About 1,000 “Vienna Lectures” (“Wiener Vorlesungen”) have been held at Vienna’s Town Hall since 1987.
They provide a forum for dialogue that is open and inviting to the public: admission is free and topicality as well as critical enquiry are guaranteed. The scientists and thinkers of all stripes invited to take the stage here usually have three things in common: they enjoy a high standing in their field, often on an international level, have made crucial contributions to some of the most intriguing questions of our time, and their analyses and insights regarding political, social, economic, and cultural issues inspire real interest, as audiences of up to 1,000 go to show. The subjects of these lectures range from the history of pharmacies or rock music to evolution and anti-crisis policies. Person-alities that have accepted an invitation to speak here include Mohamed ElBaradei, Mikhail Gorbatschow, Anton Zeilinger, Ernst Gombrich, Paul Watzlawick, Jean Ziegler, José Ramos-Horta, as well as representatives of organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The Vienna Lectures have been published in roughly 200 volumes and have seen numerous great moments of intellectual depth, creativity, and exchange.
