Salt Lake Country

Julia Kospach was born in 1968 and is a culture publicist, literary critic, author, publisher and consultant. She studied linguistics and Slavic studies in Vienna and Paris and became the literary editor of the news magazine profil until 2004. She then worked for André Heller, involved in his international art and culture projects. Since 2006 she has been a freelance writer, writing mainly on literature, cultural history, nature and gardens. Kospach has published numerous books and is based in Vienna and Bad Ischl.Elisabeth Schweeger was born in Vienna in 1954. Now a cultural manager, she studied comparative literature in Innsbruck, Vienna and Paris. She was a curator for the documenta 87, the Ars Electronica 1988, the European Capital of Culture Berlin 1988 and the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (1984-1992) and commissioner for the Austrian pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2001, among others. From 1993-2001 she was artistic director at the Marstall theatre and chief dramaturge at the Bavarian State Theatre in Munich, earning the City of Munich Theatre Award in 1999. She was director general at the Frankfurt Playhouse from 2001 to 2009 and at the KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen in Hanover from 2010 to 2015, and director and managing director at the Academy of Performing Arts of Baden-Württemberg from 2014 to 2022. Since November 2021 Schweeger has been artistic managing director of the European Capital of Culture Bad Ischl Salzkammergut 2024. She lives in Germany and Austria.

A story about the Salzkammergut region as the heart of Austria - European Capital of Culture 2024.

Naturally compact, with its characteristic mountains, lakes and rivers that divide as well as connect, the Salzkammergut typifies many other parts of the world, showing how we can meet the increasing political, cultural, commercial and environmental challenges facing Europe and the globe.

60 short essays, cartoons and literary and artistic opinion pieces offer a range of perspectives on the region and its nature, culture, history and people. Written by renowned figures from literature, the sciences and art, the essays are informative, educational, effusive, critical and witty, and give deep insights into the Salzkammergut.

Contributors include Bettina Balàka, Markus Binder, Isolde Charim, Conchita Wurst, Mareike Fallwickl, René Freund, Barbara Frischmuth, Hubert von Goisern, Andrea Grill, Rudolf Habringer, Gerhard Haderer, Angelika Hager, Bodo Hell, Johannes Jetschgo, Franz Kain, Günter Kaindlstorfer, Edith Kneifl, Julia Kospach, Sarah Kuratle, Nicolas Mahler, Stephen M. Mautner, Eva Menasse, Nick Oberthaler, Walter Pilar, Helga Rabl-Stadler, Hans Reschreiter, Andrea Roedig, Franz Schuh, Elfie Semotan, Magdalena Stammler, Liv Strömquist, Anton Thuswaldner, Bernadette Wegenstein and more.

With essays by renowned authors such as Hubert von Goisern, Gerhard Haderer and Mareike Fallwickl