Remarks by Ambassador Susan McCaw


Good afternoon, honored guests, ladies and gentlemen. It is my honor to be here today, and I would like to thank Mayor Zach and Mag. Bodner, representative of Governor van Staa, Professor Grabher (without whom there would be no American Corner Innsbruck), and Rector Professor Gantner for their excellent hospitality.

It is my great pleasure to be here today to inaugurate the first American Corner in Austria. We are honored that the University of Innsbruck has partnered with the United States Embassy to create this new resource center.

We hope that this American Corner will help continue the long tradition of friendship, cooperation and understanding between Austria and the U.S. by serving as a resource for the people who live in and around Innsbruck to learn more about our country.
The United States has had a long relationship with the Tyrol. Some of you may know that after World War II Innsbruck hosted an Amerika Haus, one out of twelve that existed in Austria. Amerika Hauses were small libraries and reading rooms that brought Austrians much needed books and magazines during the difficult post war years.

Like the Marshall Plan – sixty years old this June – the Amerika Hauses were meant to help Austrians rebuild their country after the War’s devastation. Amerika Hauses provided some of the critical intellectual and cultural components of that rebuilding effort.
The Innsbruck Amerika Haus opened in March 1949, but sadly had to be closed in September 1955 for budgetary reasons. We’ve been away from Innsbruck for over 50 years now, but I can say that it’s a great feeling and a great honor for me personally, to finally be back again.

This American Corner will continue the cooperative spirit of that old Amerika Haus, but will be much more than just a library. This American Corner will be a site for public programs featuring experts brought in from the United States, as well as Fulbright scholars teaching in Austria, Embassy officials, and others.

Public events could include an American film series, or book and movie discussion clubs. And of course the American Corner will offer advice and counseling services for students interested in studying in the United States.

Over the past year and a half, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and speak with high school and university students from all over the country. These sessions, of all duties as Ambassador to Austria, are perhaps what I enjoy most about my job.

Austrian students never fail to impress me with their keen minds, their awareness and interest in the world around them, and their hopes for the future. Many of them have told me that one day they would like to continue their studies at a university in the United States. One of our goals in opening this American Corner here today is to help Austrians achieve that dream.

I know that Frau Professor Grabher shares this same goal. As a Harvard University alumna myself, it gives me great pleasure to celebrate this occasion with Professor Grabher, President of the Harvard Club of Austria.

I know I speak for both of us when I say that we hope that through this American Corner more young Austrian scholars will be equipped with the skills they need to pursue their studies in the United States.

This Innsbruck American Corner will be unique among the over 360 American Corners now operating around the world. Like other American Corners, this one that we open today is not a one-time gift but rather an ongoing commitment.

We will be working with the American Studies Institute to help this American Corner grow and evolve to meet the needs of those who use it. And like other American Corners, it will offer users current books, magazines, videos, and online resources about the United States.

But, unlike other American Corners this one will have a special focus. This American Corner will be a critical component in the University of Innsbruck’s Institute of American Studies’ efforts to make humanities an essential part of the curriculum for students in the medical, legal, and business professions.

I am confident that this American Corner will be a fun, friendly, and lively place that promotes dialogue and mutual understanding between Austrians and Americans. The U.S. Embassy is committed to supporting activities at this Corner and to working together with the community to strengthen Austrian-American relations.
I view the American Corner as a visible sign of the strong ties that exist between the Austrian and American people. I am sure that with this American Corner these ties will strengthen even more.

Thank You.