Linz 2009 Capital of Culture - A Stocktaking

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Press Conference
Tuesday, 1 Dezember 2009

The Capital of Culture year is nearly over. For this reason Linz09 takes stock with numbers, facts and figures. European Capital of Culture Year was experienced in Linz as a time brimming with new impressions, surprises and experiences – from the glitzy opening night, when 130,000 people gathered along Nibelungen Bridge and the Danube Embankment to usher in the New Year in tandem with Culture Capital Year, to the soft farewells at the year’s end. And the space in between housed a programme that combined a superlative density of events with high artistic standards. A number of different reasons that interacted with each other in various ways have enabled Linz09 to take stock in such a positive way. This collective treasure is what we stand to gain above all from the Culture Capital project – alongside with the newly built and the newly refurbished buildings, the serendipitous partnerships, the friends that Linz and all of us have made, and the prestige and respect that this small European city has gained for itself.

It goes without saying that the road to this kind of self-confidence was a long one. Linz underwent massive and lasting changes even before 2009 – from an industrial, working-class city in the old mould with its catastrophic air parameters to a place with a high quality of life and with cultural ambitions. This means that Linz is offering a combination almost unique in Europe of a modern, highly productive industrial infrastructure, a growing cultural potential rapidly approaching top standards and attractive nature enclaves both within the city’s boundaries and in its immediate surroundings.

Download:

Statements Linz09 (PDF)
Statement Sponsors (PDF)
Linz 2009 European Capital of Culture: A Stocktaking (PDF)
Facts & Figures (PDF)