Innsbruck & New Orleans: A Model Transatlantic Partnership
Dornbirn and Dubuque, IA; Graz and Montclair, NJ; Salzburg and Atlanta, GA — the list of Austrian-American sister cities is long, but one partnership in particular has been prospering for 21 years between the cities of Innsbruck and New Orleans, LA. It serves as a model transatlantic partnership between two cities with roots found long before the partnership was officially proclaimed on July 14, 1995.
Forty-one years ago, Dr. Gordon “Nick” Mueller, then a professor of history at The University of New Orleans (UNO), founded the UNO Summer School at the University of Innsbruck. Not only does the UNO Summer School bring some 300 U.S. students and faculty to the Austrian Alps every year, but it also led to an official partnership agreement between the two universities in 1983. The UNO Summer School was described by Dr. Mueller as “one of the great success stories in international education.” To date, the summer school is one of the largest outgoing ventures of its kind in the United States. Additionally, this multifaceted cooperation led to the creation of Center Austria: The Austrian Marshall Plan Center for European Studies at UNO in 1997. The Center has been promoting the communication and extension of Austrian and Central European culture through scholarly and artistic activities as well as academic exchanges for the past 19 years.
Fueled by the success of this academic exchange, the two cities have also grown closer through art and music. For the 18th time this year, the New Orleans Festival in Innsbruck brought jazz tunes and Southern flair to the capital of the Alps — take a look:
Furthermore, the City of Innsbruck and the University of New Orleans launched an arts exchange program in the fall of 2000. Tyrolean artists display their work at the UNO St. Claude Gallery each fall, while graduates of the UNO Department of Fine Arts exhibit their work each summer in the City of Innsbruck’s Andechs Gallery.
Being a sister city also means helping each other in times of need. The City of Innsbruck contributed to the international aid measures after the 2005 flood disaster in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Private donations at the University in Innsbruck as well as a major donation by the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation helped UNO faculty and staff cope with the effects of Hurricane Katrina. The effort, which was organized by the University of Innsbruck, brought the two cities even closer together.
To celebrate the 20 year anniversary of the sister city partnership last year, a delegation of the Innsbruck City Council, accompanied by University representatives, visited New Orleans in March 2015. The purpose of the visit was perfectly described by one of the delegation members:
“Exchanges like these are important to keep up a good relationship. We have to nurture sister cities just as we do friendships to keep them going.”
In July of the same year, UNO reciprocated, attending the University of Innsbruck’s celebrations on the occasion of 40 years of the summer school with a high ranking delegation, including the U.S. Ambassador to Austria, Alexa Wesner.
