Alpbach Forum

   A major summer gathering place in the Austrian Tyrol for discussions of global problems and issues by leading politicians, academics, and intellectuals. These meetings began in 1945 under the aegis of the International Higher Education Week. The forum was strongly supported by the American occupiers of the province. Its founder, Otto Molden (1918–2002), was the brother of Austrian resistance leader Fritz Molden (1924–), both of whom were sons of liberal Austrian publisher Ernst Molden (1886–1953). Many participants had been in the resistance at the close of World War II.

   The initial meetings of the group focused on general European questions. At its fifth conference in 1949, the flag of a common Europe, a green “E” on a white background, was raised for the first time.