Black Bars Against Baroque Buffets

30.3.26 / Herwig G. Höller

In this blog, steirischer herbst research fellow and journalist Herwig G. Höller shares his discoveries in the festival archive. They frequently reveal surprising connections between steirischer herbst and the world of—local as well as international—politics.

Traditionally, the governor’s receptions were one of the most important events in Styrian political life. While the Graz Castle—the governor’s seat—was typically the venue of choice for international conferences or anniversaries of local institutions, a reception held in the Baroque setting of Eggenberg Palace signaled particular esteem by the “provincial ruler.” This honor was also repeatedly bestowed upon steirischer herbst festival, especially in its early years.

The year 1983 was no exception: For Peter Vujica’s first edition as festival director, Governor Josef Krainer Jr. (1930–2016) once again extended an invitation to Eggenberg. The guest lists were agreed upon in advance between steirischer herbst and the state government. What stood out was an early vote of confidence in Vujica—he had requested a whopping seventy “blank invitations” for himself. The remaining festival staff were allowed to bring along an additional eleven people at their discretion.

Of the approximately eight hundred invited guests, about seven hundred ultimately attended the reception on the evening of 17 September. After shaking hands with Governor Krainer Jr. and listening to his customary speech, they—as the media unanimously hinted at—eagerly helped themselves to the generous state buffet.

For the Kleine Zeitung, Doris Piringer (1949–2016), best known as a court reporter, observed the activities and found an entertaining form of social criticism in the Monday edition of 19 September 1983.1 In “The Battle for the Cold Buffet,” Piringer described not only the techniques needed to “clear” a 100,000 schilling buffet within twenty minutes.2 Her article also alluded to crime reporting: All last names were abbreviated using the first letter, and black bars were placed over the eyes of politicians and officials in “buffet mode”—although they were still quite recognizable. Notably, there was no picture of Governor Krainer Jr.; the daily likely did not want to portray him as a potential criminal.

On 21 September, Kurt Jungwirth (1929–2025), the state cultural adviser (from the Austrian People’s Party, or ÖVP) and the festival’s president, reacted angrily to Piringer’s article. In a letter to editor in chief Fritz Csoklich (1929–2009), he suggested that this kind of reporting threatened “the fragile plant that is steirischer herbst.” “I hope that at the next festival opening,”  the politician wrote, “there will only be a reception in the catacombs, to which only journalists are invited.”

At the Kleine Zeitung, which at the time was regarded not only as the festival’s de facto mouthpiece but also as its source of personnel,3 efforts were made to minimize the damage: Even before the newspaper published Jungwirth’s letter in full on 28 September, it ran a very favorable “Sunday portrait” on 25 September, presenting the politician as a Francophile intellectual. Although the buffet itself went unmentioned, author Erna Lackner implicitly distanced the state adviser as far as possible from the decidedly baroque scenes that had unfolded in the Baroque palace’s stateroom: Jungwirth was described in the subtitle as “A nonbaroque cultural politician” and quoted in the introduction as saying, “I’m not at all interested in the baroque aspect of politics.”4

However, the buffet affair was not over yet: In December 1983, left-wing representatives of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) submitted a motion to the state parliament calling for the prudent use of public funds at receptions: “The State Parliament hereby resolves: The Styrian Government is called upon to economize, as far as possible, on the amounts spent annually on receptions such as the one held on the occasion of the opening of steirischer herbst—which has been criticized not only in the media—and to use these funds for other activities in the interest of the population (in this case, for example, for other events in the context of steirischer herbst).”

In parliament, Martin Wabl—a judge and later presidential candidate—was an especially vocal critic of the rise in entertainment expenses under Governor Krainer Jr. and hit a nerve. In 1982, 231 state receptions with 38,175 guests had cost well over 5,000,000 schillings (slightly more than 1,000,000 euros in current purchasing power). The state government, countered State Adviser Franz Wegart (ÖVP) in the session on 14 December 1983, had switched from so-called seated receptions to standing receptions, thereby significantly reducing the average costs. “And I tell you, I hear it hundreds of times when we are at Eggenberg Palace or Graz Castle: Nowhere is there such warm hospitality as in our state,” said Wegart. In the same session, Krainer Jr. himself assured the assembly that the number of receptions had been reduced from 231 to 214 in 1983.

While the People’s Party categorically rejected Wabl and his colleagues’ proposal in public, it caused a stir behind the scenes. In May 1984, State Adviser Jungwirth’s office expressed interest in reallocating the buffet budget to avoid renewed criticism of steirischer herbst. Vujica, however, argued in favor of maintaining the reception. “Abandoning this tradition would undoubtedly be misinterpreted as a loss of goodwill by politicians,” he wrote on 13 June 1984 to Jungwirth’s office manager, Dieter Cwienk. Furthermore, he noted, this reception was a “meeting place for many important media figures, as well as actual and potential sponsors.” Given that private support averaged one million schillings, the cost of the reception was easily recouped.

Vujica prevailed: In 1984, a reception at Eggenberg Palace was once again on the festival program. However, the heyday of Governor Krainer Jr.’s receptions came to an end even before his resignation in 1996. Piringer’s article was merely a catalyst. More importantly, the numerous receptions were increasingly becoming a preservation issue for the palace. The most urgent renovations cost around ten million schillings annually, and it was a bottomless pit, the Austria Press Agency quoted state financial adviser Christoph Klauser (1924–2009; SPÖ) as saying on 16 May 1991. It was reported back then that, to preserve the building, no official receptions had been held for quite some time.

1

The Monday edition of the Kleine Zeitung enjoyed special status for decades. After Styrian dailies traditionally did not appear on Mondays, the Kleine Zeitung took over the local paper Grazer Montag in 1968 and gradually integrated it. Even many years later, you could subscribe to the newspaper with or without its Monday edition. For this reason, the latter had to prove itself.

2

“Hofrat Dr. KARL HEINZ F., first secretary to the governor, estimates the costs: About 120 schillings per guest, which amounts to nearly 100,000 schillings in total. Including wine” (Kleine Zeitung, September 19, 1983, 7). In today’s purchasing power, this equals 20,321.00 euros.

3

The first two directors of steirischer herbst, Peter Vujica and Horst Gerhard Haberl, had come to the festival directly from the Kleine Zeitung’s culture desk.

4

When asked in April 2025, Erna Lackner could not recall the circumstances that had led to this portrait. She declared, however, that she had been free to choose her topics under editor in chief Csoklich.