NEWSLETTER

561

8 Dov

er

THE AMERICAN -AUSTRIAN CULTURAL SOCIETY

Patrons: Jerome & Lisette Barry Christa Cook, John Paul Cook Harry & Annegret Davies Paula & Donal Donovan Dr. Peter & Helga Evans Martha Göbel & Dr.R. Meyer Karl & Helene Goller Dr. Joyce Hagel Elizabeth Hochholzer Ute & Karl Jahr Wilhelm Jonach Leon & Traude Knauer Amb.Hugh & Annemarie Montgomery Gerd a Mer wa ld Ing eborg Pr i ch ard Ly nn Rh omberg Gary & Candy Ridgway Stephen & Monica Schott Christine Wallich Ulrike Wiesner Gertraud Zangl Contributors: Franz & Ilona Aberl Vince & Hildegard Banes Henry & Caroline Beenhakker Karl Eiselberg Rune Foster Richard & Margo Franzen Andre & Veronika Hovaguimian Helmut Jenkner & Rhea Arnot Erica Joyce Fritz & Ilse Königshofer Christoph Mahle Michael Mertens M.D. Dr.Alfred & MaryAnn Obernberger Wolfgang Renezeder Ingrid Rose Esta Sterneck

Liebe Mitglieder und

Freunde der American

-Austrian Cultural

Society!

Als neuer Österreichischer

Botschafter in Washington

freue ich mich, Sie bei der

American-Austrian Cultural

Society begrüßen zu dürfen.

Einige der Mitglieder kenne ich

noch von meiner vorherigen

Dienst-verwendung hier in den

80er Jahren. Ich hoffe bald die

Gelegenheit zu haben, Sie

wieder zu sehen und auch viele

neue Mitglieder persönlich

kennen zu lernen. Ich danke für

Ihren Einsatz und Ihre

Bemühungen, Österreich in

unserem Gastland zu

repräsentieren. Ich werde, so

wie meine Vorgängerin, die

Aktivitäten der Vereinigung in

der Zukunft gerne unterstützen.

Mit meinen besten Grüßen

Dr. Christian Prosl

Summer/Fall 2009

5618 Dover Court, Alexandria, VA 22312

Telephone: 703 941 0227

american_austrian_society@yahoo.com

www.americanaustriansociety.org

CORPORATE SPONSORS

Austria's Finest, ®Naturally Christa and John-Paul Cook of Helco, Ltd www.austrianpumpkinoil.com John-Paul offers 10% discounts for members of the American-Austrian Cultural Society

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Designer / Editor: Gerda Merwald

Co-Editor: Ulrike Wiesner

Message from Austrian Ambassador

Dr. Christian Prosl

Dear Members and Friends

of the American-

AustrianCultural Society,

As the new Austrian Ambassador

in Washington, I extend a warm wel-

come to the members of the American

-Austrian Cultural Society.

I know some of the members from my

previous years of serving with the

Austrian Embassy during the 1980s. I

hope to soon have the opportunity of

seeing you again and also getting to

know many of the new members per-

sonally. I thank you for your dedica-

tion and efforts in representing Aus-

tria in our host country. As with my

predecessor, I will also gladly support

the activities of the Society in the

future.

With best regards,

Dr. Christian Prosl

Lily Spandorf:

Washington Never More A tribute to a remarkable woman whom many of us still remember so well; I still can vividly picture her sitting in the front row during every possible event at the Austrian Embassy with her famous smile, giggling to jokes, holding pad and pencil in her hand, ready to sketching portraits, scenes; thanks to the Historian Society of Washington, Lily’s art work was celebrated at an exhibition during summer 2009.

Gerda Merwald

PAGE 2 5618 DOVER COURT, ALEXANDRIA, VA NEWSLETTER

Lily Spandorf was born and educated in Vienna but made London her base of operations for several years. She was painting and exhibiting in Britain and Italy before she came to the United States in 1959 where she had a solo show in New York City. In the year 1960 she arrived in Washington where she had many solo exhibits.

Lily Spandorf is known for her paintings of places—pictorial reports made on the spot. Her work was even reproduced in the Washington Post, the Evening Star and other publica-tions. Each Christmas she created the Christmas decora-tions in the White House and in summer she captured the Folk Festival on the Mall.

With Lily Spandorf’s interpretation of the individuality and beauty of places her works of art became a form of historical documentation, because she captured the es-sence of many old buildings which were torn down. Her traditional style set her apart and made her a unique contributor to the Washington art scene.

Lily Spandorf died on February 4, 2000.

Linz, European Capital of Culture 2009

Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the State of Upper Austria. It is located in the north cen-

tre of Austria, approximately 30 km south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The popu-

lation of the city is 189,343 (2007).

No Austrian city has changed as dramatically as Linz has in recent years. Once known as a nice, quiet com-

mercial town along the banks of the Danube, later a capital of heavy industry with all the [pollution] side-

effects, Linz today became a modern urban center with a flourishing economy and exceptional quality of life.

