Gessl defends Niederösterreich’s cultural investment as he retires

Paul Gessl, who led Lower Austria’s cultural management company NÖKU for more than 26 years, says the state’s investment in arts and culture was well spent. In an interview with ORF, he also acknowledged that tighter public budgets would create new challenges for his successor, Cornelia Lamprechter.

Gessl became NÖKU’s managing director in late 1999 as a newcomer to the cultural sector. Before that, he had worked as a mining engineer and spent many years as a managing director in private industry.

Under his leadership, the NÖKU group grew from 45 employees to 1,500. Its 15 subsidiaries now include almost 40 arts, cultural and scientific institutions.

Projects developed during his tenure include Grafenegg, a festival and concert venue, the Landesgalerie Niederösterreich art museum in Krems and the Kinderkunstlabor children’s art centre in St. Pölten. Existing institutions were also incorporated into the group, including the former city theatre in St. Pölten, which became the Landestheater, the Reichenau Festival, the Festspielhaus and the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria.

Asked whether the projects had been driven more by his own vision or by the state’s political mandate, Gessl said he did not want to assign percentages. He said culture on that scale and at that quality would not be possible without a cultural policy mandate, political support and taxpayer funding.

He described Lower Austria’s decision to invest in arts and culture, including in large projects built on undeveloped land, as a strength. Gessl said the investments had been documented repeatedly through analyses and profitability calculations, including their indirect economic benefits and impact.

Gessl said the cultural holding company and the financial position of its cultural operations were “solid, efficient and transparent”. However, he acknowledged that public finances were under pressure and that his successor would also have to continue making savings and efficiency improvements.

Looking back on more difficult periods, including criticism from the Court of Audit, the coronavirus lockdowns that halted cultural operations and St. Pölten’s unsuccessful bid to become European Capital of Culture, Gessl said injustice and superficiality had affected him most. He maintained that the decision not to select St. Pölten as European Capital of Culture 2024 was artistically and politically incomprehensible from the perspectives of Lower Austria and its capital.

Gessl will retire in September, when Lamprechter takes over as NÖKU managing director. He said he was not currently seeking or accepting offers and planned to allow himself time and space after four decades in management.