KDZ celebrated its 55th anniversary on 13 November 2024 in Vienna's Rathauskeller with numerous guests. Vice President Werner Krammer, Mayor of Waidhofen an der Ybbs, was able to welcome numerous guests of honour on behalf of President Mathias Stadler, Mayor of St. Pölten, numerous guests of honour, in particular Ernst Woller, First President of the Provincial Parliament of the City of Vienna, Johannes Pressl, President of the Austrian Association of Municipalities, Maria Ulmer, Head of the Budget Section in the Federal Ministry of Finance (on behalf of all representatives from ministries), Mario Abl and Markus Vogl - on behalf of all mayors, Dietmar Griebler, municipal director of the City of Vienna (on behalf of all municipal directors and department heads) as well as numerous members of the KDZ Board, KDZ members, honorary members and members of the Board of Trustees.
On behalf of the host, Mayor Michael Ludwig, Thomas Weninger, Chairman of the KDZ Association Board and Managing Director of the Austrian Association of Cities and Towns, opened the anniversary celebration and looked back on 55 years of KDZ in his speech, highlighting special success stories such as internationalisation in addition to the work for the Austrian administration, especially for the cities and municipalities. Moderator Alexandra Schantl then asked the two managing directors Peter Biwald and Thomas Prorok about the history of the KDZ. Peter Biwald looked back on the most important events in 55 years and highlighted particularly successful projects such as the establishment of citizen service centres, the expertise on municipal finances and financial equalisation that the company developed itself and the establishment of the transparency platform www.offenerhaushalt.at. Thomas Prorok emphasised the success story of the KDZ and gave the 150 or so guests an insight into the future plans of the KDZ. In particular, the KDZ wants to lead the way with innovations in the public sector, promote transparency, strengthen sustainability, drive forward internationalisation and expand its own networks at all levels.
Photos (Markus Wache) of the anniversary event can be seen here.
