Austrian Thinkers With Foresight Presented by: Prof. Dr. Nadja Date: 23 May 2024 Anita Ziegerhofer, Annemarie Fenzl - Richard Nikolaus Coudenhove-Kalergi • - Kardinal Franz König • - 1876-1932 Otto von Habsburg • - 1905-2004 Ignaz Seipel • - 1894-1972 1912-2011 Erhard Busek • 1941-2022 Open-Mindedness - Annemarie Fenzl on Cardinal König • Openness and curiosity no fear of contact with the unfamiliar but rather a strong interest in other countries, people and languages, ability to listen and seriously consider other opinions. Federalism - The modern form in which it must be realized [...] can probably only consist in a system of a federation [...] of national, economic or other nature" Ignaz Seipel - “(...) expand territory without being imperialistic and contractual organization.” Otto von Habsburg Rejection of Nationalism - Ignaz Seipel: Distinction between Nation and State - Nation → group of similar people - or at least able to reach a certain level of similarity - bound together from destiny to a cultural and linguistic unity - State → community of interest, in which singular members surrender themselves to an authority that unifies their forces on behalf of the common good of all members Free Market Economy - Wilhelm Röpke, A Humane Economy • "The market economy is not everything. It must find its place in a higher order of things which is not ruled by supply and demand, free prices, and competition. It must be firmly contained within an all-embracing order of society in which the imperfections of and harshness of economic freedom are corrected by law and in which man is not denied conditions of life appropriate to his nature." Social Thought – Teaching of the Chruch - The principles are in tension and form a social tent • Dignity • Solidarity • Subsidiarity • Common Good Cultural Collaboration and Knowledge of the Languages of the Region - Busek proposed that educational entities on all levels should launch a confrontation with the political and philosophical systems of the neighboring countries. He suggested that the United Nations and other international organizations could contribute to reducing tensions and search for initiatives to face problems. Danube - River of European Integration - Coudenhove Kalergi supported the idea from a economic perspective → - 'Eastern Europe, which was born out of the Paris Peace Treaty, [as] an economic miscarriage'. - Busek: Common History - Ottoman - Occupation, Enlightenment, French Revolution, Napoleonic War; Nation- States of hte 19th century and First World War - Otto von Habsburg: Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, and Bavaria