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The Officers’ Ball – a cultural heritage of the UNESCO

In October 2010, the Ball was awarded intangible national cultural heritage status by the UNESCO. Every one is familiar with Vienna’s splendorous and posh traditional ball events, such as, for example, the Philharmonic Ball, the Confectioners’ Ball, the Coffee House Owners’ Ball or the Concordia Ball, taking place in summer, and, last but not the least, the Officers’ Ball. All these balls represent a cultural institution, the roots of which go back to the Congress of Vienna, undergoing their first big upturn in the Biedermeier period.



The motor of this was Chancellor Metternich, who submitted public entertainment to rigid limitations, which resulted in closed dancing circles and house balls. The flourishing dance music of Lanner and Strauß was the musical vehicle of this development. The embracing of the grand Hofburg Palace balls also after the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy shows the wide acceptance of this “courtly culture”. The logical step was to give this century-old tradition its well-deserved recognition.

This is where the UNESCO comes in as an international organisation, with its Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage as the ideal means to do so, by declaring cultural assets natural or international cultural heritage. Since our Ball Committee has been active in the Committee of Vienna’s Traditional Balls for many decades, we immediately supported the initiative. Ms Else Schmidt, who, in addition to the Officers’ Ball, scientifically documented numerous other balls, supported us greatly in a joint effort in submitting a well-founded request.

This is how, among others the Salzburg Riflemen, the Samson Processions, Sparking Sunday and the Ebensee Glöckler Processions, precisely the Viennese ball tradition was registered with the list of intangible national cultural heritage, which puts us in a position to use the UNESCO logo.