Star singing makes the Hofburg singToday, on December 30, 2024, “Holy Kings” from all over Austria and a royal delegation from South Tyrol brought the message of peace for the New Year to the Hofburg. The festive entry was accompanied by the celebratory sounds of a French horn, while the delicate scent of incense filled the air. Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and his wife Doris Schmidauer welcomed the royal guests with warm words and praised the great effort of everyone involved in the star singing. But Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar didn’t just bring singing with them – they also delivered a clear message to politicians: More commitment to a future worth living!
In his statement, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen acknowledged the exemplary commitment of the star singers: “Thank you very much, dear star singers, for your important commitment.
Of course, my thanks also go to all the young people and adults who accompany you and who organize the whole thing. And thank you very much to the people in Austria who, through their participation and donations, are helping to ensure that the star singer campaign will be successful again in 2025.”
Martina Erlacher, chairwoman of the Catholic Youth Group, thanked you for the invitation and emphasized that it is urgently time to address concrete solutions to global problems: “As a Catholic Youth Group, the well-being of children is particularly important to us. Unfortunately, there are countless children around the world who are already feeling the consequences of the climate catastrophe or who have to work hard instead of attending school because their parents are unfairly paid. Please support the implementation of a consistent supply chain law and the “Stop Child Labor” initiative. And please continue to work to ensure that climate protection finally becomes a top priority!”
As gifts, the Federal President was presented with a poster with the motto “Star singing connects people”, environmentally and socially compatible FAIRTRADE products and blessed star singing tea. In addition, the group from Bad Aussee had a large gingerbread heart and the group from Croatian Minihof (Burgenland) had the village chronicle “Mjenovo” with them.
Photos (also to individual groups from the federal states) can be found on: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBWsPL
“Royal & Solidarity Marathon”: From December 27th, 2024 to January 6th, 2025, the “Three Kings” will be traveling throughout Austria to bring blessings for the new year. 85,000 star singers and 30,000 adults are committed to a better world. The Epiphany Campaign, the aid organization of the Catholic Youth Group, uses donations to support around 500 aid projects in poor regions of the world. Generations of star singers have collected 540 million euros since 1954; last year it was a record sum of 19.5 million euros.
Do good together: That is the motto of the Austria-wide fundraising marathon. In view of the climate crisis, hunger and wars, star singing shows that every individual can contribute to a better world – be it through active star singing or by opening our front doors and hearts and donating in solidarity – also via the Epiphany Campaign donation account (IBAN: AT23 6000 0000 9300 0330) or online www.sternsingen.at/spenden.
Further stops on the royal visits (Stand 30.12.2024):
- Star singers from Austria at New Year’s Mass with Pope Francis, January 1st, 2025, 10:00 a.m., St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome
- BM Leonore Gewessler, January 2nd, 2025, 9:00 a.m., Radetzkystraße 2, 1030 Vienna
- BM Gunter Mayr, 02.01.2025, 09:00, Johannesgasse 5, 1010 Wien
- BM Martin Kocher, January 7th, 2025, 1:00 p.m., Stubenring 1, 1010 Vienna
- BM Norbert Totschnig, January 7th, 2025, 1:00 p.m., Stubenring 1, 1010 Vienna
- Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer, January 7, 2025, 4:00 p.m., Federal Chancellery, 1010 Vienna
- Club chairman August Wöginger, January 7th, 2025, 3:00 p.m., club presidium room in parliament
- BM Alexander Schallenberg, 08.01.2025, 15:30, Minoritenplatz 8, 1010 Wien
- Club chairwoman Sigrid Maurer, January 9th, 2025, 2:00 p.m., Löwelstraße 12, 1010 Vienna
Note: If you are planning on-site reporting and media participation in the star singers’ visit to politicians, please register with the relevant public relations department!
Background information and downloads of press photos www.sternsingen.at/presse
Impressions of the aid projects in Nepal www.sternsingen.at/sternsingen-hilft
For state-specific information or materials The contacts to colleagues from the federal states are here: www.sternsingen.at/kontakte