wolfgang, Chairman, Güssing
- Schwarz Karl, deputy, Vienna
- Bittner Franz, Vienna
- Čarnogurský Jan, Bratislava, SK
- Csaplovics Elmar, Dresden, DE
- Dalos György, Berlin, DE
- Evers Tilman, Cologne, DE
- Fritsch-Oppermann Sybille, Goslar, DE
- Gross Andreas, St. Ursanne, CH
- Höll Otmar, Vienna
- Kneucker Raoul, Vienna
- Chef Manfred, Eisenstadt
- Melber Henning, Uppsala, SE
- Pfeistlinger Wilhelm, Brussels, BE
- Prosl Christian, Vienna
- Tutzer Franz, Bozen, IT
- Vielhaber Christian, Vienna
- Weber Gerlind, Vienna
- Zavrl Irena, Eisenstadt
- Zumdick Wolfgang, Aachen, DE
Development / facilities / activities
The Europahaus Burgenland was largely shaped by the pioneering work of the peace researcher Karl Kumpfmüller , who headed it from 1977 to 1985. Through him, the Europahaus became a regional development agency in Burgenland and the coordination office of the Burgenland peace movement. Under his leadership, developments were initiated and - after collapses as a result of confrontations with state politics - new attempts were made. Through his and the initiatives of his successors, innovations have emerged from the Europahaus or have been significantly supported by the Europahaus:
Third World
Development aid projects and foundation of the Austrian Information Service for Development Policy (ÖIE), today: Südwind Agency. The Europahaus has been a regional office for development policy information, education and advice since the 1970s - in this function also the Burgenland regional office of the Südwind Agency .
Peace movement
Foundation of the Burgenland Peace Movement and the Peace Institute in Schlaining in southern Burgenland.
Human and civil rights
Educational and networking work on human and civil rights in connection with dissidents from the neighboring former Eastern Bloc countries.
Climate alliance
Coordination of the initiative for the accession of Burgenland, which took place in 1993 by a unanimous decision of the state parliament.
Teacher training
Long-term series of seminars in the field of teacher training on "Europe in the classroom" and global learning.
Bosnian library
A mobile library and events to take care of refugees from the civil war in what was then Yugoslavia and information about the background in the 1990s.
"Art for the Europahaus"
Cooperation with numerous artists resulting from a solidarity campaign, which is shown in jointly designed exhibitions and installations. The workshop for art in life in Müllendorf has become the central location for this collaboration.
Cosmopolitan library
a specialist library with currently (2015) approx. 5000 titles with the status of a public library and as such also a member of the Austrian Library Association (BVÖ). The library is part of the electronic network of development policy libraries "Bibliotheca 2000".
Cosmopolitan garden
in 2012 laid out on 22,000 m². For horticultural and artistic projects to create cosmopolitan ideas. The Burgenland University of Education operates a school garden on the site.
To know the world
The magazine welt (ge )wissen currently appears twice a year with a circulation of 3,000 copies. It documents the activities of the Europahaus and publishes articles with fundamental considerations on the formation of the political and anti-political in relation to European integration and global issues.
Polis Pannonia
includes the search for modern perspectives for a political life in Pannonia that is conceived in a more direct, objective and transnational manner. For this purpose, the realistic and utopian perspectives of direct democracy in Pannonia are determined; how cross-border citizens' and educational initiatives can be promoted; what positions political representatives and citizens' and educational initiatives have on this.
Dag Hammarskjöld research
The research examines the life's work and political wisdom of the Second UN Secretary-General with regard to its relevance for global citizenship education. The research is carried out in cooperation with the Social Sculpture Research Unit at Oxford Brookes University as an artistic work based on the idea of social sculpture. Wherever possible, the activities of the Europahaus are linked to the research process or research findings and ideas about social design flow into the work of the Europahaus.
International encounters
take place through regular conferences, learning partnerships and study trips. These measures were carried out in particular within the framework of EU programs.
management
- Karl Kumpfmüller 1977–1985
- Marijana Grandits 1985–1988
- Hans Göttel 1990-2015
In 2015 the management was reorganized -
- Helga Kuzmits, managing director since March 2015
- Hans Göttel, Head of Studies since March 2015
Individual evidence
- ↑ Europahaus Burgenland: About us (accessed November 5, 2019)
- ↑ Europahaus Burgenland: About us (accessed November 6, 2019)