The Otto von Habsburg Foundation revived in 2019 the tradition of dinners held between the two world wars to commemorate the birthday of the last Hungarian Crown Prince (20 November 1912), remembering and reminding of the European statesman, political thinker and member of the European Parliament. In 2023, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Austria and Noëlle Lenoir, former Minister of European Affairs of the French Republic, honoured the memory of our namesake with their presence.
István Nagy, President of the Foundation, opened the event by welcoming our guests. Members of the Habsburg family – Gabriela, artist and daughter of Otto von Habsburg, and her son Severin Meister; Eleonore, daughter of the present head of the family, Karl von Habsburg; and Eilika, wife of Georg von Habsburg – were present, as were members of the Foundation’s Board and Supervisory Board, diplomats, government officials and many prominent figures from the cultural and artistic world. The guest of honour was Christian Schmidt, High Representative of the International Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2021.
Christian Schmidt, politician of the CSU (Christian Social Union of Bavaria), remembers Otto von Habsburg as someone who always engaged in ongoing debates with absolute dedication. And although he was merely one of the select few who determined the faction’s foreign policy, due to the historical acoustics of his personality and his incomparable life experience, he soon became an inescapable factor in German – and, it is safe to say, European – politics.
Courtesy of the generosity of Herend Porcelain Manufactory Ltd., the courses of the banquet were served to our guests on special platters: on Apponyi patterned plates. The popular decorative design was created in different colour variations to honour Count Albert Apponyi, a leading supporter of our namesake in Hungary and organiser of the Otto dinners held in the interwar years. Between the speeches, pianist Gergely Kovács performed the Munich-born Richard Strauss’s Five Piano Pieces, which the composer wrote at the age of 17, before leaving for Meiningen, the birthplace of Princess Regina, later wife of Otto von Habsburg.
As a conclusion of the event, Director Gergely Prőhle presented the 99 Years, 99 Photos – Photographs from the life of Otto von Habsburg, the latest publication of our Foundation.
Photographs by Zoltán Szabó
