You have to celebrate the festivals as they come, so they say – and if it’s not just a “normal” birthday, but even a “round” to celebrate, then the celebrations can be a little bigger. So it happened that on Saturday evening a good 400 guests gathered in the halls of the Styrian Chamber of Labor to (after) celebrate the 70th birthday of Governor Hermann Schützenhöfer (ÖVP). Actually, Schützenhöfer had already celebrated this in February – however, the jubilee was born on February 29th, which made it impossible to celebrate directly on his day of honor in this non-leap year.
So it was just a “real” celebration – with very prominent guests, in a good mood and hearty music. The “Stoakogler” introduced the celebration with moody tones before the first speeches of congratulations began. And these came from illustrious guests: Because among the well-wishers were also Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP), Vice-Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens), the Mayor of Vienna Michael Ludwig and ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP). They all had warm words to say to the jubilee, who is far from thinking about retirement.
After Michael Ludwig, the first at the podium, jokingly said that his words went a little “into the wind” in the jubilant mood, everyone listened carefully to the words of Sebastian Kurz, who had not been heard speaking for a long time. “I’m a bit out of practice with these speeches, so I’ll speak freely,” said the former Chancellor. For him, Schützenhöfer embodies the “office of governor and father of the state like no other”. Chancellor Nehammer also praised the Styrian governor: “He is a political role model for me: drilling hard boards has to do with courage and assertiveness.”
