Richard Lugner is missing

Before the Opera Ball: Oh, how we miss Mörtel

For many semesters, this is the first Opera Ball they will experience without Richard Lugner. Reason enough to celebrate the king of self-promotion and fat puddles.

It should all have started in 1991 with diva Gina Lollobrigida. The war in Iraq caused the Opera Ball to be canceled, but could not prevent Mörtel's success story. Because with star guest Harry Belafonte (according to reports, Richard Lugner only had to pay for the flight and expenses at the time), the love story between him and the state guard began after all.

From a saucy dance with George Clooney's ex Elisabetta Canalis, to Ruby Rubacuori (then involved in Berlusconi's Bunga Bunga scandal), Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton, and finally Priscilla Presley - Lugner had them all.

Lugner with the Italian Ornella Muti(Bild: AP/Ronald Zak)

As his guests' fees rose, so did his popularity with the people. Perhaps not so much in the oh-so-fine society. But that didn't bother Lugner at all until the very end, with all of his slip-ups and blunders. On the contrary, almost everyone liked his manner, in which he always remained at eye level with his counterparts. We will miss him.

PS: He then got Lollobrigida as a guest at the Staatsgewalze in 2013.