80th Anniversary of the Liberation from Nazi Rule

Today, on 8 May 2025, we celebrate the 80th anniversary of Austria's liberation from Nazi rule and the end of the Second World War in Europe.

In the morning, this historic occasion was commemorated in a ceremony held at the Federal Chancellery, which was attended by numerous public figures. Guests included the Federal Chancellor, the Vice-Chancellor and members of the Federal Government, the President of the National Council, the Third President of the National Council, the President of the Federal Council, the Presidents of the Supreme Court and the Administrative Court, representatives of churches and religious communities, and numerous members of diplomatic missions in Austria. The National Fund was represented by its Managing Board, Judith Pfeffer and Hannah Lessing.

The event, which was accompanied by music from members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra playing works by Joseph Haydn and broadcast live by ORF, was hosted by Hannah Lessing.

In their speeches, Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker, Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babler and Federal Minister of Education Christoph Wiederkehr spoke of the difficult start to the Second Republic and underlined the significance of that period for the present day. Federal Chancellor Stocker paid special tribute to the victims of National Socialism and honoured the achievements of the resistance fighters as “the seeds enabled the resurrection of our country”.

In his ceremonial address, University Professor Dr Arnold Suppan gave a detailed account of the historical events at the end of the war and the developments that followed.

In her closing remarks, Hannah Lessing quoted an unknown Viennese woman whose diary entries convey the mood of those fateful days from a civilian perspective. She concluded with a sentence from 9 May 1945, which – with timeless resonance – gives a sense of the great emotion of the moment: “At noon, from 12 o’clock to 12:15, all the bells rang out in celebration of peace.”