MAHLER FESTIVAL: Mahler and Klimt at Lake Attersee

With an attractive combo ticket, the Gustav Mahler Festival Steinbach invites you to an extraordinary cultural day trip to Lake Attersee: Two guided art and culture events, along with an evening film screening, connect the worlds of Gustav Klimt and Gustav Mahler to create a harmonious overall experience. Between the program points, there is plenty of time for a relaxed lunch – the surroundings offer a diverse culinary selection.

The day begins at the Klimt Center in Schörfling with a tour about the inspiring role of nature for Klimt and Mahler, continues to the Villa Paulick, which is rarely accessible to the public and was a key location for summer visitors to Attersee around 1900, and concludes in the afternoon at the Miniplex Cinema in Seewalchen with the internationally acclaimed documentary "What the Universe Tells Me" about Mahler's Third Symphony – including a discussion with the filmmaker, Jason Starr.

For all those who want to experience art history, music, and landscape – relaxed, inspiring, and in one of the most beautiful places in the Salzkammergut.

The guided tours can only be booked as part of the combo ticket together with the film screening.

Detailed Program:

11:00 AM, Gustav Klimt Center, Schörfling am Attersee
Guided Tour
"Klimt, Mahler, and the Art from Nature"
Mag. Evelyn Obermaier, Chairwoman of the Klimt am Attersee Association It is no coincidence of history that within a little more than a decade, two of Austria's greatest creative geniuses found inspiration for some of their most important works on the shores of Lake Attersee. Summer tourism increased, and city dwellers increasingly sought the fresh air and beauty of the landscape at a pleasant distance from the capital. This lecture discusses how Mahler and Klimt found their way here and what role nature played during their working vacation.

2:00 PM, Villa Paulick, Seewalchen
Historical Site
Klimt at Attersee
Introduction

4:00 PM, Miniplex Cinema Seewalchen
Film Screening
"What the Universe Tells Me: Unraveling the Mysteries of Mahler's Third Symphony"
In English with German subtitles
Followed by: Interview with filmmaker Jason Starr
Music, philosophy, and dramatic imagery combine to create a comprehensive experience in this profound exploration of Gustav Mahler's moving and questioning Third Symphony: How did we get here? What is the meaning of our lives? Is there a God? Why do people suffer? Mahler's Third Symphony, which grapples with these questions, is one of the largest and most ambitious symphonies ever composed. The emotional tension of this work steadily rises, from the chaos of creation in the first movement to the "highest level from which the world can be seen" in the final movement. It engages the audience in the drama of emerging consciousness, unfolding from the world of rocks, plants, and animals through "all stages of development" until it ultimately reaches its highest bloom in the human capacity for love. From the volcanoes of the South Pacific to the Alpine peaks and meadows where Mahler composed, dramatic images from nature shape the evolutionary saga of the Third Symphony. Narrated by Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning Stockard Channing.

10th Gustav Mahler Festival in Steinbach am Attersee: The 3rd Symphony
The Gustav Mahler Festival 2026 in Steinbach am Attersee will take place from June 21 to June 28, 2026, focusing on the composer’s third symphony.
For more information: www.mahler.steinbach.at