Transatlantic networks and the perception and representation of Vienna and Austria between the 1920s and 1950s

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In the 1920s and 1930s, numerous foreign correspondents for American newspapers and news agencies, along with established and emerging authors and hundreds of American physicians, spent significant time in Vienna and Austria. Analyzing their published reports and literary estates, including correspondence and journals, reveals extensive networks of friendships. Most American visitors viewed Vienna, even after the monarchy's collapse and amid political turmoil, as a Mecca of Medicine and Music, maintaining 19th-century stereotypes. Consequently, Austria was often portrayed positively in transatlantic media. Many visitors formed close ties with local elites, often of Jewish descent, inspiring fictional works that adapted local traditions. While some engaged with psychoanalysis and the advanced medical school, others, even those who had not visited, crafted narratives set in Vienna, drawing from rich media portrayals. The friendships and networks established were vital for many Austrians who fled after the Anschluss. The experiences of these transatlantic visitors and their favorable perceptions of Vienna and Austria resurfaced after World War II, continuing to influence views into the 1980s.