Wagramerstrasse 5, 1220 Vienna

The exterritorial institutions of UNO are located in New York, Geneva, Nairobi and Vienna. Their mission is to secure and maintain peace.

“It is obvious time and again, that the process of peacemaking is understood in different ways, according to one’s standpoint and interests.”

On Wagramerstrasse 5 the building complex of the United Nations is located, whose most important duty is the safeguarding of world peace, the protection of human rights and the support of international cooperation. The United Nations arose from the Haager Peace Conference and the League of Nations after the Second World War. The establishment and development of these organizations were always important concerns of peace movements.

Institutions of the UNO work worldwide, since the establishment in June 1945, in striving for peaceful rapprochement. Repeatedly, institutions of the UNO have already received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Three persons in Austria have received the Nobel Peace Prize. After almost 100 years, in the year 2005, again a man who lived in Austria was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Mohamed El Baradei shared the prize with his organization, the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The Nobel Prize Committee in Oslo elected Mohamed El Baradei as award winner for the Nobel Peace Prize because of his with civil courage openly expressed criticism of the published assertion by the US Government that atomic weapons armouries exist in Iraq. This supposed danger was indeed the essential given reason for the then as necessary declared war against the Iraq by the USA.

Mohamed El Baradei, during the time of the preparations for the Iraq war, openly said what millions of people worldwide meant and for this took part in demonstrations and protest actions. His fearless criticism made him the target of sharp diplomatic attacks from sides of the US Government. Mohamed El Baradei was born 1942 in Egypt; in 1964 he began a career as diplomat, shifted then to New York to the United Nations, 1984 to the IAEO, International Atomic Energy Agency, where in 1997 he became General Director.

Without a doubt, the Norwegian Committee decision about the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize, in which it directed attention to the subject of nuclear matters, contributed again to the reminding of the tremendous danger of this weapon. But many people worldwide who campaign for a general stop of the use of atomic energy view the activity of the IAEA very critically. The organization supports the peaceful use of atomic energy. The idea for the establishment of such an agency, is attributed to the US President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his ‘Atoms for Peace’ – speech in 1953.

Since 1957, the IAEA advises worldwide interested parties with money and know-how about the building of nuclear power plants and about the use of nuclear energy in medicine, engineering and farming. With the award to the IAEA, the Nobel Committee made a highly doubtful decision.

The seat of the IAEA, with the departments engineering cooperation, nuclear energy, nuclear security, administration, nuclear sciences and use, as well as nuclear material safeguarding (‘Safeguards’) is known as the Vienna International Centre (VIC).

Friedensbrücke, 1090 Vienna

How many squares and streets in Vienna refer to peace? And how many refer to violence?

“In a culture of peace conflicts should be handled with dialogues and mediation, confrontation should be substituted with cooperation. We must overcome social and cultural injustice and repression.”

Vienna successively went hereon changing traffic areas that up to then carried the names of members of the imperial dynasty or of saints. They reminded one thereby of the overcoming of the reactionary, Catholic imprinted Habsburg monarchy: Church and Kaiser should no longer be honoured but rather the thought on freedom, democracy and peace.

A good example of this is the Friedensbrücke that traverses the Danube Canal between the 9th and the 20th district. Its old name was Brigittabrücke (also after the holy patroness of Brigittenau). As the bridge had already shown itself to be no longer fit for the continuously growing auto traffic, it was newly erected and in the year 1926 it was renamed to commemorate the Peace Agreement of St. Germain.

A similar example nearby is Schwedenplatz. This square, originally Franz-Ferdinand-Platz, received its new name after the First World War by way of thanks for the great emergency measures that the Swedes provided to the needy population of Vienna. During the “red Vienna” period during the 1920s and early 1930s, many squares and streets in Vienna were given new names in connection with the humanitarian help received from Scandinavian countries.

However, the reference to acts of war are still obvious: whether generals, battles or military fortifications – over three hundred street names recall the Turkish Siege of Vienna, Napoleonic Wars or the denominational wars of the 16th and 17th centuries.

It is worthwhile, however, to proceed to seek for others that lived their life in the service of peace work and humanitarian aid – who are unfortunately hardly known till today by the majority of the Viennese population.

