Tumultuous scenes

Tension ahead of the Academics’ Ball: several demonstrations planned

Several stand-up demonstrations and a protest march in the inner-city area have been announced for Friday around the Vienna Academics' Ball.

(Bild: APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER)

Several counter-demonstrations were announced for the controversial Academics' Ball on Friday evening in Vienna, where German nationalist fraternity members and prominent representatives of the international right met. FPÖ National Council President and fraternity member Walter Rosenkranz was also on the guest list. Demonstrators were arrested at Stephansplatz. 

Under the slogan "Fire and flame to the patriarchy: fight sexism in the Hofburg and the state", hundreds of opponents of the FPÖ Academic Ball gathered at Vienna's main university on Friday afternoon. From there, the demonstrators started their protest march across the Ring to Stephansplatz. The final rally took place there shortly after 7.30 pm. The police deployed several hundred officers throughout the night.

There were brief tumultuous scenes when a small group of masked demonstrators tried to leave the city center during the final rally without consequences for their disguise. A cat-and-mouse game with the police ensued.

The officers eventually surrounded the participants, some of whom were beaten as they fled. Identities were established due to the ban on wearing masks. A spokesperson for the provincial police directorate spoke of four arrests due to resistance to state authority. Overall, significantly fewer people are likely to have taken part in the demonstration this year than in previous years. 

"This year's demonstration is focusing on the fight against sexism," explains co-organizer Axel Magnus from the "Offensive gegen Rechts" (Offensive against the Right). They are using the ball on the eve of International Women's Day as an opportunity to draw attention to the backward image of women held by nationalist fraternities. The FPÖ has also shown in failed government negotiations that it wants to push women back to the stove. In addition - as every year - a signal should be sent against the ball, which critics describe as a networking meeting of right-wing extremists. "We don't want such a ball in the Hofburg," said Magnus.

Police closures in the city center
The police imposed a ban on the area around Heldenplatz, which has been in force since Friday at 5pm. For this reason, traffic obstructions and police closures were to be expected in the city center in the evening. Vehicle traffic between Operngasse and Wipplingerstraße was closed in a ring road. There were also short-term closures and detour in the assembly area and in adjacent streets.

Visitors to the Akademikerball in front of the Hofburg.

(Bild: APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER)

A demonstration marches through Vienna around the Hofburg's exclusion zone.

(Bild: APA/MAX SLOVENK)

Demonstrators were separated
In addition to the march, several demonstrations were registered in the inner-city area. The "Anti-Fascist Alliance Ballhausplatz" - a coalition of the Jewish Austrian University Students (JöH), "Omas gegen Rechts", the Green Youth and other groups - had planned a rally at Michaelerplatz at 7 pm in the run-up to the ball.

The "Offensive Against the Right" involves groups "with whom we as Jewish activists cannot work together, especially since October 7", said JöH President Alon Ishay, referring to different positions on the war in the Gaza Strip.

"Unfortunately, these are currently things that divide us," said Magnus. "But the issue of Gaza has nothing to do with this demonstration," said the co-organizer. He himself comes from a Jewish family whose great-grandparents' generation was murdered during the Shoah and believes it is "justified to criticize every state in the world", said Magnus in response to accusations of anti-Semitism from critics.

Peaceful second rally
The second protest alongside the established demonstration through the city center finally took place at 7 pm on Michaelerplatz. There, only a few ball opponents dressed up in carnival costumes tried to intercept guests at the ball and engage in conversations with guests about the "Kakademikerball", as one disguised demonstrator called it. Otherwise, the rally at Michaelerplatz was peaceful.

The JöH attracted attention in the run-up to the event with a video projection of a "countdown to the Nazi ball" at the outer Burgtor. According to a statement issued by the Jewish Student Union on Friday, the police removed the projection on the eve of the ball following a report of suspected incitement to hatred.

Violent protests in the past
In the past, the ball has repeatedly been accompanied by sometimes violent protests. In 2014 in particular, there was a great deal of damage to property and a considerable number of injured demonstrators and police officers. In the years that followed, however, the situation calmed down considerably.

It is shameful for the human rights city of Vienna that the so-called 'Academics' Ball' of the Vienna FPÖ continues to take place in the heart of Vienna.

Niki Kunrath, Menschenrechtssprecher der Wiener Grünen

The discontent of the demonstrators has always been directed primarily against German nationalist fraternity members, who have been organizing and shaping the event since 1952. Until 2012, the event was organized by the Vienna Corporations Ring (WKR). After disagreements with the Vienna Hofburg, the FPÖ Vienna took over the organization, which then renamed it the "Akademikerball".

Partly right-wing extremist guests at the ball
Niki Kunrath, human rights spokesperson for the Vienna Green Party, spoke on Friday of the "fatal signal" being sent out by the venue in the Hofburg. Once again this year, numerous high-ranking guests from the Freedom Party are expected to attend, including the Blue National Council President Walter Rosenkranz and the Vienna FP leader Dominik Nepp.

The rest of the guest list has always caused a stir in the past. Most recently, Martin Sellner, former head of the "Identitarian Movement", classified as far-right by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, danced at the Hofburg, and in 2012 the French right-wing nationalist Marine Le Pen attended the ball. The ball is sold out, said ball organizer and Viennese local councillor Udo Guggenbichler (FPÖ) in the run-up to the event.