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A Sobotka photo costing 30,000 euros—paid for by taxpayers

Even after his term in office, Wolfgang Sobotka is still ensuring that Parliament acquires expensive art.(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

Everything is getting more expensive—and apparently even in places where, despite inflation, it shouldn’t have to. In this case, in the National Council. Former National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka (ÖVP) wants to be immortalized with a photo of himself costing 30,000 euros. When asked, Parliament confirmed that a contractual agreement has been reached—and the uproar over it was likely inevitable.

Honor to whom honor is due. This also applies in the National Council. Portraits of nearly all former Presidents of the National Council are displayed in a hallway near the plenary chamber in Parliament, arranged chronologically by year in office. It is a political tradition for the second-highest-ranking officials in the state. The House of Representatives features paintings depicting such figures as Leopold Figl, Leopold Gratz, Karl Renner, and Heinz Fischer. However, not all of the more recent dignitaries have yet been immortalized in art.

Even after his term in office, Wolfgang Sobotka continues to provide costly art for Parliament.(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

Bures took care of it; Köstinger is still hesitating
Doris Bures, who served in this office fromSeptember 2014 to November 8, 2017, and currently serving only as Third President of the National Council following the SPÖ’s many losses in the elections, has already commissioned a portrait, which will be exhibited after she leaves the National Council. Her successor, short-term President Elisabeth Köstinger (Nov. 9–Dec. 17, 2017), has not yet claimed her honors.

The portraits of the First Presidents of the National Council in Parliament:

Things are now getting serious for Köstinger’s successor, Wolfgang Sobotka. The combative ÖVP politician has always been known for his expensive artistic touches in the National Council; he rented a golden piano at a total cost of 36,000 euros, which he returned after one year. And, much to the annoyance of many taxpayers, on the second-to-last day of his term, he purchased sculptures by the artist Erwin Wurm for an additional 271,000 euros.

It was a purchase that Harald Dossi, the long-serving Parliamentary Director who recently retired, initially refused to approve for legal reasons but was then forced to do so on instructions (Dossi’s only such directive in all those years under many presidents). And a purchase that— as the “Krone” reported —FPÖ National Council President Walter Rosenkranz had reversed. Now, however, it will once again cost the Republic dearly.

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That’s because Sobotka intends to fully exhaust the allocated budget of 30,000 euros for his portrait. And not for a painted work, but for a photograph taken by his apparent favorite artist, Erwin Wurm. When asked, Parliament confirmed that a contractual agreement has been reached—but it does not involve a painted portrait or a sculpture, but rather just a photograph. Apparently, taxpayers will even be charged extra for transportation costs and taxes. The work is to be hung within three months.