Title brought to Lower Austria

World champion! Florist “gilds” floral art

Won the title as the world's best florist: Manuel Bender.(Bild: Florian Wieser)

Success at a professional competition: Manuel Bender brought the WorldSkills title to Lower Austria. The graduate of the Langenlois technical college prevailed against 20 international competitors. 

Manuel Bender likes to put it bluntly. And he did so extremely successfully: the young graduate of the Langenlois technical college won the World Champion title as best florist for Austria. As he had already done at the European and national championships, this time he was able to beat 20 top competitors in France.

Successful title fight: Provincial Councillor Christiane Teschl-Hofmeister congratulates the newly crowned world champion Manuel Bender(Bild: Jürgen Mück)

(Bild: Imre Antal)

For four days, the young Lower Austrian had to create a total of nine floral workpieces according to very specific specifications at the international WorldSkills competition in Lyon. These ranged from a hand-tied bouquet of flowers to vessel fillings, bridal jewelry and room decorations.

World championship of the professions
"It was a great experience for me and I learned a lot," explains Bender. He is currently demonstrating his world championship skills at the Schick flower arranging company in Wiener Neustadt. "It's impressive to see how young professionals excel in their profession with the knowledge and skills they have learned at the Langenlois Horticultural School," said Christiane Teschl-Hofmeister, State Councillor for Education, congratulating him on his World Championship title.