honoris causa 2026
Since 2023, the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna has been dealing with its past in Austrofascism and National Socialism with the conference series honoris causa. This year's conference will open with Jan Machacek's performance Axelmann's Case in the auditorium. The following day, the conference will take place, topics include fascist art and literary history, graduates of the Master School of Architecture (1930–1950) and the Tiergarten in the Prater, on the grounds of which the Academy's sculpture building stands today.
Program:
Thu, 19.11.2026
18 h: Aula
Premiere: Jan Machacek: Axelmann‘s Case
A performance about Alexander Popp, Rector of the Academy 1941–1945
In this performance – an expansive audio-visual montage of historical research, family narrative and literary rapprochement – media artist Jan Machacek deals with his great-grandfather, the architect Alexander Popp. In the 1930s, he realized the Linz tobacco factory with Peter Behrens, a building that attracted a lot of attention. But it was not until 1938, with the "Anschluss", that Popp, who was an early illegal member of the NSDAP, stepped from the second row into the limelight. He became Rector of the Academy of Fine Arts and received numerous commissions for the construction of armaments factories.
80 years later, Machacek goes in search of the gaps in the family memory. They concern him himself. He studied at the Academy without knowing anything about his great-grandfather's work at this house.
19:30 h: Conference room
Public discussion with the artists:
Jan Machacek (Media, Text, Performance, Realisation), Sabine Marte (Music, Performance, Realisation), Oliver Stotz (Music, Programming, Performance, Realisation), Lina Morawetz (Text), Heidi Schatzl (Content Consulting), Gin Müller (Dramaturgical Consulting)
Moderation: Birgit Peter
Welcome: Johan Hartle, Rector of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
Freitag, 20.11.2026
Location: Conference room, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Schillerplatz 3, 1010 Vienna
9:30 h: Welcome and Introduction
9:45–10:30 h: Heidi Schatzl: Alexander Popp, the Nazi architect you can't get around.
In the course of advising Jan Machacek on Axelmann's Case, I must note one thing: I have never done any specific research on Alexander Popp; everything I know about him came to my attention in the course of my field research "On Life in the Hitler Buildings" (2009) as well as through unknown finds during my research. Alexander Popp only achieved architectural masterpiece with his work with Peter Behrens at the Linz tobacco factory; rather, the member of the banned NSDAP gained his political legitimacy through the fall of the Vienna Secession. The symbol of art and culture, which had been financed by the Jewish magnate Karl Wittgenstein, brought Popp down institutionally as its president from 1936 to 1938.
10:30–10:45 h: Break
10:45–12:45 h: Friederike Sigler, Birgit Peter, Eva Waibel: Akademische Praktiken völkisch-faschistischer Ästhetik Moderation: Vida Bakondy
Mit dem Literaturwissenschaftler Heinz Kindermann und dem Kunsthistoriker Karl Ginhart finden sich gleich zwei Wissenschaftler, die in der 1. Republik an der Akademie der bildenden Künste an der Herausbildung völkischer und faschistischer Disziplinen mitwirkten. Wir möchten zeigen, wie sich völkische Narrative und faschistische Praktiken in ihren wissenschaftlichen Tätigkeiten abzeichneten, diskutieren, wie eine völkisch-faschistische Wissenschaft gestaltet ist und fragen, inwieweit sie im Postnazismus nachwirkte.
Friederike Sigler, Birgit Peter, Eva Waibel: Academic Practices of Völkisch-Fascist Aesthetics Moderation: Vida Bakondy
With the literary scholar Heinz Kindermann and the art historian Karl Ginhart, there are two scholars who were involved in the development of völkisch and fascist disciplines at the Academy of Fine Arts in the 1st Republic. We would like to show how völkisch narratives and fascist practices emerged in their academic activities, discuss how a völkisch-fascist science is shaped and ask to what extent it continued to have an effect on post-Nazism.
12:45–14 h: Break
14–15 h: Angelika Schnell, Antje Lehn with students of the IKA: Master School of Architecture. Biographical and Social Entanglements of Female Graduates in the Period 1930–1950.
Insights into the research and study project "Is She an Architect? A Letter to History".
