CNBC European Business | European Capitals Of Culture 2009: Modern Art

European Capitals of Culture 2009: Modern art

The Austrian city of Linz – industrial but arty – is a worthy successor to Liverpool as a Capital of Culture. Linda Lewis reports

Given the scale of the transformation which Linz has undergone in recent years, the slogan adopted by the city to mark its selection as a European Capital of Culture – ‘Linz verändert’ or ‘Linz changes’ - seems something of an understatement. Heavy industry and manufacturing may still dominate the landscape – the steelworks sprawl across five square kilometres - but IT businesses and the creative industries have flourished, turning Linz’s economy into a powerhouse of urban cool.

Everywhere there is renewal. Homes and hotels have been renovated, museums are being enlarged or extended, trendy bars and must-dine eating establishments are springing up alongside the sparkling glass office towers and new-build hotels. On the so-called Culture Mile, beside the Danube, a new  Ars Electronica Centre with three times the exhibition space of its predecessor will  display the latest in interactive media art. On the opposite side of the river, the elegant Lantos Art Museum with its huge glass ceiling, one of the largest in Europe, allows lovers of modern art to indulge their passion almost but not entirely in natural light. Part of the castle is being rebuilt, at a cost of €24m. A new Science Park is being built at Johannes-Kepler University with a price tag of €100m, making it the biggest construction project in Upper Austria.  

In a city where there are more jobs than inhabitants, the optimism and the energy are infectious.  

“We want to make this the most interesting city in Europe,” declares Martin Heller,  the artistic director of Linz09. He is a Swiss citizen who, like his German number two, Ulrich Fuchs, has considerable experience in the design and implementation of international artistic projects. The choice of two outsiders was deliberate. They were brought in to put Linz on the map, showcasing it as “an extraordinary prototype of the modern European city”. 

Communication and internationalism are key themes running through Linz09’s programme of events, characterized by an innovative round-the-world satellite link-up entitled ‘80+1 – A Journey Round the World’, inspired by Jules Verne’s classic novel. From June until September a panoramic screen in Linz’s Hauptplatz will provide a daily window on the world, linking 20 locations where the ‘future is being mastered, thwarted or destroyed’. The culmination of 80+1 will be one of the highlights of the 2009 Ars Electronica festival.  

“We see this project as helping to promote communication and international understanding,” says Gerhard Kürner, spokesman for the giant steel concern, Voestalpine, a major employer and one of 80+1’s backers. “It will bring the outside world a little closer, but also for Austrians it will open up their eyes to look above the border.” 

With over 160 events planned, putting on this sort of cultural programme doesn’t come cheap. Sixty million euros was raised from the Austrian government, the Upper Austria region and the city of Linz in equal proportions. One and a half million comes from Europe. Sales and merchandising are expected to bring in another €1.5m, with €10m in cash and services coming from big sponsors, who as well as Voestalpine also include Austrian Railways, Raiffeisenbank and OMV. 

Traditionally, Austria’s two tourist  meccas have been Vienna and Salzburg but Linz is well-placed to take advantage of being selected as a cultural capital, with its 6,200-plus businesses, its industrial hinterland, its reputation for innovation and support for creative industries and its low unemployment rate. Tax revenues are over 50% higher than in other Austrian cities – in 2008 revenues were expected to be €613 per inhabitant.  

Businesses are hoping Linz09 will be a catalyst, raising the city’s profile at home and abroad. A leading advisor to small businesses, Dr Gerold Weisz, who runs a university incubator unit in Linz, says it represents a step-change for the city. “We may be a small country but we have big ideas and already several IT firms which started off in Linz have found investors in Silicon Valley in America and really taken off. This process can only continue. It is a very exciting time for us.” 

Ulrich Fuchs, Linz09’s deputy director, agrees that for Austria’s third-largest city, the next 12 months and beyond represents a huge opportunity. He says: “Right from the start we’ve been stressing to the politicians that this is not a prize they have won, it is a grant to develop. We are not so much organising a festival here, as mounting an entire city development project.” 

If Graz (European City of Culture in 2003) is anything to go by, he says, then for every euro invested Linz can expect to earn €2.50 back. In planning Linz09, Fuchs was adamant they should not shy away from Linz’s Nazi past. Hitler had declared his intention to make Linz, where he spent nine years of his youth, a Führer city. There was to be an Adolf Hitler Hotel, a museum to house 16 million works of art, a parade ground with space for 100,000 followers and a festival hall that would accommodate 30,000 people.  

An exhibition entitled ‘Cultural Capital of the Führer’, cataloguing Hitler’s grand but unrealised plans, opened in September at Linz castle and runs until March. It has been drawing 4,000 visitors a month. The organisers ran out of catalogues in the first three weeks, necessitating an urgent reprint. Fortunately for Linz, the city also has other, more comfortable, historical and artistic connections to exploit during 2009, namely the composer Anton Bruckner and Mozart, who composed the Linz symphony on a brief visit.  

There is understandable concern that the economic downturn may affect visitor numbers, but Linz09 organisers still predict over 800,000 overnight stays, and €133m is expected to be generated from tourism. 

Early on in the planning of Linz09, raising service standards in hotels and restaurants was identified as priority. Great pains were taken to involve the hospitality industry and local tourism organisations to ensure the improvements, which Fuchs and Heller were advocating, were do-able and sustainable. Several new hotels will open in 2009, including a 175-room city centre Park Inn.  

But even travel is being turned into a cultural ‘happening’ in trendy Linz. For tourists wanting something more offbeat, the Pixelhotel group offers the chance to ‘experience Linz differently’. As part of an urban development project, empty premises all over the city have been converted into individual hotel rooms: a former workshop in a courtyard, an old storefront, even onboard a ship. Art meets travel. ‘Every part of town has its stories to tell and a Pixel hotel lets guests experience them right up close,’ they promise.  