The best party, or the wurst?

Stanglwirt’s Balthasar Hauser does not only embody old traditions, he also creates new ones.

One of these came about completely by chance in the year 1992. At the time the downhill ski race weekend in Kitzbühel did not offer any real cause for celebration for the Austrian skiers. Swiss Franz Heinzer was fastest down the Streif twice in a row; the Austrians only managed bronze thanks to Patrick Ortlieb. But there was some consolation.

The Bavarian master butcher Toni Holnburger invited the racers after training on Friday to come and taste his famous, authentic Bavarian sausages at his regular table in the historic guest house. It was a cosy get-together among friends. So they decided to repeat it the following year.

More guests came in 1993, in the end invitations had to be sent out in order to quell the crush and by the end of the century the whole restaurant area had been overrun with Bavarian sausage. “It took half an hour to get from one end to the other”, recalls a party guest of that time. So it all moved to the Riding Hall, world-famous bands and entertainers were brought in, and star chef Alfons Schuhbeck was hired to complement Holnburger’s delicious sausages. The rest is history.

 

The party now attracts over 2,500 guests, while 5,000 pairs of Weißwürst and just as many bottles of beer are polished off. More than 200 media representatives from across the globe ask stars like DJ Ötzi, Prince Albert of Monaco, Zucchero, Uschi Glas and many, many more to say a few words. At daybreak the Weißwurstparty slowly begins to wind down and people say their goodbyes for another year. Until the next Weißwurstparty at Stanglwirt, on the Friday of the race weekend in Kitzbühel.

All information about the party, the programme and tickets you find here  www.stanglwirt-weisswurstparty.com