Widerhofgasse 5, 1090 Vienna

“Organize the world” – A.H. Fried

The other Austrian Nobel Peace Prize award winner, Alfred Hermann Fried (1864 – 1921), has become completely forgotten in our country. The only remembrance of him in the public life of the city of Vienna consisted until recently in the Friedstrasse, in the 21st district. And at the urn cemetery in the Vienna Central Cemetery one finds a reference to the untiring pacifist. In the year 2011, in memory of his award one hundred years before of the Nobel Peace Prize, a memorial plaque was mounted on his home in Widerhofgasse 5.

Alfred Hermann Fried was the first peace journalist and he called himself this. He, however, also developed the social-scientific peace studies, wrote the “Handbook of the Peace Movement”, which until today is the established international standard work. He set against sentimental “moral pacifism” a new slogan “Organize the world!” as an expression of the stance of scientific pacifism.

In place of the usual peace symbols like pigeons, rainbows or broken swords, he developed a new emblem, namely a row of intertwined cogs, in order to embrace new, precise and scientific meanings of the term peace. Unfailingly, he thereby avowed himself to thinking in international dimensions. Only the willingness to see oneself and one’s country as part of a peer community can set free energies that would lastly benefit one’s own national community. He came to the conclusion:

“Internationalism is patriotism on the highest level.”

Fried was 27 years young when he made contact with Bertha von Suttner and worked more than 20 long years in best cooperation together with her as a peace researcher.

At the age of 47 he received the Nobel Peace Prize. Ten years later he died poor in Vienna. Nevertheless, during these barely 30 years he developed with unbelievable enthusiasm for work significant principles for peace research and peace journalism. He was, however, hardly known to the broad general pubic already during his lifetime. Until today, he is practically forgotten as an Austrian Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Pacifists have it hard to become honored, and he was not only a pacifist, but also Free Mason and Jew. Our Austrian culture of remembrance is apparently over challenged with this combination.

Votivkirche, Universitätsring 1, 1010 Vienna

Resistance against a totalitarian regime needs an enormous courage.

“…this, what we call peace, this is war…the war, the real war is just the explosion of the war which we call peace.”
_{– Ingeborg Bachmann}

In der Votive church, one of the high church windows in radiant colors reminds one of Franz Jägerstätter (1907 – 1943), an Austrian who, in Christian conviction against violence and in courageous civil disobedience, refused military service under National Socialism. Following Austria’s annexation by the German Reich on March 12th 1938, he refused the offer of the post of Mayor that was made to him. By the national referendum on the annexation on 10 April, his was the only no vote in his home village. The election authorities withheld this dissenting vote and notified 100 percent approval. He later described this day as the Holy Thursday of Austria” because “the church of Austria let itself be taken prisoner”.

The negative impressions about National Socialism and the so called euthanasia programme, about which he learned, strengthened his decision not to enlist in the military. Despite imprisonment and torture, Franz Jägerstätter stayed true to his conscience. He was executed on August 9th, 1943. The beautiful window picture in the Votive church was dedicated to him and since 1993 there is also the Jägerstätterstrasse in the 14th district.

At the turn of the year 2012 a group of asylum seekers occupied the Votive church with a “Refugee Protest Camp”. They wanted to draw the public attention towards their shameful inhuman situation as asylum seekers. Caritas and some NGOs supported them in a makeshift manner.

The media presented and commented this protest in quite diverse forms. But at least the problematic situation received some public attention. Nevertheless after more than 2 months of this occupation and a severe hunger strike of some occupants the asylum seekers set an end to their activity, although they did not achieve crucial improvements.

Rooseveltplatz, 1090 Vienna

Tourists, students of the nearby university, families – life full of colors populate this park.

In Sigmund Freud Park, in front of the Votiv church, Mayor Dr. Helmut Zilk unveiled a memorial stone on May 6th 1985. Under the letters Psi and Alpha – Freud’s abbreviation for ‘psychoanalysis’, is written ‘The voice of the intellect is a soft one’. Freud’s original words were:

“The voice of the intellect is a soft one, but it does not rest until it has gained a hearing. This is one of the few points in which it may be optimistic about the future of mankind ….”

Peace studies also analyze the psychodynamic process of decision making beyond the factual levels and beyond reason. In an exchange of letters in 1932, Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein grappled with the question ‘Why war?’ Albert Einstein’s question was whether some sort of way could exist to free people from the fatality of war?

