Kepler Salon

Throughout 2009

Johannes Kepler’s former residence at Rathausgasse 5 in Linz is currently being renovated. Linz09 will be renting the 1st Upper Level during 2009 and operating a Kepler Salon that will be open to the public throughout the Capital of Culture year.

The Kepler Salon’s mission is to foster public understanding of science and to provide a setting for a dialog among scientists, the general public and guests visiting Linz during the Capital of Culture year. It’s designed to be an interface and a showcase for science departments at universities and other educational institutions as well as hospitals and research-oriented private sector organizations.

Events held in the Kepler Salon will be dedicated to the principle of the public understanding of science, and thus differ significantly from symposia, addresses and conferences for specialists in these fields. The effort will be made to mediate laymen’s encounters with scientific work and research in a way that’s entertaining and accessible without “dumbing down” the content.

The events’ themes will cover a broad spectrum. Scholars working in many different fields at universities, technical colleges and research facilities are welcome to submit contributions: the natural sciences and engineering, the social sciences, cultural studies and the fine arts, as well as medical research at Linz’s hospitals. We will also be extending specific invitations to guest instructors as well as institutions such as universities in Salzburg or Vienna and the ORF – Austrian Broadcasting Company’s CityScienceTalk to stage particular events.

We look forward to hosting a wide array of event formats:
• Short speeches, e.g. “What actually is ... mechatronics?”
• Discussions with experts about hot scientific issues
• Knowledge exchanges: the audience questions experts
• Readings, panel discussions
• Public experimentation
• Events staged by Linz09: discussions about program elements
• Sunday morning brunch & talk
• and much, much more!

Venue // Johannes Kepler’s Residence, Rathausgasse 5, 1st Upper Level
Idea/Concept // Linz09

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was born in Weil der Stadt in the German region of Swabia. The first child of Protestant parents, he was baptized a Roman Catholic and was a lifelong adherent of the Augsburg Confession. Johannes Kepler lived in Linz longer than he did at any other place; here, he found happiness in life in the form of a harmonious marriage and completed his most important scientific work. The only house in Linz that is documented as having been Kepler’s residence is the one on Rathausgasse. Other apartments either cannot be established with certainty or were located in buildings that have since been torn down.