“Heads of the Year 2022”: These are the winners of the Graz region and the surrounding area

In 2022, the Kleine Zeitung was again looking for people who have shaped the region and society with great commitment and great achievements and put them in the spotlight. 35 “Heads of the Year” were nominated with the participation of our readers. Exciting weeks followed, with the people of Graz voting for their favorites online and by letter. Then, on Wednesday evening, the big moment: The winners in seven categories were presented at a festive gala. Numerous guests gathered in the Skyroom of the Styria Media Center to applaud the winners. Stefanie Werger and Gert Steinbäcker were awarded honorary prizes by the editors of the Kleine Zeitung.

All “Heads of the Year 2022” in the region at a glance:

The most beautiful photos from the gala evening:

> Winner in the culture category: Fiston Mwanza Mujila

“There is no people without art and culture. Art expands the world. Art is a light in the darkness. Art is the other name of freedom. Art is art.” This is how Fiston Mwanza Mujila began his acceptance speech, which he transmitted to us via video from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The writer has lived in Graz since 2009, where he was initially the town clerk – but he is now in his home country to work on a project with the Forum Stadtpark, where he also heads the literature section.

Mwanza Mujila is a versatile author who writes novels, poetry and drama – in French. His debut novel “Tram 83” was highly praised in France in 2014 (“One of the most exciting discoveries of the season”, Le Monde), received several awards and was nominated for the Booker International Prize. Since then, a second novel, “Tanz der Teufel” (“Tanz der Teufel”) has been published, which was no less praised – “What a devilish ride on words, sentences, narrative threads, dreams, visions, political utopias!”, wrote the Kleine Zeitung. After the volume of poetry “Kasala for my Kaku” and the play “At the time of the Queen Mother”, the Vienna Volkstheater will soon be bringing its adaptation of Elfriede Jelinek’s “In the Alps” to the stage.

> Winners in the Newcomer category: Katharina Muhr & Marlene Znopp

Congratulations on the double! Katharina Muhr and Marlene Znopp, school friends from East Tyrol who live and work in Graz, were able to mobilize their fans in Graz this time after the 2021 head election in East Tyrol. Last year, Muhr and Znopp set up a classic shop on Leonhardstrasse in Graz alongside their online shop Minimali, which they founded in 2021. Sustainable products are sold, the motto: “Do something drastic, cut the plastic”. “With us you will find products that make it easier to switch to a plastic-free life in everyday life,” say Muhr and Znopp. It should be a switch for customers with minimal effort – hence the name of the business.

> Winner in the Economy category: Josef Mosshammer

It’s not always easy as a butcher: supermarkets are digging up the business, young people are increasingly forgoing pork, beef & Co. on their plates. So far, none of this has affected Brigitte and Josef Mosshammer. With a mixture of serenity and optimism, they have established their family business, which Josef’s father opened in Zinzendorfgasse in 1985, as an institution in Graz. In 2022, the Mosshammer was voted the best butcher shop in the country.
The family has long looked beyond the meat plate: the lunch menu is also vegetarian, there is a 24-hour machine in front of the shop and guest rooms have recently been opened.

> Winner in the entertainment category: Tom Lohner

A visual artist as an entertainer? Tom Lohner is just a colorful dog who knows no genre boundaries – and so he has not “only” made a name for himself as a painter who is also in demand internationally at art fairs such as the upcoming World Art Dubai. He is best known for his portraits of pop stars, which can also be seen in several Hard Rock Cafés – and now US stars also swear by his art. He designed an exclusive vodka bottle for Dan Aykroyd (“Blues Brothers”, “Ghostbuster”) and Joey Z. from Life of Agony recently choked on a colorful electric guitar in the Lohner design. The Graz resident also has good intentions: His David Alaba portrait was auctioned off at “Licht ins Dunkel” for 20,000 euros – the highest bid.

© Stefan Pajman

> Winner in the Social Conscience category: HAK Grazbachgasse

Instead of dry dates, it was about real fates – like that of Henriette Klugmann, who was expelled from school in 1938 and murdered in Ukraine in 1942. The current 5A class of the HAK Grazbachgasse found out with teacher Michael Luger in the last school year in the subject “Political Education and Contemporary History” what happened to 19 pupils of Jewish faith during the Nazi era – i.e. those young people who were 80 years before themselves went to school in the same house. They were supported by the Association for Memorial Culture, which has laid stumbling blocks in almost 100 places in Graz since 2013. 19 of the golden memorial sculptures now remind of 19 students on the ground. Like Henriette.

> Winner in the sports category: Mimi Sagmeister and “The One”

World Champion! That already sounds good. But now another title has been added, which the members of the hip-hop dance formation “The One” lead around trainer and dancer Mimi Sagmeister
can: “heads of the year”. Sagmeister revealed the secret of their young squad’s success shortly after winning the World Championship: “We make the audience have a good time – that’s what we’re concentrating on.” What they are also focusing on: establishing hip-hop as a serious dance sport. “You have to be very fit to dance on stage for just three minutes,” says Sagmeister. “People who try it often report moving muscles they didn’t know they had.”

> Winner in the host category: The “Hummel” team

Baba Ghanoush, Muhammara, lamb köfte with dates and yoghurt-mint dip: “We cook Levante!” has been the motto in Mariahilferstraße for almost a year. In the “Hummel” Anna Gattinger, Jana Gigerl, Simon Hauzenberger and Franz Reiter bring a bit of sun from the Levantine coast to Graz.

Four restaurateurs have teamed up for the project, who are otherwise very busy – in different constellations they have also continued the almost 90-year-old Café Fotter in Attemsgasse with great sensitivity or are taking a Lenz in Lend – that’s what it’s called the stand at Lendplatz, which is popular for its market breads, among other things. Gattinger is also a pioneer in the field of waste avoidance, she ran the first zero-waste bar in Graz with the Anna Café. This is not the only reason why sustainability is a top priority in the Hummel – this is also where the name “Hummel” comes from, which is derived from the highly endangered insect on the one hand and from “hummus” on the other.
The Hummel is not only popular for this and for the good food, but also for the cosiness and conviviality, it’s about getting together and sharing: “Food and love to share” is not printed in capital letters on the menu for nothing.

Heads of the Year: These were the winners of the last few years