Thanks for visiting The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here “The history of the Salzburg Festival also represents over 100 years of European cultural history told anew – this is what the new ‘living festival archive’ stands for,” says Markus Hinterhäuser The relocation of the Festival Archive from the Schüttkasten to the villa building at Neutorstraße 25 will not only make the holdings easier to use for science and research but will also make them accessible to an interested public the archive is intended to contribute to a lively socio-cultural discourse by not only preserving cultural history but also communicating it and entering into a contemporary dialogue The Festival Archive can therefore be seen as both a cultural-historical and artistic archive After extensive renovation and conversion work in the villa building in Riedenburg on the former barracks site by gswb and the official handover of the keys to the Salzburg Festival in September 2023 the relocation of the extensive archive holdings could begin the archive contains an extremely heterogeneous range of sources relating to the history of the festival posters and various performance materials – director’s books construction plans of the festival theatres (partial) estates of well-known Festival personalities such as Oscar Fritz Schuh and the holdings of the former Max Reinhardt Research Centre On the ground floor of the Festival Archive a permanent exhibition offers insights into the eventful history of the institution The reading room in the conservatory with the Everyman table is not only used for research work In order to offer you the best possible online experience cookies from selected partners are also used We take data protection seriously and respect your privacy: You can change your cookie settings at any time Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper functioning of the website Marketing cookies are used by third parties or publishers to display personalized advertising They do this by tracking visitors across websites Statistics Cookies collect information anonymously This information helps us understand how our visitors use our website The all-girls’ Austrian choir from Sacred Heart Greenwich’s sister school in the school’s Lennie and John de Csepel Theater The concert is open to the public without charge The visit of Sacre Coeur Riedenburg is made possible by Sacred Heart’s international exchange program Greenwich students will welcome them and invite them to tour the school there will be a joint concert of the two choirs All are invited to what promises to be a very enjoyable concert The Austrian choir consists of 39 girls from 11 to 19 years old and 30 members All of the girls are junior or senior students at Sacred Heart Riedenburg in Bregenz Email:editor@greenwichsentinel.com Get quick access to your favorite articles Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers Make your voice heard with article commenting This article was initially published on 30 April 2024 dead-end street in Salzburg’s Riedenburg neighbourhood around halfway between the old city nestling at the foot of the Hohensalzburg fortress and the airport on the western outskirts Roland Ratzenberger bought a two-storey apartment with beautiful views of Untersberg mountain from the terrace For 29 years now this has been the home of Roland’s parents while mother Margit is 86 – but with a memory some much younger people would envy but he always stressed he would have a residence in his hometown He took it over one week before Imola,” Rudi recalls Then we decided not to sell or lease it but to use it ourselves.” The Ratzenberger family had lived on the eastern side of the city close to the road that leads to the lake district It was there Roland (born 4 July 1960) and his younger sisters Elisabeth and Gabi grew up “Roland was fascinated with cars from his kindergarten days,” Margit says reflectively “He loved to look out of the window and watch cars travelling by If the parents have one regret it’s the indifference they once had about Roland’s ambition to pursue a racing career The father-son-relationship was sometimes difficult “Roland never spoke much about his plans or targets but to most people he had to deal with,” Margit says Rudi and Margit returned from a vacation in Mexico They switched on the TV for the San Marino Grand Prix final qualifying session The next minute they witnessed the aftermath of a heavy accident and realised it was their son’s car Roland Ratzenberger was tragically killed in a crash during the Saturday qualifying session at Imola Rudi hadn’t wanted his son to become a racing driver but from this day on he pushed to keep Roland’s memory alive in the media “I know he will be always mentioned in connection with Ayrton Senna is a fashionable tourist destination known for wintersports though the village is home to former Austrian rally star Sepp Haider and the secondary home to double world champion Walter Röhrl It was Haider who organised a national winter rally in the valley in December 1980 I was covering the event for the Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper At the service zone near the Zwölferkogel cablecar two young men watching the action recognised me from the paper and introduced themselves: Roland Ratzenberger and Gerald Lachmayr students at the technical high school in Salzburg They wanted advice on how to become racing drivers I suggested Walter Lechner’s racing school In 1989 Roland made his Le Mans debut in a Porsche 962 he shared with Walter Lechner and though the race was cut short by a tyre failure after three hours Roland’s fascination with the legendary enduro had begun Roland so keen to make a start that he dropped out of school just before graduation Lachmayr stopped after one season or so of Austrian Formula Ford Roland was short of funds practically all time earning just enough by working as a ‘gopher’ in Lechner’s school and team In 1985 he joined Alois Roppes’ Formula Ford team in Germany working as a mechanic to pay for a ride in the team’s second car alongside Michael Roppes If lack of funds dictated sleeping in a truck or a tent Roland’s determination and ambition were rewarded he won 11 out of 19 races and took the Austrian success in England brought him attention in the racing world Winning the Race of Champions and the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch paved the way to F3 and a