Sigmund Freud referred to the connection between law and violence during the history of man. Individual violence will be replaced in the course of social development by institutionalised forms. From time immemorial, the renunciation of instincts influences this process of civilization. Everything that promotes this cultural development, meant Sigmund Freud, also works against war.

Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) was a neurologist, he developed psychoanalysis, a method with which the unconscious mind becomes understandable. As a Jew, his career possibilities in Vienna were very limited and with the begin of the reign of the National Socialists, he was threatened despite his international fame. He was able to flee to England.

Schottengasse 3, 1010 Vienna

Willing to engage oneself – for active peace.

This address has tradition. There the IVB ‘Internationaler Versöhnungsbund’ resided for many years. The IVB is the Austrian branch of the ‘International Fellowship of Reconciliation’, Europe’s first oecumenical peace movement, founded in 1914. Today, people of all religions from more than 40 countries worldwide are members of this fellowship which supports various peace actions and educational offers for peace building and nonviolence conflict handling. The Austrian branch of ‘IVB’ was established in 1921. Today, a number of organisations share this office: Service Civil International, Counseling for Deserters and Refugees, Arge Conscientious Objection and KAMA (Course offers by Asylum Seekers, Immigrants and Asylum Entitled Persons).

“In the many non-governmental organisations, associations and groups that engage themselves for active peace the majority works voluntarily and mostly works without pay.”

The awareness of the importance of peace activities for maintaining and developing democracy is not yet very widespread. Characteristic for this is the barely perceived ‘Peace Decade’ that was unanimously enacted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in the year 1998 for the period 2001 to 2010 as the ‘International decade for a culture of peace and non-violence for the children of the world’. The goals of this decade were described in Resolution A/53/L25 which declares: Education, food, rights, health and respect must be secured for the children of this world on an individual, administrative and global level.

The worldwide actions supported by the UNESCO for this ‘Peace Decade’, were, however, – not only in Austria – barely perceived over and above the circle of the engaged groups. The media, television, radio and the print media only very seldom bring information and news on the subject of peace.

Palais Lieben-Auspiez, Universitätsring 4, 1010 Vienna

Art and intellect for mutual understanding of nations.

“She was engaged for the hope for peace through cultural exchange, by multiple ways of art to cross borders, not to eliminate the differences between countries but to make use of them for innovations.”

A few floors above the Café Landtmann once came together international artists and free thinkers in the salon of Berta Zuckerkandl (1864 – 1945). She was supportive of then modern art and engaged herself for a policy of peace and international understanding.

Born in 1864, she was a member of a wealthy Jewish Vienna family with very close contacts to the Kaiser’s Court. Her father, Moritz Szeps, was not only an influential journalist but also a confidant of Crown Prince Rudolf, who actively put himself against the all too conservative policy of the imperial dynasty, his own family. Rudolf represented democratic views and supported, as far as it lay in his power, the liberal media of his time. 1889 he shot himself together with his woman friend in Mayerling.

Berta Zuckerkandl especially expressed the liberal attitude of her parental home in her daily column in the ‘Neuen Wiener Journal’ (New Vienna Journal). She was a bitter opponent of Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss, who after the February 1934 Civil War established the Austro-Fascist corporative state against the worker’s movement in Austria. In 1938, following the seizing of power by the National Socialists, Berta Zuckerkandl flew to Paris. In summer 1940, after the occupation of the German ‘Wehrmacht’ she had to flee again (being 76 years of age) and reached Algeria where her son was staying. There, following the liberation of North Africa, she engaged herself again for peace and understanding among nations with speeches over a radio station established by the Allies.

In 1945, she was still able to live to see the defeat of the Third Reich of the National Socialists and returned to Paris, but died in October of the same year. A commemorative plaque on Palais Lieben-Auspiez, Oppolzergasse 6, reminds one of this courageous woman.

Today the City Hall Square is mostly occupied by mass entertainments. On May 15th 1982 it was the center of a huge protest march.

This demonstration march was the largest peace demonstration of the post-war era. From all federal counties thousands rushed to meet in the capital to protest against war and armament. The short phase of political détente in the seventies was then over and the arms race in the west and east took on up to then unknown levels. The USA under President Ronald Reagan enormously raised the expenditure for the military (among others for the so called ‘Star Wars-Program’) and the discussion about the stationing of American Pershing-rockets in the Federal Republic of Germany was fiercely waged.

