Invitation to a reading with the Austrian actress Konstanze Breitebner: “1914 – Europe’s Way into the First World War” accompanied by violinist Eszter Haffner (“ex Hamma Segelmann” violin by Michelangelo Bergonzi (Cremona 1750) belonging to the collection of the Austrian National Bank) and pianist Berit Johansen Tange. Afterwards the Austrian Ambassador, Dr. Ernst-Peter Brezovszky, kindly invites you to a “vin d’honneur”.
To confirm your participation, please send an email to: roberto.valesin@esteri.it.
Konstanze Breitebner presents literature on the subject of “1914 – Europe’s Way into the First World War” with musical accompaniment by Eszter Haffner and Berit Johansen Tange.
Austria’s declaration of war against the Kingdom of Serbia in July 1914 and the existing alliances in Europe triggered the beginning of the first “Big War” between the Central Powers and the Triple Entente, whose effects still influence Europe’s history today.
For a short while, the brightest minds, the intelligent elite were swept up by the general enthusiasm for the war and did allow themselves to be used for warmongering propaganda. This is a psychological phenomenon that seems hardly understandable from today’s point of view.
The hopes for peace of unfaltering pacifists such as Stefan Zweig and Bertha von Suttner stood in contrast to politics and its prominent protagonists, who saw a military conflict between the major powers as the only possibility for a new order in Europe.
Examples of Austrian literature of the time describe not only the external conditions, which led to the war, they also tell about internal feelings, fears and hopes of the people, who lived in these days. These have also been issues for the Italian poet Guiseppe Ungaretti.