Europa Nostra’s European Heritage Congress 2014

THE FOLLOWING INVITATION FROM EUROPA NOSTRA

It is our great pleasure to invite you to attend Europa Nostra’s European Heritage Congress 2014 which will take place in Vienna from 2 to 6 May 2014. As usual, the congress will bring together members of Europa Nostra and other representatives of the ever-growing cultural heritage movement from all over Europe.

The Congress is being organised with the invaluable assistance of our member organisation, Österreichischer Burgenverein, and our country representation, Europa Nostra Austria.

The Europa Nostra Annual Congresses are always attended by a large number of heritage professionals, volunteers from all over Europe, many prominent invited guests, as well as, high representatives of EU Institutions, the Council of Europe and UNESCO. We are particularly honoured that H.E. Dr. Heinz Fischer, Federal President of Austria, has granted his patronage to the Congress.

The Congress will start with meetings of the Europa Nostra Board and Council on 2 and 3 May. An attractive day-excursion viewing some exceptional sites in the city of Vienna will be available for those who do not attend the Council Meeting on 3 May. In the evening the Mayor of Vienna will host a reception in the imposing neo-gothic Rathaus.

The General Assembly is scheduled for the (late) morning of Sunday 4 May. That same evening our President, Maestro Plácido Domingo, will perform the title role of Verdi’s “Nabucco” in the Vienna State Opera house. Please note that in the meantime all 200 tickets, which we managed to obtain from the opera house for this performance, have been sold.

The 2014 Award Winners will present their projects during the always inspiring Excellence Fair, to be held at the Technical University on Monday 5 May.

In the evening of that day the European Heritage Awards Ceremony, celebrating the winners of the 2014 European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards, is programmed. The ceremony will take place in the magnificent and renowned Burgtheater. Maestro Plácido Domingo, President of Europa Nostra, and Mrs Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner responsible for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, will be co-hosting this exceptional event. The Ceremony will end with a concert of the renowned Viennese ensemble The Philharmonics. A festive buffet dinner will close the evening.

On Tuesday 6 May a full day excursion will take us to the outstanding Melk Monastery. Thereafter we shall make a cruise with lunch on the Danube, viewing the beautiful Wachau Valley. The cruise will terminate in the historic city of Krems an der Donau, which will be visited during a guided walk. Then we proceed to the impressive Schloss Grafenegg for a visit and a light dinner.

The detailed programme of our Congress is available on our website. PLEASE REGISTER NOW ONLINE. We also urge you to spread the information on this Congress among your own network, since we also want to encourage the participation of non-members of Europa Nostra as part of our attempt to recruit new members and thus further enlarge and strengthen our European movement for cultural heritage.

A selection of conveniently located hotels in various price categories is also available on our website. The various venues – all located in the centre of the city – may be reached on foot from most hotels, although bus transport is also offered where appropriate. We recommend you to use these hotels, which offer guaranteed numbers of rooms at special prices until the hotel booking deadline. You can make your reservations directly with these hotels either on their own website (using the booking code: Europa Nostra), or by using the downloadable booking form via our website.

The main hotel will be the elegant and recently entirely renovated Hotel Bristol, where the Congress Registration Desk will be located. Hotel Bristol is ideally situated in the very heart of the city, right next door to the Vienna State Opera house. There is only a limited number of rooms reserved in the Hotel Bristol, please book early if you want to stay in this hotel.

Finally, we should like to inform you that Austrian Airlines have been appointed as “official carrier” for our congress. They have offered a 15% discount on all flights to and from Vienna during the congress period. To obtain this discount the special code: Vienna14 is to be mentioned in the ‘voucher’ box on the booking page of their website www.austrian.com. Credit card payment is required in order to qualify for the discount.

Please note the following specific deadlines:
• Congress registrations: 15 March
• Hotel reservations: 15 March
• Payments: 10 April

The Europa Nostra team looks much forward to your early registrations and to welcoming many of you in Vienna in May.

Cordially yours,

Denis de Kergorlay
Executive President of Europa Nostra

Alexander Kottulinsky
President of Österreichischer Burgenverein

Eva-Maria Höhle
President of Europa Nostra Austria

www.europanostra.org/vienna