70 years ago

The birth of the Lions in Carinthia

Heimo Kramer took over as Klagenfurt Lions President from Andreas Lechner at Schloss Mageregg in 2023.

(Bild: Lions)

In 1954, the LC Klagenfurt was founded as the first Lions Club in Carinthia. This year, the lions with the big hearts are celebrating 70 years of helping not only in their own region, but also beyond its borders. The "Krone" looks back.

The American Melvin Jones is the founding father of the international Lions movement. It was thanks to his dynamic personality that the Lions Club International was founded in Chicago in 1917. Today, there are more than 1.4 million Lions around the world who are committed to helping people in need in line with their motto "we serve".

Austria's second oldest club
Carinthia even plays an important role for Austria, as the first Carinthian Lions Club, LC Klagenfurt, was founded on May 26, 1954, making it the second oldest club in Austria after LC Graz (1952)! There are now 26 clubs in Carinthia, which provide rapid, unbureaucratic help not only in their own regions, but also beyond their borders. And this must be celebrated this year.

Max Schmid, Carinthia's regional building director, was the founding president of LC Klagenfurt - 20 Lions attended the charter night in 1954.

(Bild: Lions)

The founding president of LC Klagenfurt, which held its Charter Night at Velden Castle in 1954, was Hofrat Max Schmid, Carinthia's regional building director. Hans Jordan, former head of the WIFI, joined the club in 1959. He passed away in 2018 and was the last Lion to live to see all the founding members. Together with architect Karl Müller, who passed away in 2021, Jordan holds the record for the longest club membership in Carinthia with 59 years.

Other founding members were: Binder, Dolenc, Egger, Hitz, Hofbauer, Jungfer, Kabath, Löscher, Mayer, Müller F., Moro, Neumann, Pogatschnig, Prinz, Rittler, Sacher, Weißmann, Welley.

President has an honorable task
As the current president of LC Klagenfurt, architect Heimo Kramer has the honor of officially recognizing the birth of the Lions in Carinthia: "Together with all Carinthian clubs, we will celebrate the 70th anniversary on Saturday at the Parkhotel Pörtschach. We will use the net proceeds from the celebration to support three important projects this year: the construction of a Lions drinking fountain in Klagenfurt, the expansion of the Lions stem cell database and help for families in need."

Charity concert with Thorsteinn Einarsson
Other events will also take place in the anniversary year. Kramer: "A special highlight will be the charity concert on July 10 with Thorsteinn Einarsson at the Finkenstein castle ruins."