15–15:15 h: Break
15:15–16 h: Ruth Sonderegger, Jakob Krameritsch: Thiergarten in the Prater
The building for the Academy's sculpture classes stands on the site of the former "Thiergarten am Schüttl", a zoo in the Prater that tried to establish itself in the late 19th century as a bourgeois-modern counterpart to the imperial menagerie in Schönbrunn. From 1896 onwards, this company specialized in the exhibitions of racialized, exoticized and infantilized groups of people on a scale that was unique in Europe at the time. The task of the groups of people was to perform backwardness. These human displays, permeated by epistemic violence, served to stabilize colonial hierarchies. Nothing in public space reminds us of these edutainment spectacles, which represent a culmination point of Austrian colonial history.
16 h: Final Discussion
19h, Aula: Jan Machacek: Axelmann‘s Case
Further links:
Removal/Weggestaltung: Dealing with Problematic Memorials
https://www.akbild.ac.at/de/institute/kunst-und-kulturwissenschaften/veranstaltungen/konferenzen/2026/weggestaltung-zum-umgang-mit-problematischen-ehrenmaelern
honoris causa 2025
https://www.akbild.ac.at/de/universitaet/veranstaltungen/konferenzen/2025/honoris-causa-2025
honoris causa 2024
https://www.akbild.ac.at/de/universitaet/veranstaltungen/konferenzen/2024/honoris-causa-geschichtspolitisches-erinnern-an-der-akademie
honoris causa 2023
https://www.akbild.ac.at/de/universitaet/veranstaltungen/konferenzen/2023/honoris-causa-geschichtspolitiken-an-kunst-universitaeten
Ergänzungen und Eingriffe. Zur Geschichte der Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien 1930–1960.
https://www.akbild.ac.at/de/news/2025/out-now-em-ergaenzungen-und-eingriffe-zur-geschichte-der-akademie-der-bildenden-kuenste-wien-1930-1960-em
„Es können sich Mindsets ändern, wenn man Räume verändert“. Interview zur „Weggestaltung“ der Müllner-Skulptur in der Aula. Dezember 2025. Online unter: https://www.akbild.ac.at/de/news/2025/interview-zur-weggestaltung-der-muellner-skulptur-in-der-aula
Interview with Jan Machacek to the Performance Axelmann’s Case:
https://www.les-nouveaux-riches.com/performance-axelmanns-fall/
Event Location
The event takes place at the main location of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Schillerplatz 3, 1010 Vienna. Arrival is possible by public transport (see accessibility at Wiener Linien). If you arrive by car, there are two marked disabled parking spaces available in the inner courtyard (access via entrance Markartgasse).
The main building of the Academy at Schillerplatz has two main entrances due to different physical disability needs.
Entrance Schillerplatz:
· For persons with visual disabilities: a tactile guidance system leads from the sidewalk down the right side of the historic staircase to the porter's lodge (ground floor)
· For persons with walking disabilities: the historic staircase is equipped with additional handrails.
· For persons with limited mobility: a sign leads from Schillerplatz entrance to the barrier-free Makartgasse entrance.
Entrance Makartgasse:
· For persons with limited mobility: via an intercom system (stele on the left) you reach the porter, who opens the automatic gate.
· In the passage, a ramp on the left side reaches the large automatic entrance door, which can be opened with a button to the right of the door.
· From there (Souterrain) you can reach the elevator for access to the other floors. The porter is located on the ground floor.
· Opening hours entrance Makartgasse: from 8 to 20 h.
The "Sitzungssaal" (E 1) is located on the ground floor. When entering via the Schillerplatz entrance, the room in the building is accessible at ground level. If you enter via the Markartgasse entrance, use the elevator from the Souterrain to the ground floor. The elevator is equipped with wheelchair accessible controls. The building has a (tactile) guidance system.
Barrier-free toilets are located on the ground floor as on every other floor of the building. The restrooms are accessible without Eurokey.
In order to be able to take all rescue measures in the event of a fire, wheelchair users are requested to register with the porter (either via the intercom system at the Makartgasse entrance or directly with the porter's lodge at the Schillerplatz entrance).
We want to make it easy and enjoyable for as many people as possible to attend the event. Should individual assistance be required during the event with regard to barrier-free requirements, please contact us via e-mail m.huber@akbild.ac.at or by telephone at +43 1 588 16 1001. Your contact person is Martina Huber.
Photography and filming
By participating in this event, you agree that photographs and films may be taken of you. These recordings may be used in various media for public relations and documentation purposes. No financial compensation is due for this. The processing of the recording is based on the legitimate interests of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (Art. 6 (1) f GDPR in conjunction with § 12 DSG). If you do not wish to be photographed or filmed, please let us know so that no recordings are made of you.