As the Falkland War also broke out in April 1982, no less than 160 different organisations and political parties (with the exception of the Austrian Freedom Party) mobilised for a large peace demonstration in Vienna: The Official Austrian Representation of University Students, the Youth Party, the church, unions, anti-atom movements and many more. People from all Austria streamed with buses and special trains into the capital city and gathered together on the Rathausplatz (City Hall Square) for a demonstration against war and armament.

In the Rathauspark stands the bust of Josef Popper- Lynkeus (1838–1921) who was an engaged social reformer. As it was impossible for him, as a Jew, to have a scientific career in Vienna, he worked in the service of the railway and as a private teacher. Additionally, he studied economics and developed the programme ‘The general nutritional responsibility’ in which he described and introduced his suggestions for equality and human dignity. He designed a social structure in which all state citizens would be cared for with an existence-minimum. A compulsory period of several years work service must be accomplished. Following this, all citizens receive a basic income without conditions until death. Popper, therefore, is one of the forerunners of the idea of the unconditional basic income that meanwhile, based on new economic developments, is predicted to be the future economic structure of our society.

Every year an ‘International Peace Garden’ is laid out in a city somewhere in the world in recognition of the contributions of this city for peace. In the year 2002 in the City Hall Park in Vienna, a piece of the park was distinguished for this peace garden by the ‘International Peace Gardens Foundation’.

Dr. Karl Renner Ring 2, 1010 Vienna

Democracy demands to assume responsibility even for those decisions one would not have chosen.

“All human strive and joint acting and all legislative decisions should aim for peace.”

The historical conference hall of the Reichsrat building finished in 1883, that we today call Parliament, offered room for the representatives from Bukovina to Dalmatia, but today it is mostly used for meetings of the Federal Assembly and for State acts by which both chambers of the Parliament are present.

In this room is to be found a mural painted by August Eisenmenger (1830–1907). He was an Austrian portrait- and historical-sights-painter during the era of the ‘Gründerzeit’ – respectively in the period of rapid industrial expansion. In 1885, he completed the cycle of mural compositions about the ‘Development of the modern political system out of unorganised conditions’, that remains originally until today. A segment about the ‘Blessings of Peace’ refers to the meaning of this theme. Peace at the end of the 19-hundreds became the basis point of reference for engaged politics, to the highest goal of hope for a new social order. The humanistic and tolerant tradition of the Enlightenment laid the fundament for this development, in which bridges must be built between national and global interests.

An example for this change in the reasons of state is the importance of the Interparliamentary Union (established 1889 in Paris), that holds meetings in several participating countries, some of them since 1903 in Vienna. Central concerns of the Interparliamentary Union are the support, establishment and development of democratic facilities and to support the matters of peace and cooperation on a global level. The Austrian branch of the IPU was co-established by Bertha von Suttner. Nowadays the president of the parliament is always the head of the national branch of the IPU.

Dr. Karl Renner Ring 1, 1010 Vienna

Playful learning about democracy for later serious engagement.

“Realistic experiences are necessary for acquiring social competences. The Democracy Workshop therefore offers learning in a joint process of decision making for concrete results, which then become published on the internet.”

The Democracy Workshop is located in the Palais Epstein. This Parliament-associated institution was established for the promotion of understanding, interest and democratic political knowhow for the age group 8–14 as an experiment field and Democracy Workshop. All offers here have to do with the playful approach to basic issues of democracy in order to give children and young people the possibility to develop self-responsibility together with competence in cooperative political engagement.

The necessary transition from antiquated thinking in social classes based on military power to a community of free and equal citizens requires a mental change of thinking. As with other rules of conduct, also political habits are passed on further in family education and adopted in the school education. In order to support the process of democracy education and politically necessary participation, the Democracy Workshop of the Parliament provides respective learning and experiencing offers. If conduct should be learned, concrete experiences are necessary. For this reason, tangible results through co-determination and participation are acquired in the workshops. These results that have been acquired in the common process are published on the Internet.

Barbara Prammer, who is the first National President since October 2006 and stands directly behind the Federal President in the political Austrian hierarchy, especially engages herself for democratic education. Out of conviction, she supports within the framework of her political action possible educational offers for the promotion of interests and awareness for democratic rules of conduct – and, therewith, also emphatically for the possibilities for active peace.