Austrian Treaty
- State treaty as a media event, 1955
Whereas broadcasting vans equipped with satellite capabilities provide the necessary infrastructure today, these had to first be created in 1955. The news agencies of the world relied on the telephonic transmission of information, to which end these mobile telephone booths were set up in front of the Belvedere palace. The choice of the Belvedere Palace, as the location of the signing of the state treaty, was partially caused by the positive response Hitler received upon arriving in Austria at the Heldenplatz in 1938. The intention was to overwrite these negative connotations with new, carefully staged images of the masses cheering foreign minister Figl as he holds the state treaty for all Austrians to see.
@ Votava, Vienna
"Today, it naturally seems to me too that I heard Leopold Figl proclaim: "Österreich ist frei". But in reality, he did not even say it on the balcony, but in the room behind it... Yet, this eternal utterance has been so often repeated, that everyone in the Belvedere, or its vicinity, at the time, now believes to have heard it as well."
Willi Resetarits, Kleine Zeitung Graz, 17th of August 2003
Several Austrians feel the same way as well-known Austrian rock musician and ORF-presenter Willi Resetarits. The famous scene in which Leopold Figl presents the signed Austrian state treaty to the masses, from the balcony of the Belvedere palace, is today still ingrained in the public's collective memory. So much so, that many still associate it with what is probably the Second Republic's most celebrated acoustic pronouncement: "Österreich ist frei", ("Austria is free"); even though it was made inside the palace walls.
Along with the significance of the state treaty, this is probably also due to the phenomenon of a constructed collective memory in the Second Republic. This historic event is inextricably linked to the formation of an Austrian national identity, and it provides a positive point of reference which additionally contains a heroic narrative - (the "struggle" of a "small people" to achieve independence in the face of the four "big" allied powers).
The multi-medial knowledge station on offer here combines audio and visual material regarding the Austrian state treaty, such as: the UN-debate over Austria's future, the Austrian Newsreel special edition entitled: "Österreich ist frei" (fittingly, the first Newsreel segment in color), excerpts from Figl's speech held on the 15th of May 1955 at the Belvedere, Theodor Körner's New Year's address, (in which he looks back on Austria's first year as an independent state), as well as commemorative editions of the Austrian Newsreel, (1965, 1975 etc...; audio and visual material is only available in the German version)
The "gallery" section covers everything from the allied arrival in 1945, up until their departure in 1955; or the signing of the state treaty as a media event, up to its re-enactment in recent times by Erhard Busek and Alois Mock to solicit a "yes" for Austria's accession to the EU.
Under the heading "data" (only available in the German version), one can find facsimile documents from the 26th of October 1955, concerning national laws regulating Austria's neutrality as well as documents regarding the Austrian national holiday from the 25th of October 1965.
In the textual sphere, several renowned authors and experts critically reflect on the historic event and its nigh-mythical setting, and provide a contemporary analysis of the historical context.
This knowledge station is updated and expanded regularly.
Gertraud Diendorfer
Station: Austrian Treaty
(Last update: 02/2006)
