Vienna Ball

For over 600 years, Hofburg Palace, located at the heart of Vienna, was not only the centre of the Habsburg Empire, but also the main residence of the Imperial family. Unlike numerous other residences, Vienna’s Imperial Palace is not a homogeneous building: It is a monument that developed in the course of centuries, appearing today as a building complex made up of a seemingly chance blend of architectural styles.

The Hofburg Palace is also the home of the classic Viennese balls that take place every season. In Vienna alone there are over 300 a year. 

Why is Vienna so special in this regard? Emperor Joseph II, 1741-1790, had more respect for the common man and less respect for nobility than the average royal. 

He decided that the ballrooms in the Hofburg palace should not be reserved just for nobility. In 1773 he made the ballrooms available for public balls for the common man. 

This started the tradition of public balls in Vienna, and introduced the upper crust to that dance of the commoner, the waltz. 

Balls became the Viennese way of celebrating the season called carnival. 

The viennese use one of the German words for carnival, "fasching".

 Demand for ballrooms exceeded those in the palace. 

Other ballrooms were built in town. Viennese balls have a proud tradition stretching back over four centuries, and have even taken the first steps towards inclusion in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. 

The full spectacle extends from the opening ceremony which doesn't even start until 9:30pm featuring a debutant's committee to midnight stage shows with dance and music performances with a curfew time of 4:00am.

 I couldn't believe us geezers lasted until 3:00.

 There is also traditional ball etiquette to consider - from the "Damenspenden", a gift presented to the ladies, to the requisite gown, tuxedo or formal traditional Austrian dress, Austrian culture runs through every aspect of the Viennese Ball.

         Since 1926 the officers of the Austrian Armed Forces have had the honor to invite     distinguished guests to this grand ball event, organized by the Alt-Neustadt Society – 

an alumni association of officers who graduated from the Theresian Military Academy. 

We were one of those 3000 or so invited guests this year. 

A pretty surreal opportunity and one I am grateful to have been able to have, 

but I am not going to lie. We are not the ball going type of people.

We can't waltz, tango, two step or even twist for that matter,

so we were the ultimate wall flower at this formal event. 

If you look closely in our wide bloodshot eyes you can see that this was taken on our way out that morning.

The opening ceremony in the Main Ballroom

           Lets not pretend that we were important enough to have seats in the main          ballroom in order to facilitate these kind of pictures.

They are courtesy of google images.

Watching it happen on screen from another room was actually how we saw it. 

Dancing was a little hard to do in the Main Ballroom unless you like to cozy up to strangers. 

We ended up wandering from room to room to room to room that way we could hear the different music and see all the different sights.

Some of my lovely "Budapest Attache Spouses" friends who were also in attendance

 My sweet classmates from DC who I am also lucky enough to call friends.