Lugner in conversation

Lugner: “I’ve already ordered my gravestone”

91 years old, full of energy: Richard Lugner won't give up.(Bild: Reinhard Holl)

Two weeks before his death - and two days after his heart operation - Richard Lugner (91) spoke to Conny Bischofberger in his Döbling villa about his thoughts before the anaesthetic, the house visit from Putin's doctor, wheelchair rallies in the garden and a red granite gravestone.

This interview was conducted at the end of July. 

The man is a medical phenomenon. 12 days after a heart valve operation at Vienna General Hospital, the soon-to-be 92-year-old is already bouncing around on crutches when we meet him at his home. The wheelchair in which the society lion was seen at the Mörbisch premiere is outside by the pool. Richard Lugner regularly takes it for a spin in the garden.

Fit as a fiddle: the wheelchair rally in the garden is Lugner's physiotherapy.(Bild: Reinhard Holl)

"I also had a cracked lumbar vertebra," he says, pointing to his belt, "mobilization is now the order of the day." Two cats, which Mrs. Lugner number six brought into the marriage, have already made themselves comfortable on the sofa. So the landlord invites us into the dining room. A painting by Wolfgang Hutter hangs on the wall and there is a lavish bouquet of roses on the table.

Lugner wears a three-day beard and a dark blue Prada polo. When his cell phone rings, which is about every ten minutes, he picks it up and whispers in a friendly voice: "I'm busy. I'll be in touch in an hour." Only his shortness of breath hints at the serious heart operation he had to undergo six weeks after his wedding. The housekeeper, whom he amically calls "our girl", serves heart pills with coffee and Lindt balls and when Lugner launches into a long story and gesticulates, his steel Breitling clicks on the glass table.

"Krone": Mr. Lugner, your ex-wife Mausi let it be known that people are very worried about you. Is there anything to worry about?