Kaup-Hasler criticizes Milo Rau: Art should be the focus, "not the artistic director"

The dispute occurs at a time of financial uncertainty. The medium-term financial plan of City Councillor for Finance Barbara Novak foresees a cut of 45.7 million euros for the Department of Culture and Science in 2027 – a reduction of 13 percent to 308 million euros.

Kaup-Hasler defends her cultural policy against the looming cuts. She points to innovative savings models, such as one million euros for a children's theater tour that sends productions through five districts like Floridsdorf and Liesing, instead of canceling them after a few performances.

At the same time, the city councillor questions existing subsidies. She criticizes that the city subsidizes the musicals at the Ronacher and Raimund Theater with an estimated 20 million euros per year, while the entertainment group ATG is building a new theater in the Prater and plans to stage musicals there from autumn 2027.

The "Tribunal of Faith" at the Odeon

The invitation to Peter Thiel was pre-discussed over the weekend at a so-called "Tribunal of Faith" in the well-filled Odeon theater. Alongside artistic director Milo Rau, dramaturg Sara Abbasi, political scientist Monika Mokre, and theologian Wolfgang Palaver sat on the podium to face the critical public.

The format followed a new "cancel process" of the Festwochen, which was introduced after the controversial and ultimately canceled participation of conductor Teodor Currentzis in the first year of Rau's tenure. At that time, decisions still had to be made based on gut feeling.

Political scientist Mokre, a member of the Festwochen's "Council of the Republic" committee, questioned during the discussion whether proponents of canceling Thiel were actually present to present their arguments. According to reports, there was no really harsh criticism of the invitation.

Rau and Abbasi emphasized that the invitation served the purpose of confronting Thiel's theses, which he has so far primarily announced behind closed doors, with a broad public for the first time. They are thus "forcing" him to expose his questionable views on Christian end-time theology, tech utopianism, and concrete, real-political power to criticism.

Confronting Thiel Publicly

Referring to the planned title "Antichrist or Armageddon: From Theology to Realpolitik," Rau assured that they wanted to do justice to both aspects. Much will depend on the Innsbruck theologian Wolfgang Palaver whether this "balancing act" can succeed.

Palaver has maintained an intellectual acquaintance with Thiel since the early 1990s. A younger theologian in the audience saw the discussion as an opportunity to bring liberation theology-oriented Christians – "up to the Pope" – into dialogue against Thiel and other religiously motivated representatives of the right.

Another young man, who described himself as not belonging to the "leftist art bubble," thanked them for inviting Thiel. It was the only thing that made the Festwochen interesting for someone like him, as one could never get so close to Thiel otherwise.

A Literary Reference from the City Councillor

Whether Thiel should now be considered a libertarian or a fascistic right-wing extremist could not be definitively clarified in the preliminary forum. Original was a suggestion from the audience to "arrest" Thiel actionistically for his deeds.

Kaup-Hasler herself added a literary touch in this context. She recommended the book "Die Macht des Charlatans" (The Power of the Charlatan) by Grete de Francesco, a Jewish author born in Vienna in 1893 and who likely died in the Ravensbrück concentration camp in 1945. At the Festwochen opening, she had also received the "giving gaze" of the controversial Croatian esotericist Braco, who boasts of having performed in front of 120,000 people.