Over the past 75 years, Salzburg Global Seminar has brought together more than 40,000 current and future leaders from over 170 countries to focus on shaping a better, safer, and more inclusive world. In 1947 Harvard students Clemens Heller and Richard Campbell, along with instructor Scott Elledge, sought to establish a center for post-war US-European reconciliation via cultural and intellectual exchange. Situated at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Schloss Leopoldskron has been the home of the Seminar since its founding.
The first sessions focused on American literature, economics, society, and politics. Since then, geopolitical, societal, and climatological changes have profoundly impacted the program’s content and focus. Throughout the organization’s history, Harvard faculty and alumni have been a mainstay, actively engaging in the sessions both as teachers and learners.
Today, after nearly a decade of negotiation and partnership with Salzburg Global Seminar, the Harvard University Archives is excited to permanently house and make available for research the extraordinary historical records of this unique international organization. Salzburg Global Seminar’s archives are available for research in their new home at the Harvard University Archives.