Turbulent night

Fortunately, New Year’s Eve is not for another 363 days

(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

New Year's Eve 2024/25 brought the dreaded headlines: Injuries from firecrackers, attacks on police officers, devastating fires, a dead pedestrian. Even if the majority of Styrians behave sensibly, the extent of unreasonableness is always astonishing. And yet we should not lose sight of the bright spots. A personal New Year review. 

If you're on online duty on the morning of January 1st like the author of these lines, you can't expect a peaceful start to the new year. There were several devastating fires (which dwarfed the many smaller fire department operations), constant violations of the pyrotechnics rules, nine (!) police officers injured and 16 driving licenses confiscated. And in Ennstal, a 23-year-old injured himself because he put a firecracker in a bottle, which then exploded. 

Every year, the last night of the year is turbulent and tragic. Faith in people's common sense can be lost at first glance, as warnings and appeals abound in the run-up to New Year's Eve.

Fortunately, however, there are also rays of hope that make us look forward to 2025: New Year's baby Luisa was born five minutes after midnight in Judenburg, sleeping peacefully in her mother's arms at the "Krone" photo shoot. Thousands celebrated the turn of the year peacefully at the New Year's Eve spectacle on Graz's main square. And the New Year's concert is a reliable source of happiness in the country anyway. 

This makes it easier to implement the New Year's resolution to assess the present with more optimism and less pessimism. New Year's Eve is not for another 363 days. And perhaps someone else from our team will be doing the New Year's early shift then.

I wish you a peaceful 2nd January!