Lugner's funeral

Cathedral priest Faber: “The world will be poorer after tomorrow”

Before the last Opera Ball in February 2024, Lugner visited St. Stephen's Cathedral with his star guest Priscilla Presley and priest Toni Faber (right).

(Bild: picturedesk.com/Andreas Tischler)

Cathedral priest Toni Faber will accompany the late master builder (†91) on his last journey tomorrow - although he had already done so before, they had been friends for many years. Now he is also saying goodbye ...

"Vienna is poorer, the world is poorer and a Viennese original is missing", mused cathedral priest Toni Faber about the time after Richard Lugner's funeral. This will take place tomorrow from 8 a.m. in St. Stephen's Cathedral, where fans and friends of the master builder can first say goodbye for an hour in front of the laid-out coffin.

"When we escort the coffin out at the end of this hour of mourning in St. Stephen's Cathedral, the well-known fan polonaise by Carl Michael Ziehrer will be played by the small music ensemble. And this will be the homage to the Opera Ball. Outside, the Hoch- und Deutschmeister will welcome him with the Radetzky March. Also a favorite piece of his. And then we'll ring the historic bells of the cathedral to say goodbye."

Faber not only accompanies his last journey
Although Toni Faber will have to excuse himself briefly in the meantime to hold a baptism, following the deceased's last tour of the city - past the State Opera and Lugner City - he will conduct the Catholic requiem in the Kaasgrabenkirche. He will also preach there and, as a long-time friend of the family, will also be present at the subsequent gathering after "Mörtel" has found his final resting place at the Grinzing cemetery.

The clergyman is also well established in Viennese society and a welcome guest, attracting many people to St. Stephen's Cathedral with his open and down-to-earth manner.

(Bild: Starpix / A. Tuma)

As this close companion, his farewell is also a personal one for him, even though he had been preparing for it in a certain way for years, as he said in the Krone interview: "It was clear to me that one day the day would come when I would be faced with this beautiful, dignified, but actually also difficult task and would then be able to accompany him, and I have always been mentally prepared for it, so to speak."

He leaves his friends with a smile
The clergyman should also have held the church blessing for the newlyweds Richard and Simone Lugner in October - as he did every year for "Mörtel's" birthday - although not with the intention of "making him holy or wiser", Faber smiled nostalgically.

"Someone who also held up a mirror to society and at the same time always emphasized 'Be yourself, be authentic'. That was Richard Lugner. One hundred percent!"