Publications
The selection presented here is intended to provide insights into the research work that has been done so far on the history of the mdw under National Socialism. On the one hand, these deal with the historical and political development of the institution, taking into account the periods of Austrofascism and post-Nazism, and on the other hand, they make visible the effects of National Socialist rule on the persecuted members of the mdw on the basis of works at the biographical level.
Gedenkbuch für die im Nationalsozialismus verfolgten Angehörigen der mdw – Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien
von Erwin Strouhal
(Studien zur Geschichte der mdw – Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien 2, Eigenverlag mdw-Archiv: Wien 2023).
The memorial book is based on many years of research, with a large part of the research consisting of identifying those students who, due to their Jewish origin, were no longer allowed to continue their education from the winter semester of 1938/39 onwards. The memorial book documents the fates of 180 people – 144 students and 36 teachers – who were persecuted by the National Socialist regime for racist or political reasons. After its publication in printed form, the memorial book will be continued in a database and supplemented with new findings
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Erna Kremer. Lemberg 1896 – Maly Trostinec 1942. Annäherung an ein Künstlerinnenleben
von Lynne Heller, Severin Matiasovits und Erwin Strouhal
(Studien zur Geschichte der mdw – Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, Sonderheft 1, Eigenverlag mdw-Archiv: Wien 2019).
The pianist Erna Kremer came to the mdw (then the State Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna) in 1934 as a teacher of piano. She was one of the teachers who were dismissed from their posts in 1938, immediately after the Anschluss. In 1942, she was deported to Maly Trostinec along with her mother and brother and murdered.
The biography, which was published as a special edition in the mdw Archive publication series, was researched with access to the extensive correspondence of her family members as well as the diaries of her niece Ilse Aichinger.
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A short version of the text is published on the virtual platform spiel|mach|t|raum – frauen* at the mdw: https://www.mdw.ac.at/spielmachtraum/artikel/erna-kremer
„Die jüdischen Schüler dürfen nur an zwei … an gewissen Tagen kommen.“ Ein Interview mit dem Pianisten Walter Hautzig
von Franziska Stoff
(Erschienen in: Juri Giannini, Maximilian Haas, Erwin Strouhal (Hg.), Eine Institution zwischen Repräsentation und Macht. Die Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien im Kulturleben des Nationalsozialismus, Wien: Milletre 2014.)
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The Composer & Teacher Richard Stöhr. „I am a Musician now, earnestly and free from regret” / Der Komponist & Pädagoge Richard Stöhr. „Nun bin ich Musiker mit Ernst und ohne Reue”
von Lynne Heller
(Broschüre zu einer Ausstellung an der mdw, Eigenverlag mdw-Archiv: Wien 2017)
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the death of Richard Stöhr, composer and long-standing teacher of music theory at the mdw, the mdw Archive organised an exhibition dedicated to him.
Due to his Jewish background, Stöhr lost his position at the mdw (then the State Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna) after the Anschluss and had to flee into exile in the United States. His son was able to find safety in Sweden, and his daughter in Great Britain, while his wife, who was not at risk of persecution, remained in Vienna. The family was not reunited until 1947.
The brochure published to accompany the exhibition traces the stages of his life.
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Die Staatsakademie bzw. Reichshochschule für Musik in Wien 1938–1945
von Lynne Heller
(Erschienen in: Juri Giannini, Maximilian Haas, Erwin Strouhal (Hg.), Eine Institution zwischen Repräsentation und Macht. Die Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien im Kulturleben des Nationalsozialismus, Wien: Milletre 2014.)
In this article, Lynne Heller describes the consequences of the Anschluss for the mdw—above all, the racist and political persecution and expulsion of teachers and students. She also provides insights into the organisational development and pedagogical reorientation of the institution during the Nazi era, taking into account the mdw's history prior to 1938 as well as its denazification efforts after 1945 and the early post-war years.
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