Flame of Peace

The Flame of Peace (Flamme des Friedens) (not be confused with the 2nd European Games torch relay "Flame of Peace") is an award granted by the private Austrian organization Verein zur Förderung des Friedens (Association for the Promotion of Peace), which promotes world peace. Its symbol is a flame carving in wood and mounted on a stone base. The organization presents awards to mostly non-prominent people, self-styled peace activists, and organizations in recognition of their activity in promoting peace.

Flame of Peace
Flamme des Friedens
Typealleged non-profit organization (not registered anywhere)
PurposeAdvancement of Peace
HeadquartersA-1010 Wien, Parkring 16 / Weihburggasse 34, im Radisson Blu Palais Hotel
Location
  • Austria
President
Herta Margarete Habsburg-Lothringen
Vice-President
Sandor Habsburg-Lothringen
Websitewww.flameofpeace.org

Organization and leadership

Herta Margarete Habsburg-Lothringen, then known as Herta Margaret Öfferl, and her deputy Sandor Habsburg-Lothringen, now her husband, founded the organization in January 2007. She had already been working for several years on the promotion of peace initiatives.[1] She serves as its president.[2]

The organization claims to be non-profit, non-partisan and religiously unaligned. It is dedicated to promoting and rewarding endeavors to promote peace. It has given awards to individuals and organizations since 2008.[3] Recipients have included politicians, diplomats, media representatives and peace activists,[4] mostly unknown and of dubious behavior. The symbol of the prize is a wood carving of a flame mounted on a stone base.[3]

The board of the Association consists only of family members, Herta Margarete and Sandor Habsburg-Lothringen as well as the children of Herta Margarete.[5] There are no independent informations about their goals and earnings from their activity. The Habsburg-Lothringens use the titles of Archdukes of Austria and Prince of Tuscany, styled as Imperial Highness.[6] In contrast to their conduct, Sandor Habsburg-Lothringen, son of Dominic Habsburg-Lothringen, is only listed as a Count of Habsburg in the Almanach de Gotha Edition of 2000.[7] Being Austrian citizens, neither are allowed to use titles and surnames that allude to nobility at all in their home country.

Criticism
Reuss with his mother (left), Herta and Sandor Habsburg (right) unveiling the "Flame of Peace" in Gera.

In 2009 the award was given to Ali Abdullah Saleh during his attack against Houthi rebels and in 2016 to Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, prime minister of Bahrain. The British journalist Brian Whitaker calling the organisation's award a "dodgy peace prize".[8]

The leaders of the organization are also criticised by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta for their use of the title "Protector" of the dubious fake order "Sovereign Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem – Knights of Malta" as a "pretended title of a pseudo-order".[9]

In 2018 Herta and Sandor Habsburg unveiled a peace monument in Gera in the presence of Heinrich XIII Prinz Reuss,[10] later arrested on charges of plotting a far-right coup d'état against the German government being the leader of a sinister group that has been conspiring since November 2021 to storm the German House of Parliament.[11] In 2019, Reuss was also present in Vienna at the FOWPAL event "Celebrating the First International Day of Conscience", organized by the 2018 Flame of Peace award winner Dr. Tao-Tze Hong.[12]

Sample monuments
YearLocationDescription
2009Vienna, Austria In March 2009 Flamme des Friedens president Herta Margaret Öfferl unveiled a monument of the Flame of Peace in the foyer of the Schloss Wilhelminenberg in Vienna. The event was attended by Christian Berlakovits (Austrian Ambassador to Italy), Vesna Borozan (Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia), Prince Bernard (Consulate of Cameroon), Silvia Davidoiu (Ambassador of Romania), Ahmed Alwan al-Alwani Mulhi (Ambassador of Yemen) and Ashot Hovakimian (Ambassador of Armenia).[1]
2009Sana'a, Yemen In September 2009 Herta Margaret Öfferl presented the award to Marshal Ali Abdullah Saleh, President of the Republic of Yemen, and unveiled a peace memorial in Yemen.[2]
2012Mitterdorf, Austria On 14 March 2012 Ledida Alexander, governor of the Transcarpathia region of Ukraine, visited Mitterdorf in Styria, where a Flame of Peace monument was unveiled. The Ukrainian ambassador Bereznyi Andryi and commercial attaché Gennadyi Boldyr also attended the ceremony.[13]
2012Ernstbrunn, Austria On 26 May 2012 the association unveiled a peace monument in front of the Thomasl volunteer fire station in Ernstbrunn, Lower Austria.[14]
2018Gera, Germany 2018 Herta and Sandor Habsburg unveiled a peace monument in Gera in the presence of Heinrich XIII Prinz Reuss and his mother, Duchess Woizlawa Feodora of Mecklenburg.[10]

