LETTER FROM VIENNA
Right in the middle of the shopping centre, the large stage has been transformed into an altar. Instead of the usual pole dancing, dog training and beauty pageants that make Vienna's “Lugner City” so popular, a large black and white portrait of the owner welcomes customers. Under the lingering gaze and benevolent smile of Richard Lugner, dozens of candles form the family name of this iconic Austrian builder whose death in mid-August at the age of 91 triggered a surprising wave of emotion in this Alpine country.
“He influenced my whole childhood. Here, it was like my home, it's a very colorful place where everyone mixes, and we used to see him often”explains, before bursting into tears, Celina Fedanci, 21, a teaching student who came spontaneously on Wednesday, August 14, to leave a few words in the book of condolences made available to dozens of moved customers. Like many Viennese, they appreciated seeing the owner's stooped figure continue to walk around this shopping center until his last day or so. Very approachable, he was always available for a selfie.
Unknown outside the borders of his country of nine million people, Richard Lugner was a true national star in Austria. Saluting “a colorful personality”the chancellor (conservative) Karl Nehammer thus spoke of a real “Austrian originality”in unison with the entire political class, which paid him unanimous tribute. The Lugner family even called “all Viennese, all of Austria and beyond” coming soon, Saturday August 31, “say goodbye together” in Vienna's iconic St. Stephen's Cathedral, then escorting his coffin in a procession to his shopping center.
Reality TV and the presidential election
Dead at 91, the man nicknamed “Mortier” [« Mörtel » en allemand] perfectly embodied this Austrian spirit of old-fashioned, sometimes bawdy conservatism, combined with an unfussy camaraderie. The son of a lawyer with Nazi convictions who died on the Russian front during the Second World War, he had founded a construction company in the 1960s. But his first big coup dates back to the 1970s, when he built the first mosque in Vienna, financed at the time by Saudi Arabia, which is not without irony for a man who has often since professed his hostility to immigration.
You have 51.49% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
Source: Lemonde
