After being fired

Hofreitschule: Former boss sues and makes allegations

Former Spanish Riding School Director Alfred Hudler(Bild: Krone KREATIV/© srs/renevanbakel.photo, Klemens Groh)

In September, Alfred Hudler was dismissed without notice. Now the former managing director is suing in the Labor and Social Court. At stake is not only a high six-figure euro sum, but also explosive allegations: massive pressure from the ministry. The “Krone” knows the details.

The dismissal of the former managing director of the Spanish Riding School, Alfred Hudler, is increasingly turning into a politically explosive case. In a lawsuit filed in mid-March with the Labor and Social Court in Vienna, according to “Krone” reports, Hudler paints a picture of a dismissal carried out under massive pressure from the Ministry of Agriculture. In total, the amount in question is more than half a million euros that the manager would still be entitled to under his contract with the world-renowned cultural institution, which runs until the end of 2027.

“Get rid of him…”
The affair was triggered by alleged discrepancies surrounding travel and expense reports starting in late June 2025, which were raised in a highly publicized manner. These led to internal and external audits, including one by PwC. However, according to the lawsuit, the results are clear: “no evidence” could be identified that would suggest “systematically false” expense reports. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Agriculture is alleged to have exerted “enormous pressure on the supervisory board” of the Spanish Riding School “long before any conclusive audit results were available.” A high-ranking official is said to have made the following statement to an auditor in typical Viennese slang: “Kick him (Hudler, note) out, then let him sue, and if he wins, he’ll get a lot of money and won’t have to work.” 

In fact, Hudler was dismissed without notice in September 2025. Suddenly, it was no longer about expenses. The new justification was that the managing director had not adequately supervised the cultural institution’s finance department. Hudler disputes this and points out that he had been working with an external consulting firm on further improvements to the internal control system as early as 2023. Audits in 2024 also found no issues. A long-time senior finance employee had become increasingly overwhelmed in the final months of his tenure, but the ministry had pushed for a sort of soft exit in this case, as they wanted to avoid negative public headlines.

Former Riding School Director Alfred Hudler(Bild: Krone KREATIV/© srs/renevanbakel.photo, Klemens Groh)

Press release prior to the decision
Particularly sensitive is the described sequence of events surrounding Hudler’s dismissal: According to the lawsuit, the dismissal was publicly announced even before the supervisory board had allegedly passed a corresponding resolution. It was only after the Ministry’s press release that the decision was formally made by the supervisory board. And a few hours later, the chairman of the supervisory board reportedly told the staff that Hudler had “done nothing wrong.”

Ministry points to Supervisory Board
The Ministry of Agriculture stated the following regarding the former managing director’s lawsuit: The former Supervisory Board of the Spanish Riding School informed the Ministry on July 25, 2025, that it had concluded it was necessary to “remove and dismiss” the incumbent managing director from his position. The former supervisory board reportedly justified this step by stating that, in the course of an investigation into previously known suspicions, “other serious misconduct” had come to light. Consequently, the Ministry commissioned an internal audit. Following the review, the audit reports were handed over to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Financial Procurator’s Office. No further comments could be made regarding “ongoing proceedings.”

The Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office has since dropped most of the charges against Alfred Hudler. A final sub-case concerns an alleged special grant of two million euros that may have been misused. However, the Spanish Riding School—which traditionally operates at a significant deficit—has stated that the use of these funds is also well documented.