Animals press conference
The so-called press conference of the animals was an Austrian media event in the spring of 1984, which was in connection with the occupation of the Hainburger Au .
Political framework
At the turn of 1982/1983 had WWF Austria in the course of the planned construction of a hydroelectric power station near Hainburg east of Vienna , the campaign launched "Save the wetlands" to draw attention to the impending destruction of part of the Danube wetlands.
Although the campaign was supported by numerous environmental activists, the interest of the general public was initially limited. The publicist Günther Nenning and Gerhard Heilingbrunner , at that time head of the alternative section of the Austrian Students' Union , appeared as the initiators of a referendum to preserve the floodplains and establish a national park , with the popular Nobel Prize winner Konrad Lorenz being won as the front man.
Implementation and staging
To support the colloquially as Konrad Lorenz referendum process designated place on May 7, 1984 at the Press Club Concordia in Vienna a press conference instead. At this media prelude to the intensive campaign by the Au-Schützer, a group of prominent personalities from politics and culture protested against the power plant plans of Donaukraftwerke AG in Hainburg, promoted the preservation of the floodplains and explained the goals of the referendum.
In contrast to the protocol usually used at political press conferences, the organizers rely on effective staging by means of actionism ; An essential feature was that the participants of the event appeared in costumes and embodied native animals in the Au.
Due to the reporting, the opponents of the power plant construction made the leap into the consciousness of the population. The event, which was staged with media coverage and imagination, was dubbed "Animal Press Conference " by the media in reference to Erich Kästner's Animal Conference and, from the point of view of communication science, is an example of particularly effective public relations work due to the target groups reached and reach .
The events surrounding the occupation of the Hainburger Au are considered to be the hour of birth of the modern environmental movement in Austria and are of both environmental and democratic importance in this country .
Participants and costumes
Participants in the press conference on May 7, 1984 were:
- Günther Nenning, SPÖ publicist (costume: red owl deer )
- Jörg Mauthe , Vienna City Councilor of the ÖVP and writer (costume: black stork )
- Bernd Lötsch , ecologist (costume: purple heron )
- Peter Turrini , playwright (costume: fire-bellied toad )
- Othmar Karas , chairman of the ÖVP youth (costume: cormorant )
- Freda Meissner-Blau , environmental activist of the SPÖ (costume: ground beetle )
- Hubert Gorbach , head of the FPÖ youth
Gorbach did not wear a costume during the press conference, but later appeared as a Bluethroat , as did Gerhard Heilingbrunner from the Austrian Students' Union, who appeared as a kingfisher during the campaign .
