Vienna Medical Ball

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The Vienna Medical Ball is a dance ball that is organized by the Medical Association for Vienna and takes place every year on the last Saturday in January in the Vienna Hofburg . It is considered to be a meeting of greats from politics, business and social security.

history

The Vienna Medical Ball has been held since 1949 and is a highlight of the Vienna ball season . In the 2/1949 edition of the communications of the Vienna Medical Association it was announced: “ Under the patronage of Deputy Mayor, City Councilor, retired Minister Lois Weinberger, a doctors ball will take place on Thursday, February 24, 1949, at 9 p.m., in the halls of the Vienna Konzerthaus held, which is organized by the Hospital Doctors Section of the Vienna Medical Association. We would like to invite all doctors, their families and friends to this ball. “This was the beginning of a ball tradition that took place every year with two exceptions.

The location of the first Vienna Medical Ball was the Wiener Konzerthaus . The second Vienna Medical Ball on February 16, 1950 was incorporated into the overall responsibility of the Vienna Medical Association. However, there should still have been a special position for hospital doctors afterwards. The program of the fourth Vienna Medical Ball on February 13, 1953 (no medical ball was held in 1952 because of the “high financial risk”) provided for reduced admission fees for hospital doctors who had to pay 25 schillings to enter , and 40 schillings for everyone else . Admission prices remained stable for a long time. Only with the ninth Vienna Medical Ball on January 18, 1958 was there a moderate increase to 30 or 50 schillings. The ideas of the ball organizers regarding the festivity of the event also changed. In the reports from the seventh Vienna Medical Ball on February 10, 1956, it is stated that “men's evening wear is tending more and more towards tails and tuxedos” . This clothing was first prescribed eight years later at the 15th Vienna Medical Ball on January 25, 1964.

The 14th Vienna Medical Ball on January 26, 1963 marked a turning point in several respects. The Hofburg was chosen as the venue for the first time, and from then on it was the venue on the last Saturday in January every year.

Guests

The medical ball is the meeting place for Austrian political celebrities. Presidents of parliament, ministers, city councilors and later EU commissioners were present. The Federal President and Chancellor were also present, such as Julius Raab , Alfons Gorbach , Franz Jonas and Rudolf Kirchschläger . Further examples of guests of honor at the Vienna Medical Ball are Theodor Körner , Leopold Figl and Bruno Pittermann . After 1952 the Vienna Medical Ball had to be suspended again in 1991. The reason at that time was the invasion of Kuwait by the US-led coalition in the course of the second Gulf War. The unclear security situation had caused the organizers of the Vienna Opera Ball to cancel. Many other ball organizers did the same as the opera ball and also canceled. The security risk was too great for the Vienna Medical Association: The doctors' ball was canceled and had to take a year off.

Implementation and program

The doctors' ball starts at exactly 9:30 p.m. with its festive opening. Almost an hour later it is called “Waltz for everyone”. One of the highlights of the ball is the entry of the guests of honor, the festive opening by the young women’s and men’s committee and the musical dance, singing or show performance. A long-standing tradition at the Vienna Medical Ball is a midnight performance and the quadrille at 3 a.m. As an additional highlight, the medical ball has an additional show act at 1.30 a.m. The artistic design of the Vienna Medical Ball is in the hands of the Viennese Ballet Theater Mastaire. Up to twelve music formations provide entertainment in 25 halls of a disco, for dancing. Every year the rooms of the Vienna Hofburg are decorated with a fragrant sea of ​​flowers made from thousands of blossoms. Around 3,500 visitors take part in the Vienna Medical Ball every year.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Selection of the most important balls
  2. ^ Notices from the Vienna Medical Association (3/1956)
  3. ↑ Pages 88f