80th anniversary of the end of the Nazi regime –
the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna commemorated its former president, Edmund Eysler, and all other victims of the holocaust.

 

2025 is a commemorative year, in which we remember not only the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss, but also the end of World War II, the end of the Nazi regime and the holocaust as well as the Proclamation of the Second Austrian Republic 80 years ago. Consequently, the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna honoured its former president, the internationally renowned composer Edmund Eysler (1874 – 1949) on 12th March 2025. The festive event took place in front of his memorial in Schönborn Park, in the 8th district of Vienna. He was of Jewish descent and survived the time of horror 1938 – 1945 in Vienna under unimaginable conditions. 1947 – 1949 he was President of the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna.

The event, which was supported by the Josefstadt district administration, commemorated all Holocaust victims. The musical accompaniment was  performed by the „Gardemusik Wien“ under the baton of Oberst Bernhard Heher, the head of the Austrian military band and bandmaster of the guards. The pieces presented were Eysler’s „ Gesellenmarsch“ from the operetta „ Die Gold’ne Meisterin“, his waltz „Friedensklänge“ dedicated to Bertha von Suttner and the song „Küssen ist keine Sünd“ from the operetta „Bruder Straubinger“. The vocal soloist was Peter Widholz. Among the attendees were a number of prominent musicians, Helga Papouschek, a star of the Volksoper, among them.

A few days after this commemorative event the President of the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna received the following letter from Dr.Michael Ludwig, the Mayor and Governor of Vienna:

Dear Mr.President,
Dear Prof. Mag. Widholz,

I would like to take the commemorative year of 2025 as an opportunity to thank you and the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna for the great number of activities you have arranged, in the course of the past years, with the aim of maintaining the memory of the great waltz king and his successors.

Particularly worthy of mentioning  is the excellent performance of „ Waldmeister“ , which took place in the Parkhotel Schönbrunn in March this year.

I woud also like to express my thanks for the festive, commemorative event in Schönborn Park, Josefstadt, in memory of the Viennese composer Edmund Eysler, the former president of the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna. Eysler was a well-known representative of the genre of Viennese operetta and a renowned composer at home and abroad. Due to his Jewish descent his works were not allowed to be performed during the Nazi regime. In 1949 he was awarded the Honorary Ring of the City of Vienna and is now buried in a grave of honour in Vienna‘s Central Cemetery.

Maintaining the remembrance of famous Viennese composers and their works is a great achievement of the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna and its president.

I look forward to many more such events of the Society.

Yours sincerely.
Michael Ludwig

 

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