450 Years of the Spanish Riding School. This item is unavailable.450 Years of the Spanish Riding School

A top-class team has formed to honour the Spanish Riding School in Vienna and the Piber Federal Stud with a sumptuous volume on the occasion of their anniversary: Elisabeth Gurtler, Director of the Spanish Riding School, presents the excellence and the unique character of this institution and its rich tradition. The internationally renowned photographer Rene van Bakel has captured the Lipizzaners through the years from birth to their demanding training and the glamorous performances. Sports journalist and horse enthusiast Arnim Basche interweaves expert knowledge and emotion in his texts. And multi-award-winning publisher Edition Lammerhuber - elected Photography Book Publisher of the Year 2014 - provides the elegant design for the book to match both the theme and the occasion.

Elisabeth Gurtler studied economics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. She is a keen rider and in 1979 was Austrian vice-champion in dressage. In 1990 she took over the management of Hotel Sacher in Vienna, Hotel Sacher in Salzburg, as well as Sachertorten AG and several holdings. From 1999 to 2007 she organised the Vienna Opera Ball and was rewarded for this with the Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Province of Vienna. In 2007 she took on the joint directorship of the Spanish Riding School with Erwin Klissenbauer. Since 2010 she has organised the annual summer ball Fete Imperiale there. Rene van Bakel is an internationally known photographer, journalist and founder of ASAblanca Agency. Born in the Netherlands, he now lives and works in Vienna. He has created photo and written reports from over 70 countries, which have been printed by major global media. Van Bakel has published four books and shown his works in 10 exhibitions to date. In 1996 he was awarded the International Award for War Correspondence for his report from Srebrenica (Bosnia-Herzegovina). Arnim Basche is a German sports journalist and presenter and joined the ARD Sportschau presenter team in 1963. From 1971 Basche worked freelance for the ZDF channel, presenting their Aktuelles Sportstudio from 1972. In 1973 he became director of the ZDF Sports Studio in Dusseldorf. His reports from large sports events earned Basche several awards, including one from the National Olympic Committee. As a journalist, Arnim Basche focused on equestrian sports. From 1968 to 1969 he was press officer of the Deutsche Reiterliche Vereinigung (German Federal Association for Equestrian Sports and Horse Breeding). He has written several books on equestrian sports.