The Foundation draws the attention to the historic activity of Otto von Habsburg, and by systemising and presenting the special elements of his material and spiritual heritage is attracting a lot of attention even among less history-minded people – emphasized Gergely Prőhle Director of Otto von Habsburg Foundation.
By founding the Foundation the common goal of the Government of Hungary and the Habsburg family is not only to process and archive the legacy, but also to create a future-oriented, European level scientific institution by reinterpreting Otto von Habsburg’s ideas
– added István Nagy, Hungary’s ambassador to Bern, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation, who also talked about his friendship with Karl von Habsburg, which played a significant role in creating the Foundation. Karl von Habsburg, the elder son of Otto von Habsburg, as head of the Habsburg family wishes to place great emphasis on preserving his fathers’ mentality by tracing, systemising, and digitizing written, photographic and material documents that could form part of the collection, and that can be found in many countries worldwide. This activity defines the operation of Otto von Habsburg Foundation in the long run involving highly qualified colleagues – said Gergely Prőhle, and he added that the research process and the 30th anniversary of the regime change provided the professional and ideological background for the programme of the conference.
Due to his extensive international and domestic political relations Otto von Habsburg played a significant role in forming Hungary’s image at the European level, which was a prominent part of his diplomatic work in the years preceding the regime change as well as through the years after that. The invited speakers and the guests of the sold-out conference – familiar with the activity of Otto von Habsburg personally or from academic studies – will speak about this and the path that led here.
In developing the conference’s programme, the Otto von Habsburg Foundation works in close collaboration with the Institute of Habsburg History and the staff of national public collection network.
