Rumor mill boils over

Next bombshell expected in the LIVA affair

The image of the Linz Brucknerhaus has been tarnished by the LIVA affair

(Bild: Pressefoto Scharinger © Daniel Scharinger)

The LIVA affair is far from over: Dietmar Kerschbaum himself is now said to have commissioned a law firm to reconstruct the chats. "Investigator" Meinhard Lukas brings new facets to light. Meanwhile, the rumor mill is churning with other confidants, including top magistrate officials.

The Linz event company LIVA - and thus also the Brucknerhaus - has finally been without leadership since yesterday: Dietmar Kerschbaum, the artistic director, was dismissed in July, and yesterday it was announced that following the release of the commercial director René Esterbauer, the (mutually agreed) termination of the employment relationship will now take place on May 31, 2025, as we already reported.

Esterbauer was not the only one who knew about chats
His "mishandling" of the chats led to his termination of employment. But how did he find out about the chats? 

Today, the Supervisory Board of LIVA held an extraordinary meeting, which was also attended by Managing Deputy Mayor Dietmar Prammer as the owner's representative. The meeting reconstructed how the chat history in question emerged in July.

Law firm in the background
On July 16, LIVA was contacted by telephone by a law firm that worked for LIVA until mid-March 2024. The law firm asked whether LIVA still had access to the LIVA email address of Kerschbaum, who had already been dismissed at the time.

Chats were reconstructed
After the phone call, a check showed that the LIVA email address was indeed still accessible. The message in question from the law firm also came to light. This message contained the chat messages between Luger and Kerschbaum as an attachment. Apparently, the law firm had them reconstructed on Kerschbaum's cell phone on his behalf.

No instructions from Luger
A printout of this message from the law firm (including an attachment with the chats) was given to René Esterbauer internally at LIVA on July 16, 2024 in his function as managing director. He then contacted the mayor at the time, Klaus Luger, by telephone. According to René Esterbauer's account, he did not receive any instructions from Luger in this regard.

However, as far as can be seen, Esterbauer did not subsequently take any steps to clarify the matter as managing director. These are the latest details that the new Chairman of the LIVA Supervisory Board, Meinhard Lukas, who is investigating the case, can report. However, his investigations will continue.

The next steps in the case
The two vacant LIVA Managing Director positions are to be advertised internationally this year if possible. A committee of the Supervisory Board is already working intensively on a recommendation for the process. However, the managing directors will not be selected until after the mayoral election.

The rumor mill is churning
According to insiders, a civil servant at the top of the city council is also said to have been aware of the chat. This would extend the LIVA affair to the city of Linz. However, further details are not yet known.