In Memoriam Bernhard Rothkappel

For more than 17 years, Bernhard Rothkappel worked with the National Fund as a graphic designer. On 12 April 2022 he passed away, suddenly and unexpectedly.

Bernhard designed the National Fund’s book series “Lives Remembered. Life Stories of Victims of National Socialism” in close collaboration with our Life Stories team, leaving his distinctive mark on each volume with his ideas and graphic concept. The Holocaust survivors and their fates also deeply moved him on a personal level – on a 2015 trip to Israel, for example, he visited the Club of the Central Committee of Jews from Austria in Israel and the Association of Pensioners from Austria in Israel in Tel Aviv and interviewed President Gideon Eckhaus and Leo Luster.

Throughout the years Bernhard always strived to give the stories a special and dignified setting, and he put a lot of love, attention and countless hours of work into designing the volumes – most recently in volume 6 of the series, in which he translated “Survival in Auschwitz” into a compelling visual language. In future, the memory of Bernhard Rothkappel will also be linked to the “Lives Remembered”.

Bernhard was no longer able to complete his current project, an illustrated book about the Jewish cemeteries in Austria.

With Bernhard Rothkappel, the National Fund has not only lost a gifted graphic artist, but also a longtime colleague, and for some of us also a friend. Secretary General Hannah Lessing, Renate Meissner and her team, as well as all those who worked with him, thank Bernhard for the path they shared.

Our thoughts are with his husband Carlos and his family.