American Corner Innsbruck

    The American Corner Innsbruck Returns!

    October 19th, 2011 heralded the start of a new era for the American Corner Innsbruck. After a summer hiatus, the ACI re-opened with an open house from 5:00-7:00pm  in the Gallery Claudiana, just outside the doors of the ACI office in the Claudiana, Herzog-Friedrich-Str. 3

    The event hosted some 70 guests, including dignitaries from the U.S. Embassy in Vienna, the U.S. State Department in Washington D.C., the University of  Innsbruck, as well as officers and members from the Austro-American Society/Tirol.  Eva Muhm, from the American Reference Center at the U.S. Embassy in Vienna was instrumental in the planning of this event and present, as was Cultural Attaché Marlene Nice from the Embassy in Vienna, Paul Saxton from the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., and  the Rektor of the University of Innsbruck,  o.-Univ. Prof. Dr. Tilmann Märk.

    Univ.-Prof. Dr. Mario Klarer, head of the UIBK Department of the American Studies, opened the event with thought-provoking commentary on the definition of “corner”, as  “the  intersecting of two sides”.  During the course of his talk, Prof. Klarer transformed this symbol of the American Corner Innsbruck more aptly into an American “Star”, in order to represent all the sides which came together to make this re-opening of the American Corner Innsbruck possible:  the U.S. Embassy in Vienna, the U.S. State Department in Washington D.C.,  the University of Innsbruck, the University of New Orleans in Innsbruck and the Austro-American Society/Tirol.

    Marlene Nice,  Cultural Attaché from the Embassy in Vienna, followed with an overview of the history of the original Embassy-sponsored Amerikahaus in post-WW II Innsbruck,and the beginnings of the  Embassy-sponsored American Corner Innsbruck more than half a century later in 2007.  The ACI’s new director, Dr. Margaret Davidson, stressed the contributions of out-going director Univ.-Prof. Dr. Gudrun Grabher,  under whose intiatives the ACI was first established and subsequently maintained.  With some thoughts to possible future directions of  the ACI, Dr. Davidson stressed the importance of the collaborative efforts of all partners involved, and then invited guests, which also included many Austrian and American students and Fulbright Teaching Assistants, to a buffet of refreshments made possible by the Austro-American Society/Tirol.  

    link to the invitation