There are traditionally two ways to achieve the greatest veneration in Austria: you are either dead or a ski racer. In this respect it is a very good week, because it presents us with both forms of Austrian heroism.
First there was the very lively Johannes Strolz, who first won gold in the combined and then silver in the slalom at the Olympic Games. This is not only nice for him, but – small discussion for German readers at this point – also saves the salvation of the soul of the home country. Without the hero Strolz, Austria would have come out of the men’s slalom with nothing but 17th place, and in terms of the emotional situation that would be about the same as Germany losing a preliminary round at the World Cup: a national catastrophe.
But Strolz managed to win the medals, like his father did in Calgary in 1988 – and he did it on skis that he prepared himself. He’s been doing it since the Ski Association canceled his squad privileges and thus also his service man last year because of inadequate performance: The story of Johannes Strolz is the most Austrian form of romance imaginable.
The most beautiful self-staging in Austrian music history
Homage is also appropriate for someone who was less close to modesty and humility: Falco, the most beautiful self-staging in Austrian music history, would have turned 65 this Saturday. Now, of course, a 65-year-old Falco is beyond what one can imagine, but one can enjoy what, after all, 40 years of Falco has produced.
In addition to the rightly famous songs like “Jeanny” or “Rock me Amadeus” also wrongly overlooked ones like “Tango the Night” for example. If you dig a little deeper you can also find videos like one that obviously at his mother’s 70th birthday has arisen. So Falco, running late, gets into the classic Marchfelderhof birthday party scenario – there’s applause. But then he has to – world star or not – through the inevitable dialogues like everyone else: “So that’s Walter!” – “Ah, that’s the boy! The boy!”
Later he philosophizes into the camera about life in Austria: “It’s just like that, you know, the interest and the taxes and the finances and the neighbor’s dog…” In his case, this is intended as the reason for why life is somehow better in the Dominican Republic, but if you are very much in love with Austria, you can of course also find all this touching.
The Marchfelderhof dialogues and the stories about the neighbor’s dog are as much a part of Austrian life as the worship of ski heroes and the knowledge that a little Falco makes every situation better. So if you get up early on Sunday night to watch the team competition live from Beijing (which will hopefully take place after the weather-related postponement), start the day with us “Heroes of today” – that will definitely be a good omen.
This column will also appear in the Austria Newsletter on February 18, 2022, which bundles the reporting on Austria in the SZ. Register here for free.