Schloss Leopoldskron’s Red Salon becomes a high-design tribute to the legacy of Max Reinhardt
On February 15, 2023, Schloss Leopoldskron unveiled its new rendition of the Red Salon. What used to be four white walls have become the focal point of the room, with thin wood panels now attached to them, displaying a hand-painted fantasy landscape.
Max Reinhardt, a former owner of Schloss Leopoldskron and famous arts impresario, once said: “Art needs, in order to come to life, a room modulated by shape, light, and above all, color… Theater is a mediation between dream and reality.”
The Red Salon renovations were conceived by renowned interior designer Ken Fulk and London-based brand de Gournay. “The Red Salon was intended to display the confluence of these three elements, using creative renewal and the idea of artistic collaboration to inspire a Red Salon for the 21st century – a place where collaboration founded the Salzburg Festival and a place where Salzburg Global conducts programs and inspires creative collaborations. Just like Reinhardt’s modernization of the theater, Salzburg Global reflects the spirit of modern times, the idea of creativity, engagement, and collaboration,” said Salzburg Global Vice President Benjamin Glahn.
But all of this could not have been possible without Ambassador Trevor D. Traina.
The first time Trevor visited Schloss Leopoldskron, he was five years old, hand in hand with his grandfather, the then US Ambassador to Austria. He did not return until 2018, when he became the US Ambassador to Austria.
Now a former ambassador, Trevor recalls his wonderment and appreciation of the Schloss as a young boy but also remembers being enchanted by the possibility to restore Max Reinhardt's Red Salon for the 100th anniversary of the Salzburg Festival in 2020 and in time for the 150th anniversary of Max Reinhardt’s birth in 2023, which ultimately led to his collaboration with Ken Fulk to restore the room.
“I’m an American, and we’re very literal. If you say it’s a red room, we want to see red,” Trevor joked.
Trevor and his wife Alexis Traina made a major contribution to the renovation because they felt it deserved to be as beautiful as the other rooms in the palace, especially since it is allegedly where former Schloss Leopoldskron owner and arts impresario Max Reinhardt conceived of the idea for the Salzburg Festival.
Other contributors to the renovation of the Red Salon include long-term Salzburg Global and former US Ambassadors to Austria Ambassador Alexa Wesner, Ambassador Bill Eacho and Donna Eacho, Michael Huffington and Terry Huffington (son and daughter of former US Ambassador to Austria, Roy Huffington), Ambassador Lyons Brown, Ambassador Susan McCaw, Ronald Abramson, and the Austrian Historic Monuments Office (Bundesdenkmalamt), all of whom supported the physical renovations and historic preservation of the Red Salon.
The room pays tribute to the legacy of Max Reinhardt and his collaborators. In a stroke of luck, at the start of the project, which was initially planned for early 2020, some of Max Reinhardt's original tapestries, most likely used as sets or theater backdrops, were found in the attic of Schloss Leopoldskron.
“That was a light bulb going off, which allowed us to say, ‘Well, we actually have something of Max's that hasn't really been seen’ and how we might use that to inspire the room and the walls,” said Ken, who described the project as a meeting of the minds, his team and Max’s, that spans lifetimes.
Ken researched Max’s accomplishments extensively and wanted the room to look like a total work of art (or “Gesamtkunstwerk”). Borrowing flora and fauna directly from Max Reinhardt’s tapestry, the design portrays a scene of serenity and vibrancy with a reddish sky to match the room’s name. The mural combines scenes from the original baroque stucco ceilings and Max Reinhardt’s tapestries to create a bright, fantastical landscape. As Ken points out, the restored stucco in the room’s original ceiling features birds chasing butterflies, which they brought down into the walls.
“We worked with de Gournay to make sure that there were some beautiful elements that incorporate some of those existing details. You’ll see there's a lot of birds on the existing ceiling. The idea was that it's almost like the birds are lifting off of the wall covering,” said Kevin Pong, the lead designer for Ken Fulk. “The idea is that they live almost harmoniously, and I wanted it to look as if it was all one piece that was all done at the same time.”
In the center of the room sits a French Louis XVI-style cherry red table surrounded by chairs donated by Franz Wagner, local Salzburg-based supporter and friend of Salzburg Global, that Ken had reupholstered with red fabric. The floor is covered with an Iranian Kirman rug purchased from Salzburg’s Dorotheum Auction House.
Other features of the room include a green tiled stove, a large wooden credenza and cabinets with a hidden television inside, which can be used for virtual meetings.
“The whole thing is not a museum here, it will be used every day,” said Salzburg Global President and CEO Martin Weiss, emphasizing the functionality of the space.
The Red Salon is available as a meeting space, a seminar room for Salzburg Global programs and can be rented out for external events.
