The winter school courses provide a well-structured introduction into one of the most fascinating periods of Austria's intellectual history in a short time. The culture of the fin-de-siècle is one of the highlights in the history of the Habsburg Monarchy.

The two-week program combines first class academic courses with an extensive social and cultural program. The high level lectures in the morning are complemented with excursions to the city and to museums in the afternoon.
Vienna’s rich cultural heritage, especially the museums, will lead to a thorough understanding of the input of the fin-de-siècle on the modernization of Europe.

The international background of the participants offers the possibility to discuss the influence of developments in Vienna (e.g. the famous psychoanalyst Freud, painters like Klimt and Schiele, musicians like Mahler and Schönberg or philosophers like Wittgenstein) on different cultures in Europe and other continents.

The academic course environment encourages intercultural and social exchange and favors mutual understanding within the international student population. Participants thus broaden their horizon, meet colleagues from different fields of study, make friends for life and build connections for their future professional careers.

Course Information
The program offers six courses about the history, economy and society of the late Habsburg Monarchy, as well as fine arts, architecture and design of the same period and developments in psychology, literature, and music. All together a deep insight in society and culture of this fascinating period of modernization will be given.

The preparatory seminar Introduction to Fin-de-Siècle Vienna on the first weekend will provide students with the basic knowledge needed for their selected courses. Attendance at the preparatory seminar is mandatory as the seminar is a prerequisite to attend the following courses.

ECTS Credits & Contact Hours
The winter school offers six courses with 4 ECTS credits per course (corresponding to 32 contact hours). Each contact hour consists of 45 minutes classroom teaching. In the course of the two-week program students can attend two courses and obtain up to 8 ECTS credits.