Remarkable donation

Between the tuning fork and the bloody needle

The Red Cross is always urgently looking for blood donors (symbolic image).(Bild: Uta Rojsek-Wiedergut)

Heinrich Strießnig from Klagenfurt has already donated his blood a remarkable 150 times, saving the lives of several people. The gifted singer would like to encourage Carinthians to donate blood.

Heinrich Strießnig had his blood taken for the first time during his basic military service. "That was in 1972," says the Klagenfurt native in an interview with "Krone": "And at some point it just became the norm." Over the past decades, the now 72-year-old has visited the Red Cross blood donation center in Grete-Bittner-Straße in Klagenfurt on average three times a year. And the pensioner was even honored for this commitment. "I recently received the medal for the 150th blood donation," says the former employee of the Carinthian military command.

There are not many Carinthians who have donated blood as often as Heinrich Strießnig. The man from Klagenfurt has had his blood drawn by doctors 150 times.(Bild: zVg)

But it wasn't always easy for Strießnig to find time to donate blood. As a singer, he toured all over the world for decades with the legendary Carinthian double sextet. "We traveled to almost every continent and were also once on the Musikantenstadl," Strießnig reminisces.

Between his work, singing and traveling, it was always a matter of course for him to donate blood. "I did it for a very simple reason: out of love for people."

I've always done it for a very simple reason: out of love for people. After all, you're doing something good and making a valuable contribution.

Heinrich Strießnig, Klagenfurt

Because the 72-year-old is no longer allowed to donate blood himself, the man from Klagenfurt wants to encourage other people to donate. "Many are afraid of the needle. I've had big, strong men just fall over next to me. But at the end of the day, nobody needs to be afraid. After all, you're doing something good and making a valuable contribution to your fellow human beings."