Honor to whom honor is due

Mayor Ludwig honors Brezina & Brugger

Ingried Brugger and Thomas Brezina receive the Golden Medal of Merit of the Province of Vienna.

(Bild: Starpix / A. Tuma)

Tom Turbos' great father Thomas Brezina and art expert Ingried Brugger have quite a few things to hang on their lapels. From today, however, a small, golden brooch with even greater significance will be added to this collection!

Eleven o'clock in the morning in one of the magnificent ballrooms of Vienna City Hall, a string quartet plays the Mexican party hit "La Bamba" on violin and double bass. Invited are family and friends of the honorees, a lot of press representatives and of course the stars of the day: Thomas Brezina and Ingried Brugger.

Good news
In addition to two lavish laudations and much applause, the author and the director of the Bank Austria Kunstforum were presented with the Golden Medal of Merit of the Province of Vienna - by the Governor of the Province, Michael Ludwig, in person.

Governor and Mayor of the Province and City of Vienna was visibly enthusiastic about the achievements and vitae of "his honorary citizens".

(Bild: Starpix / A. Tuma)

Even though the writer - who, incidentally, has now published an incredible 600 books - had already known about his good fortune for some time, this did not dampen his euphoria at the award ceremony: "I found out about this award a year ago, in January, which was actually a present for my 60th birthday. You get a very official letter and anticipation is the best kind of joy!"

"Art achieves what politics often fails to do"
A common thread running through the acceptance speeches of the two award winners was their gratitude to their families - in addition to Brugger's husband Christian Ludwig Attersee, even her mother had traveled to the event - and many small declarations of love for the capital.

"I was born in Zell am See, my home, which I still love to visit. But Vienna is the city where I was allowed to grow up, where I was allowed to try things out, where I was allowed to make a career and shape opinions. Thank you for that, thank you Vienna," were Brugger's closing words.

Artist Christian Ludwig Attersee listened proudly to the words of his wife Ingried Brugger.

(Bild: Starpix / A. Tuma)

Former Opera Ball director and friend Elisabeth Gürtler was also present at the award ceremony.

(Bild: Starpix / A. Tuma)

Cathedral priest Toni Faber supported Brezina's idea of telling the Bible in rhyme and was delighted to attend this special event.

(Bild: Starpix / A. Tuma)

Brezina, who has already been awarded the Golden Medal of Merit of the Republic of Austria in addition to X other awards, never tires and, above all, sees no reason to stop: "These are all very, very nice awards. And I think they are simply, how can I put it, great. That's good, because things don't always go smoothly. And awards like this always mean 'Come on, gather all your strength and keep going'. I think it's nice that what I do means something to people. And this award means something to me!"