Obituary by Wilfried Haslauer – Governor of Salzburg Province and ISA President

„Herbert Batliner enjoyed strong connections with Salzburg and was an important member of the International Salzburg Association for 37 years. When my father founded this organisation as a booster club in 1982, Herbert Batliner as was elected vice-president, later becoming its president, and finally the honorary president. Without his support, many of the projects implemented in Salzburg would never have been achieved.

Herbert Batliner did not merely contribute materially; he was also personally involved in the Johann-Michael-Haydn Society – as its founding member, in the Mozarteum University, the Salzburg Literature Archive, the institute for research into play and its role in education – and in the Salzburg eigher education weeks. There would be no Museum der Moderne on Mönchsberg Hill without his commitment, and he was certainly one of Salzburg University’s most generous benefactors. Herbert Batliner also sponsored the Edmundsburg, the International Research Centre for Basic Scientific Inquiry, the Austrian Institute for Legal Policy, the establishment of the Dr. Wilfried Haslauer Library and the Austrian Institute for Human Rights.

The largest single donation for the restoration of the façade of the Salzburg ‘Dom’ cathedral was made by Herbert Batliner, who also gave generously for the renovation of the Faistauer Foyers of the Kleines Festspielhaus, for the Maria Dürrnberg church tower and the organ in the main hall of the Mozarteum. Herbert Batliner’s passing means Salzburg has lost one of its greatest benefactors; a man who was very active in the fields of politics, science, culture and commerce.“

Born in Vaduz

Herbert Batliner, the son of an Austrian mother and a father from Liechtenstein, was born in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, in 1928. He was a lawyer, a financial trustee and an art collector. In 1998 he was awarded the Ring des Landes Salzburg, the highest honour bestowed by the Province of Salzburg.