Austria celebrates 80 years of liberation: remembering and warning at Heldenplatz

Austria celebrates 80 years of liberation: remembering and warning at Heldenplatz

Wien, Österreich - On April 12, 2025, the celebrations in Austria will commit the celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the proclamation of the independence of Austria. This also marks 70 years since the state contract was signed. On the occasion of this significant date, the Federal Presidium, the Federal Chancellery and the Parliament invite you to diverse memorial events. Special highlights are the memorial events on Heldenplatz and in Mauthausen, which are under the motto "Never again". The proclamation of Austria's independence took place on April 27, 1945 in the Vienna City Hall by the provisional state government, and the connection to Germany at that time was declared void.

on April 27, 2025, exactly 80 years later, a state act with a speech by historian Christopher Clark will take place. Another important commemoration day is May 5th, which is reminiscent of the liberation of around 40,000 people from the Mauthausen and Gusen concentration camps through the US Army. Afterwards, on May 8, the day of the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht and the official end of the war in Europe, a memorial event will take place in the Federal Chancellery and a “Festival of Joy” at Vienna's Heldenplatz.

international liberation celebration and local memorial events

The international liberation celebration in the Mauthausen concentration camp on May 11, 2025 is organized by the Mauthausen Committee (MKÖ), which has been committed to commemorating the victims of the Nazi regime since 1997. This celebration not only commemorates the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp and its outer warehouses, but is also all about the year: "Together for a never again! Never again. Never again fascism. For peace."

Over the entire year 2025, over 110 regional commemorative and liberation celebrations throughout Austria are carried out to commemorate the suffering caused by the Nazi dictatorship. As part of these events, a wide variety of victim groups of the Nazi regime will be considered, whereby the MKÖ will continue to play a central role in the event of larger commemorative celebrations.

promotion of memorial culture and education

In the run -up to these celebrations, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner and director Barbara Glück have presented measures to create modern and contemporary memorial culture in Austria. The activities around May 5, 2025 include a commemoration in the camps in Mauthausen and Gusen on the evening of this day as well as a light installation entitled "Each Name Matters" at Heldenplatz from May 3 to 5.

The MKÖ has also presented new initiatives to strengthen regional commemoration, including the construction of Stelen at the outdoor camps Melk, Gunskirchen, Hirtenberg and St. Aegyd/Neuwald. These developments are intended to promote awareness of history and the need for commemoration.

On May 8, the "Festival of Joy" in Vienna will not only include a concert by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, but also a speech of a contemporary witness. The program for this is published on the website "Festdefreude.at". It serves as a memory of the associated responsibility to build a society based on peace, tolerance and human rights.

The combination of presentations, festivals and memorial events should ensure that the teachings from history are not forgotten and the memory of the victims of National Socialism remains alive.