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Meeting space will be renovated to its Reinhardt-era splendor and provide the conditions for forward-thinking to flourish

Salzburg Global Seminar is proud to announce a new partnership that will lead to the restoration of Schloss Leopoldskron’s Red Salon.

The first-floor meeting space, also known as the McGowan Room, will be renovated to mark the centenary of the Salzburg Festival, to honor Max Reinhardt’s legacy of peace and cultural exchange, and to inspire ideas for the next 100 years.

The renovation is being supported by Trevor Traina, United States Ambassador to Austria, and led by renowned designer Ken Fulk. Work will begin this month and is expected to be completed in July. The newly-designed room will be presented as part of the anniversary celebrations at the beginning of this year’s Salzburg Festival.

When Reinhardt purchased the Schloss in 1918, he saw Leopoldskron’s potential as a place for reflection, restoration, and renewal after a devastating global conflict. He reimagined the building’s interiors and regularly gathered together innovative artists, playwrights, and cultural icons of the day.

It was here in Schloss Leopoldskron – including the Red Salon – where major projects were conceived that would substantially shape the direction and program of the Festival in years to come. Today, the Red Salon remains a unique meeting space where current and future leaders from different sectors create partnerships and formulate ideas to help shape a better world.

Last month, Ambassador Traina joined Stephen L. Salyer, President of Salzburg Global Seminar, and Helga Rabl-Stadler, President of the Salzburg Festival, in the Red Salon to announce the renovation plans.

Fulk, named “the design world’s impresario” by Architectural Digest, will seek to create a space that remembers its Reinhardt-era origins while bringing inspiration and sophistication. Fulk previously decorated the American Ambassador’s residence in Vienna to much acclaim.

Ambassador Traina said, “My family has a deep relationship with Austria. My grandfather was an ambassador to Austria, and I spent a lot of time in Vienna as a boy. Preserving such a place steeped in history and Max Reinhardt’s legacy is not just a social obligation: that is a personal concern and need for me.”

Gifts in support of the Red Salon renovation project will be recognized as part of the Inspiring Leadership Campaign – Salzburg Global’s largest-ever fundraising campaign. Intending to raise $18m, the campaign has already received $12.3m in commitments.

Salyer said, “The renovation of the Red Salon, which is so important for the history of Salzburg, would have been much more difficult to do without the generous donation from Trevor Traina. We are extremely grateful for this and are extremely looking forward to implementing this dream project together with the American Ambassador.”