The mission of Linz, 2009 European Capital of Culture, is to be a part of this process: an initiative imple-

menting sustainable urban development and a driving force for progress in promising directions. [continued

on page 4]

PAGE 3 5618 DOVER COURT, ALEXANDRIA, VA NEWSLETTER

Where do your Membership $$$ go?

Have you ever wondered what happens to the membership subscription fees collected at the start of the Society’s financial year?

The Society’s finances appear quite healthy. In the fiscal year just ended, we registered a surplus of $1,150, compared to a deficit of $2,300 in the previous year. Our policy is to try to approximately break-even on average after allowing for year by year fluctua-tions in the timing of particular events. Fortunately, the Society has a significant financial balance reflect-ing accumulated surpluses in earlier years.

On the income side, memberships (including families) as of Sept. 30 stood at 139, a small increase of about 5% over the previous year; the total number of members was 212.

Regarding expenses, events consist of charged events (usually run at a modest net loss, e.g. the Kaffee-

haus) and “events at no charge” (i.e. Annual Meeting, lecture receptions).

A second important category consists of charitable giving in support of, for example, the wonderful annual con-cert series Schubert, Schubert, and Schubert, the Church of the Annunciation, the Trinity Church in Upperville (both gener-

o u s c o n t r i b u t o r s t o

St.Nikolaus/Krampus event) and SOS Children’s Villages.

Other regular expenses in-clude the Society’s Newslet-ter, office supplies, purchases for Society inventory [table

cloths, drinking glasses etc.], and postage.

If you would like to obtain further information on the Society’s finances, please do not hesitate to contact Donal Donovan, Treasurer (djadono@hotmail.com).

The Society will have a special table reserved for dinner at the National

Society of Arts and Letters Viennese Ball, November 21, 2009, in the elegant ballroom of the Cosmos Club in Washington DC. Special invitations have already been sent by email to A-ACS members. If you have not received the invitation or would like more information, you

may visit the NSAL web site at www.nsal-dc.org

or call Mrs. Martha Goebel at (703) 354-2044.

N

O

T

I

C

E

March Schubert, Schubert & Schubert Concerts

May 3 Wiener Kaffeehaus Jause

May 9 Open House, Embassy of Austria

June 23 Lecture, H.Jenkner: Hubble Telescope Mission

Sept. 23 Annual Meeting

Oct. 11 Heurigen 2009

Nov. 21 NSAL Viennese Ball

Dec..5 St.Nikolaus & Krampus Children’s Afternoon

EVENTS IN 2009:

Greetings from the Society’s new President

Dear friends and members of the American-Austrian Cultural Society

Thank you for honoring me with your vote for the office of President of our Society which I

gratefully and happily accept.

With your help and with the support of my colleagues on the Executive Board and the Board of Directors, I shall devote my efforts to promoting the aims of our Society to strengthen the ties of cultural understanding and friendship between the two countries to which I owe so much – my

native Austria and my adopted home, the United States of America.

In a world that seems increasingly driven by materialism and quick gain, I believe it is more important than ever to cultivate the gentle values of international friendship and the cultural

traditions that connect us.

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our upcoming events and would herewith like to invite you to share your

ideas, your criticisms and your praise, if any, with us.

Sincerely,

Ulrike Wiesner

Linz—[continued from page 2]

The Capital of Culture year was officially kicked off on New

Year’s Eve from December 31, 2008 until January 1, 2009.

The absolute highlight of Opening09 was the world premiere

of the Rocket Symphony, a work for a chorus of several hun-

dred singers and 16 soloists arrayed along the banks of the

Danube between the Ars Electronica Center, the Nibelungen

Bridge, the Lentos Museum of Modern Art and the Bruckner-

haus. Their acoustic and visual accompaniment was a fire-

works extravaganza.

AUSLANDSÖSTERREICHER- WELTBUND –

2009 ANNUAL MEETING IN INNSBRUCK, Tyrol

By Gerda Merwald

From September 3-6, I had the pleasure to represent the Society and join about 400 people from all corners of the world (among them 36 partici-pants from the USA) which made it a great event. The program included a guided city walk with a visit to the Hofkirche, champagne reception at the Casino Austria followed by dinner, visit to the old Austrian Mint in Hall, Swarovsky Enterprise in Absam, two Membership Meetings, ceremony honoring the Aus-trian of the Year 2009, Architect Dietmar Feichtinger, dinner sponsored by the Austrian Foreign Minister Dr. Michael Spindelegger, Auslandsösterreicher- Ball at the Innsbruck Congress, and Mass at the Cathedral. Next year’s Auslandsösterreicher-Weltbund Meeting will be held in Eisenstadt Burgenland, from September 2-5, 2010. Mark your calendar, all members and their guests are welcome to join!

Innsbruck's Mayor welcomes attendees

Email: ulliwiesner@cs.com

Telephone: 703 941 0227

New Board Members, elected as of FY2009-10:

Ms. Ulrike Wiesner, President, Ms. Gerda Merwald, 1st Vice President, Mr. Donal Donovan, Secretary/Treasurer, Prof. Dr. Peter Evans, Director, Mr. Franz Aberl, Director, Mr. Stephen Schott, Director