During Austro-Fascism and National Socialism in Austria, landscape
architects as well picked up the fascistic ideologies of Heimat,
Blut-und-Boden, and Nature, and thus supported the political system
effectively. Their role and the role of the landscape architecture
profession in general are, so far, hardly investigated. The aim of our
research is to increase general knowledge of the profession history and
to give important conclusions about the approach and understanding of
design and planning during the 1930s and 1940s.
Within this research project we put the focus on the question which
influence political and ideological processes during Austro-Fascism had
on the professional discussion and on the development of the profession
itself. The research concentrated on four Austrian professional journals
which ranged from a conservative and nationalistic editorial attitude
to a liberal one. In addition we analyzed secondary literature on
cultural politics, architecture and art during Austro-Fascism and
literature on landscape architecture in Germany during the 1930s.
So far, we could not prove the hypothesis that – already in the
early 1930s – Austrian landscape architects publicized fascistic
ideologies and the German Garden and ostracized the Modern Garden. One
reason might be that – out of programmatic reasons – the
Austro-Fascistic regime did not ban or prosecute any cultural style.
However the cultural policy tried to control art and culture and to
exploit them as propaganda. This policy and the common antisemitism in
the early 1930s restricted the life and the cultural activities of
Jewish, liberal, and social democratic artists.
We continue our studies on the topic within the following research
project ?Landscape Architecture in Austria between 1912 and 1945?. This
project, financed by the FWF Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen
Forschung, starts in June 2008 and will last for two years. We will put a
more detailed look on the development of landscape architecture
profession in Austria in structure, form, and content during the first
half of the 20th century. Furthermore we will analyze the changes in
professional training, in the structure of the associations, and the
work and tasks of garden and landscape architects.
- Title Original : Landschaftsarchitektur im Austrofaschismus
- Website : http:// Basic Research
- Notes : Publications
Meder, I., Krippner, U. (2012): Unter Kruckenkreuz und Hakenkreuz. Gartenarchitektur in Österreich 1930 - 1945. Zwischen Jägerzaun und Größenwahn. Freiraumgestaltung in Deutschland 1933 - 1945. Symposium der DGGL Bayern Nord., 19. - 21.4.2012, Nürnberg - Project start : 2007
- Project end : 2007
- Contact Person : Ulrike Krippner
- Funding Agency : Hochschuljubiläumsstiftung der Stadt Wien, 1110 Wien, Austria