Symbolbild von Artturi Mäntysaari auf Pixabay
The project examines direct investments by Austrian companies in Bohemia and Moravia during the early 1990s.
Funding
financed by Kleinprojektefonds Österreich – Tschechische Republik, KPF-02-216, co-financed through own funds by NÖ.Regional.GmbH
Duration
June 2021 – July 2022
Researchers at zhmf/IGLR
Oliver Kühschelm (lead)
Description
1989 represents the end of communism as a political system - and was also a revolution in economic activity. The early 1990s brought a surge of internationalization, Europeanization and globalization. Thus, the change did not only affect the so-called transition countries. An essential part was western investments in former socialist countries like the Czech Republic. Austrian companies, including SMEs, took advantage of the opportunities particularly early and consistently. Where the math worked out, it meant cooperation, exchange and new mobility.
What role did contacts before 1989, family history and language skills play in initiating investments? What hurdles and misunderstandings had to be overcome? What successes were achieved, what did not work out? These questions will be explored in detailed interviews with those actors who, as entrepreneurs and employees, were responsible for the new beginning. The project focuses regionally on Lower Austria and the border regions of Bohemia and Moravia.
The project links contemporary history research with the communication of history in Austria and the Czech Republic. The ILD Temper Samhaber KG Agency for Regional Development will significantly support the zhmf in the implementation of the project. The project also establishes a cooperation with the organization Paměť národa/Post Bellum, which will produce, among other things, an interview film in parallel projects in the Czech Republic.
Results can be read in the project publication. Download here.