works contract with BMW in the Touring Car World Championship 1987 – replacing Ferrari F1-bound Gerhard Berger in the Schnitzer squad Ratzenberger took over in the ETCC from F1-bound Gerhard Berger Photo by: Motorsport Images Roland also raced in F3 from 1987 (winning a Euroseries race at the Nürburgring) for West Surrey Racing and moved to England for the 1988 season to race in F3 The season with Madgwick brought more accidents than success Roland decided to move to F3000 with Spirit ending up third in the British championship Endurance racing attracted Roland as a way of getting closer to F1 put him in contact with Walter Brun’s sportscar team When the chance of a test for Toyota in Japan came up earning a contract for 1990 and becoming the first European works driver for the Japanese brand He relocated to Japan and became a Toyota stalwart for the next seasons in Group C racing A first chance to move to F1 appeared in the form of the new Jordan team tried to set up a package together with a brewery and an oil giant to put Roland in the second car alongside Andrea de Cesaris The sponsors couldn’t agree on a contract and the drive went to Bertrand Gachot Roland also considered a ‘plan B’ in the US testing a Dick Simon-run IndyCar at Willow Springs But moving to US racing is often a one-way street; the solid contract with Toyota in sportscars (which allowed Roland to race on in touring cars as well) would be better for ongoing F1 visibility 1992 brought a ninth-place finish in Le Mans together with Eddie Irvine and Eje Elgh in the older Toyota 92C-V Turbo In a Porsche 962 he finished third in the Daytona 24 hours Roland did most of the driving on the way to a class win at the Sarthe and fifth overall in the updated 93C-V shared with Mauro Martini and Naoki Nagasaka Martini still rates Roland as one of the best Group C drivers of that time Among the European expats in Japan – Heinz-Harald Frentzen Eddie Irvine to name just a few – Roland was a popular figure and a good friend When a man pulled a knife on Frentzen in a bar one night Roland stepped in to prevent HHF from being hurt Ratzenberger completed the 1992 Le Mans 24 Hour in the Kitz Racing Toyota with Eddie Irvine and Eje Elgh These comforts didn’t diminish Roland’s ambition to reach F1 and he bought a small flat in the Monte Carlo Sun tower as a European home who ran an agency in Monaco specialising in artists and events was approached for an investment in a private airline suggesting instead that supporting a race driver into F1 would be a better proposition Barbara agreed to pay £500,000 for Roland to compete in the first five races with Nick Wirth’s newly established Simtek team Ratzenberger’s case was supported by team sponsor MTV Owing to the similarity of his name to the British television character Roland Rat he was known in the UK and had even appeared in a TV sketch with the puppet rodent But he knew that he was clearly the number-two driver and secondly because his team-mate was David Brabham whose three-time world champion father Sir Jack owned 26% of the team Simtek was so short of money that it could only provide a car for Roland at the last pre-season test at Imola in early March It was Ayrton’s intention to get acquainted with Roland “Ayrton thought Roland was a good guy,” Senna’s physio Josef Leberer recalls Senna went to Villeneuve corner to get an insight into the cause of the accident To miss his first GP at Interlagos a fortnight later was a big blow for Roland He knew Simtek’s Ford engines were two grades below Benetton’s and one below those supplied to Larrousse and Minardi a damper failure and other new-car mishaps so Roland didn’t lap fast enough to qualify on Friday and missed out on Saturday when rain hit in the second session The Pacific GP at Aida was up next and this provided special incentive for a driver with so many connections to Japan Finishing 11th in the race was a big motivation for the European season ahead We met in Simtek’s motorhome on Thursday afternoon of the San Marino GP weekend Roland explained why he thought he could beat David Brabham and the two Pacific cars to qualify despite a technical disadvantage which Roland considered his other ‘home’ event He was in an excellent mood and clearly wanted to prove something my colleague Gerald Pototschnig interviewed him and Roland His words took on a cruel second meaning 40 minutes later when he crashed into the barrier at Villeneuve corner while travelling at 306km/h probably as a result of a kerb strike the previous lap the angle of his head in the cockpit led everyone to fear the worst Ayrton Senna had hoped to display a tribute following Sunday's race Photo by: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch / Motorsport Images We waited in front of the circuit’s medical centre though we all felt there was no hope anymore Whenever Roland came back for a few hours to Salzburg we met for a drink and he usually allowed himself one glass of beer ex-wife of 1989 Le Mans winner Stanley Dickens Roland called his mother and told her he’d filed for divorce Roland’s later companion was a Somalian model called Kadisha she devastated the flat in Monaco after the accident and took everything she could “We do not want to think of her,” Rudi says bitterly the Ratzenbergers regularly receive emails letters and messages from former colleagues and from fans all over the world When the parents visit Roland’s grave at Maxglan cemetery they often meet visitors there who remember the driver who passed away a day before Senna And he asked Leberer for an Austrian flag to carry in his car and wave for Roland after the race Ayrton never got the opportunity to make this gesture Rudi and Margit will travel to Imola on 30 April in company of a close family friend and will attend the memorial ceremony that will be held at the Autodromo for Ayrton and Roland “This is the 30th anniversary of this tragic weekend But we suppose it will be the last for us to remember,” Rudi and Margit confess The Brazilian and Austrian flags painted on the Monaco grid in memory of Senna and Ratzenberger From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport In order to keep delivering our expert journalism we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker This report was updated on June 13 with information from a travel agent who was on a Viking ship when the accident happened Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker