the king of the netherlands Willem-Alexanderis in common with his wife maximum came to Austria on a state visit on Monday. In addition to the federal capital Vienna, where they will spend two days, the royal couple will also visit the Styrian state capital Graz. On the first day of the visit, they commemorated the Holocaust victims at the Shoah Wall of Names in Vienna Ostarrichipark.
On Tuesday, the Royals then visited together with the Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and his wife Doris Schmidauer the “Community Cooking” integration project in the “Brotfabrik” in Vienna-Favoriten, met refugees from the Ukraine there and quickly cooked for them themselves.
King in cooking apron
The royal couple drove around 9:15 a.m. under a flurry of flashbulbs in front of the social facility, which promotes intercultural exchange between residents in the Grätzel favourites promotes, before. Since Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, there has also been a lunch menu there for refugees from the war region. In order to cook for it, the royals, including the Federal President and his wife, together with volunteers, quickly put on their own aprons.
There was food: menemen egg dish with onions, tomatoes and peppers, falafel filled with tomatoes and onion mixture, tahini sauce with various herbs and vegetables, flatbread with oat bran. Curd yoghurt cream with various berries with spices like cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and honey was served as dessert.
At the joint meal with refugees, the mood became more serious again. During the conversation, which lasted more than 30 minutes, Willem-Alexander and Máxima inquired about the fate of these people. “They took in refugees from Ukraine themselves, so the topic is very close to them,” said Klaus Schwertner, Managing Director of Caritas Vienna.
Visit to the National Library
Following the visit to the social facility, a visit to the National Library was on the tight schedule, where Director Johanna Rachinger should be taken in reception. A tour of the ceremonial hall was planned here together with the Austrian “First Couple”.
In the early afternoon there is a working meeting with the Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) planned. In the evening there is a concert by the Dutch Chamber Choir in the Konzerthaus. On Wednesday, the royal couple will travel to Graz by train to conclude their visit to Austria.
That was the first day of the state visit:
The royal couple was received by Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) at Vienna-Schwechat Airport on Monday morning. Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and his wife Doris Schmidauer welcomed Willem-Alexander and Máxima with a reception with military honors in the inner courtyard of Vienna. The presidential couple received the king and queen to the sound of the Dutch national anthem and the Austrian national anthem and the looks of numerous onlookers.
There was a brief cheer as the royal couple climbed out of an orange flagged car and waved to the crowd. After the welcome, King Willem-Alexander and the Federal President inspected the Guard of Honor formation. The two couples then withdrew to the Hofburg for talks. Federal President Van der Bellen last paid an official visit to the Netherlands in mid-November 2018.
Laying of a wreath at the Shoah Wall of Names
In the afternoon, together with the Federal President, the King laid a wreath on the Shoah Wall of Names in Vienna-Alsergrund in memory of the Jewish women, children and men who were murdered in the Holocaust. The royal and federal presidential couple visited the memorial together with Europe Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP). Willem-Alexander and Máxima paid particular attention to names related to the Netherlands. At the end – as is customary in Judaism to commemorate the dead – they each laid a pebble on the wall.
The Shoah Wall of Names in front of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank in Vienna collects the names of around 64,400 Austrian women, children and men on 160 granite stone elements who were murdered by the National Socialists because of their Jewish origin. It was opened on November 9, 2021 by the then Chancellor Schallenberg.
After visiting the memorial, the royal couple met Vienna’s mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) and members of the city senate in the town hall, where they signed the city’s golden book. He welcomed the visitors in the city senate meeting room. Ludwig referred to the close ties between the Netherlands and the city of Vienna. For example, there are regular exchanges with the municipalities on topics such as urban development. The mayor reported that the head of the municipal administration of Amsterdam will soon be visiting Vienna.
Ludwig also referred to the solidarity after the terrorist attack in Vienna in 2020. At that time, the Netherlands gave 10,000 tulip bulbs “as a sign of solidarity and humanity”. These were planted in parks – many in the immediate vicinity of the assassination site. Ludwig thanked once again for this “visible sign of solidarity”.
“A city to fall in love with”
“Vienna is a city to fall in love with and a place where you quickly feel at home,” stressed Willem-Alexander. The heart of Europe beats here. “This is the moment to come together with our European friends.” Together they believe in freedom, in humanity and in peaceful cooperation. “Not too far away, these values are being grossly violated,” he pointed out.
Willem-Alexander thanked him for the invitation to the town hall and stated: “Living in Vienna makes people happy. What is the secret behind it? We hope to learn more about it during our visit.” After a short drink, the royal couple set off again.
Accompanied by the second President of the National Council, Doris Bures (SPÖ), the parliament building, which is currently being renovated, was visited. After a welcome in the pillared hall by Bures and Deputy Secretary of Parliament Alexis Wintoniak, General Manager for the renovation of the Parliament Building, the tour continued into the National Council Chamber and then into the historic Chamber. The royal couple was guided by the Dutch engineer Reinder Zwart, who is involved in the renovation of the Parliament in Vienna.
A state banquet in the Belvedere followed in the evening, at which the King and the Federal President held after-dinner speeches. The location also has a current cultural connection to the Netherlands: from February to May 2023, the Belvedere Museum is showing the show “Klimt. Inspired by Rodin, Van Gogh, Matisse…” in cooperation with the Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam, in the the connections between the paintings of Gustav Klimt and the works of other artists of his time, such as Vincent Van Gogh, are explored.
concert on Tuesday
On Tuesday, Willem-Alexander and Máxima will first visit an integration project in the bread factory (Vienna-Favoriten). After visiting the “Community Cooking” kitchen, a meeting with refugees from the Ukraine is planned, followed by a tour of the Sonnwendviertel near Vienna Central Station. A visit to the National Library is then scheduled, followed by a working discussion with Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP). In the evening there is a concert by the Dutch Chamber Choir in the Konzerthaus.
“Mobility Check” in Graz on Wednesday
On Wednesday, the train continues to Graz, where there is a meeting with Governor Hermann Schützenhöfer and Mayor Elke Kahr. After a tour of the premises of AVL List GmbH in the presence of Economics Minister Martin Kocher and Environment and Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler, we head to the Murinsel where the Graz “mobility project” (“Radoffensive”) will be presented. The Styrian state capital also gets knowledge and experience from the Netherlands, traditional Eldorado for European cyclists.
For Willem-Alexander, political statements are taboo for constitutional reasons alone: the king is important for the state structure without being allowed to directly influence the fate of the country. However, one can assume that the bilateral, emphatically amical and, last but not least, economic relations will be cultivated and further expanded during the visit. Last but not least, Willem-Alexander is a private friend of Austria; his family has been vacationing in the west of our country since the 1950s.