In Salzburg

Now it’s clear: austerity measures will affect police music

A ban on performing abroad and a reduction in hours are imminent for the Salzburg police band.

(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

As "Krone" readers already know, the Ministry of the Interior is making cuts to the police force, including in Salzburg. The cuts will be enforced by decree. There will be a 20 percent reduction in hours. For the time being, there will be no performances abroad and a festival for 2026 will be canceled.

Following the recent cuts to the police force due to the federal budget still outstanding for this year, the Ministry of the Interior is apparently also looking to make cuts to the police music bands. This emerges from a decree recently sent to the provincial police directorates (LPD), as reported by the Austria Press Agency (APA). In addition to a ban on performing abroad, the document also orders the nine bands throughout Austria to reduce their basic hours quota.

This is the number of hours available to the bands for performances and rehearsals. According to the decree, a reduction of 20 percent is now planned. In addition, "no performances abroad" or otherwise only with "application and approval" are permitted, as stated in the decree approved on Monday, which according to the ministry has been valid "until further notice" since March. This means that the Styrian band's planned trip to a relevant festival in November is likely to fall victim to the austerity measures for the time being.

Exceptions for funerals
In future, there will also be no "plannable deployments of police music" between Friday 8 p.m. and Monday 6 a.m. or on public holidays - "on the basis of additional services". The only exceptions are for overtime from Monday to Saturday when time off in lieu is ordered.

All other pre-planned assignments that are to be paid on an overtime basis have also been removed - "with the exception of musical accompaniment for funerals in line with the organizational culture", as stated in the decree. In addition, the Ministry of the Interior requires coordination with the relevant offices in the provincial police directorates when making procurement purchases - "taking into account the dynamic budget situation".

Festival for 2026 canceled
Last but not least, the Austrian Police Music Festival originally scheduled for 2026 has had to be canceled. The event had previously taken place every two years. The decree now provides for an increase in the interval between events to four years. Some of the house concerts of the nine bands are also to be canceled.

At times, the Salzburg Provincial Police Directorate even ordered a "suspension of playing operations until further notice", according to an email from the Public Relations Office dated February 21, which APA was able to view. According to reliable sources, the Ministry of the Interior is likely to have stopped the order as a result. The information in advance by email was a "completely normal procedure in the run-up to the decree", said spokesman Hans Wolfgruber, Head of the Public Relations Office, when asked on Thursday morning. Police music is "a valuable instrument and an integral part of Salzburg", and a complete dissolution "was never an issue", the spokesperson qualified.

Anger over decree
The situation in Salzburg is not the only reason why the mood among the 450 musicians across Austria is "at rock bottom", said a member of the music corps. They are being reduced to "funerals".

The amount saved through the cuts is marginal. "It's peanuts compared to the administrative costs for the federal police," he said. This is because overnight stays for performances abroad are often paid for by the organizer, concerts in Germany are usually not scheduled on Sundays or public holidays but during the week anyway and do not last too long.

Police music is mainly recruited from regular police officers. Only in Vienna are they professional musicians.

Ministry of the Interior speaks of "temporary measures"
The Ministry of the Interior recently referred to "temporary precautions". Because no budget for 2025 could be presented in 2024, "restrictive cost-cutting measures would have to be taken in all ministries", it told APA. The amount of the hoped-for savings potential of the Austria-wide measures was not revealed, even when asked again. As recently reported, a reduction in overtime was ordered at the Vienna Provincial Police Directorate. When asked about the consequences of the overtime cut, the ministry did not go into more detail.