Exploring Salzburg

WEST: … and that word "West" gradually acquires a magical sound

17 August 2020 / 6–7 pm CEST

Stadtspaziergang 2015, Foto: Mira Turba

The walk with Manfred Mittermayer, head of the Literature Archive Salzburg, Research Centre of University, Province and Town of Salzburg, and Lina Maria Zangerl, archivist at the Literature Archive, will guide the group through Salzburg's literary and historical landscape. Two of the most prominent writers who lived here have a special association with the west: Stefan Zweig and Peter Handke.

The west is a synonym for a political and cultural sphere; for many artists and writers, however, it stands also for the longing for freedom or the hope of a better life. For those forced to leave their native land, the journey westwards often simply holds the promise of survival.

The walk, illustrated with texts by the authors and reflections on them, leads from the Stefan Zweig Centre over the Mönchsberg to Peter Handke's former home near the Richterhöhe.

Meeting-point: forecourt of Stefan Zweig Centre, Mönchsberg 2 (access from Toscaninihof and up the Clemens Holzmeister steps) 5020 Salzburg
Language: English

The horizon is not the limit

The motto of this year's Summer Academy, "New Horizons", is also the theme of the town walks, curated by Karin Buchauer. What is a horizon, where and how can you find it? What happens on a town walk – what does “walking” mean?

Starting from the four compass points and the assumption that walking is not only a means of human mobility, but can be an artistic, spiritual and scientific practice, we would like to walk in a different way round Salzburg with those interested, to look with fresh eyes and see what walking does with us. Walking gets something going – the circulation, the brain, the social relationships so restricted by isolation during the pandemic. A walk relaxes and brings benefits. At any rate, there are things yet to be discovered on familiar paths and new routes.

Our guides will be a geoinformatics specialist, a researcher in ecomedicine, two literary scholars and an art educator, who will take us along familiar and unfamiliar routes through Salzburg and with surprising insights towards new horizons. In the present situation, we are overstepping the current group limits for participation in the town walks, so for the first time it will be possible to participate online!