"Great recognition"

Van der Bellen accepted invitation from Styrian school

Pupils and teachers at Ilz secondary school were delighted to welcome a distinguished visitor on Thursday: Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen had been invited as part of a democracy project. To his great surprise, the head of state actually came to Eastern Styria.

It's not every day that a small Styrian school receives a guest like this, so the excitement was correspondingly high on Thursday morning in Ilz (Hartberg-Fürstenfeld district): Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen visited the school as the crowning glory of their democracy project week, after pupils had invited him by letter. "We were expecting a reply letter or a video message, but it was a huge surprise for us that the President actually came in person," says school principal Hans-Peter Reisinger. 

Pupils visited the state parliament and parliament
Before arriving, some of the boys were still puzzled: "Do you think he's coming in a Mercedes or a BMW?" - It turned out to be a black VW bus. The cheerful head of state was first welcomed by a harmonica serenade and the national anthem, which pupils had sung for a podcast as part of the project. 

Van der Bellen then got down to business, as the eager pupils wanted to explain and show the President what they had learned and developed on the subject of democracy. 

In addition to excursions to the provincial parliament in Graz, the parliament in Vienna and the Mauthausen concentration camp memorial, the pupils also got down to work themselves and held a junior local council election. Parties were founded, programs drawn up and a democratic election held. 

When asked by a first-year pupil what his favorite task as president was, he replied with a wink: "Visiting schools!"

"Democracy cannot be taken for granted"
Van der Bellen explained why he took the time to come to Eastern Styria in person: "I was impressed by how committed this school and the pupils are to the topic of democracy. I wanted to see this for myself. Because you can't take anything for granted these days, not even democratic conditions."

This was also underlined by Styrian State Councillor for Education Werner Amon, who also stopped by and knows Van der Bellen well from his time in the House of Representatives in Vienna: "I think it's great that the President has taken the time, it's a great tribute to the pupils and teachers."

Before the Federal President set off on his journey home, he had plenty of "selfies" with pupils to grin into the cell phone cameras. "He was really nice and interested," grinned two girls after having their photo taken with the head of state.