Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Austria: 'Neo-Nazi' ball has its last waltz with Unesco

 

Friday 20 January 2012 01:00 GMT
Comments
The Kaiserball at the Hofburg castle opens the Vienna ball season last year
The Kaiserball at the Hofburg castle opens the Vienna ball season last year (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The Viennese Ball, regarded as a highlight of Vienna's social calendar, has been struck off a Unesco list of celebrated Austrian traditions after being linked with Neo-Nazi groups.

For the first two months of each year, the Austrian capital's series of Viennese balls are the place for eligible bachelors to be seen waltzing with glamorous debutants. However, anti-fascist campaigners claim one of those listed, the WKR Ball, attracts Neo-Nazis from Austria and Germany. Organisers reject the links, but campaigners picket the event every year.

Unesco said the inclusion of the WKR Ball was "a major mistake" and it has now removed the genre from the list. The Viennese Ball was added to the Unesco list of "intangible cultural heritage traditions" in 2010.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in