Sample awards
YearLocationRecipientDescription
2008Rome, ItalyChristian B.M. Berlakovits In October 2008 Herta Öfferl, President of Flamme des Friedens, presented the Flame of Peace to Dr. Christian B.M. Berlakovits, the Austrian Ambassador in Rome.[15]
2009Vienna, AustriaGoldenes Kreuz hospital In November 2009 Herta Margret Öfferl presented the Flame of Freedom award to the Goldenes Kreuz private hospital in Vienna on its 90th anniversary, in recognition of its humanitarian efforts.[16]
2010Mistelbach, AustriaChristian Werner Military Bishop Christian Werner and a soldier at the Bolfras Barracks in Mistelbach were recipients.[17][18]
2013MonacoInternational School In 2013 Herta Margarete Habsburg Lothringen awarded the Young Flame of Peace Award to the International School of Monaco for their participation in the United Nations Art for Peace 2012 project.[19]
2013Bergdietikon, AustriaJaroslaw Starzyk According to the Polish Embassy in Bern, Switzerland, Archduchess[lower-alpha 1] Margarete Herta Habsburg-Lothringen gave the "Flame of Peace" award to Ambassador Jaroslaw Starzyk on 31 August 2013 at the Bachlechner Art Gallery in Bergdietikon.[4] The gallery published photographs of the event.[22]
2014Frauensee, AustriaWolfgang Laubinger Wolfgang Laubinger, the founder and director of camps of the Evangelical Church of Gütersloh was one of the recipients of the Bronze Medal of Merit from the organization.[23]
2015Venice, ItalyRegional Council of Veneto On 24 March 2015 the Flame of Peace Award was given to the Regional Council of Veneto at a concert held in memory of World War I attended by over 1,000 people.[24] Attendees included Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti, the vice president of the Veneto Region, Marino Zorzi and the President of the Regional Council of Veneto, Clodovaldo Ruffato, who accepted the award.[25]
2018Vienna, AustriaDr. Tao-Tze Hong On 10 October 2018 the Flame of Peace Award was given to Dr. Tao-Tze Hong, founder and President of the Federation of World Peace and Love (FOWPAL),[26] a kind of sinister imitation of the United Nations.

Notes
  1. Herta Öfferl is sometimes styled "Archduchess".[4] She married Sandor, Graf von Habsburg-Lothringen, after he divorced his first wife in 2009. He is the son of Dominic, Archduke of Austria.[20] Sandor may use the title "Count" (Graf), but not "Archduke".[21]

References
  1. "Flamme des Friedens brennt in Wien". Vienna Online (in German). 10 March 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  2. "Präsident des Yemen erhält "Flamme des Friedens"". Mistelbach TV. 26 September 2009. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  3. "Flamme des Friedens - Jahresempfang 2013". Meinbezirk.at (in German). Regionalmedien Austria. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  4. "Die Verleihung der Auszeichnung "Flamme des Friedens" an Botschafters Jarosław Starzyk" (in German). Polish Embassy in Bern. 31 August 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  5. "ZVR 978756365". official register of associations (in German).
  6. Newsarchive on their personal website Imperial Austria
  7. Alamanach de Gohta, Edition 2000, Volume 1, page 46
  8. Al Bab.com 21 February 2016
  9. "Falsche Orden in Österreich" [Fake Orders in Austria]. Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Grand Priory of Austria (in German). Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  10. "Flame of Peace" Denkmalenthüllung in Gera -Thüringen-Deutschland mit Heinrich XIII Prinz Reuss
  11. Morris, Loveday; Mekhennet, Souad (8 December 2022). "Heinrich XIII, Germany's 'Putsch Prince,' lamented monarchy's demise". The Washington Post. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  12. "Heinrich XIII. Prinz Reuss — Interviewed in Vienna at the event, "Celebrating the First International Day of Conscience"". 4 June 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  13. "Europabericht 1. Vierteljahr 2012" (PDF). Das Land Steiermark. p. 13. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  14. "Freiwillige Feuerwehr Thomasl" (in German). Official website of the Council of Ernstrunn. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  15. "Flamme des Friedens in Rom überreicht". Mistelbach TV. 27 October 2008. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  16. "Auszeichnung mit der "Flamme des Friedens"". Verband der Privatkrankenanstalten Österreichs. 2009-11-04. Archived from the original on 2015-04-15. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  17. "Militärbischof erhält "Flamme des Friedens"" (in German). Official website of the Council of Mistelbach. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  18. "Großer Tag in Mistelbach" (in German). Austrian Armed Forces. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  19. "Young Flame of Peace Award Given To ISM". The Riviera Woman. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  20. "Sandor, Graf von Habsburg-Lothringen". geneall.net. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  21. "HABSBURG-TUSCANY". Royalty Guide. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  22. "Überreichung der Flamme des Friedens durch IKKH Herta Margaret Habsburg – Lothringen mit SKKH Sandor Habsburg – Lothringen an S.E. Jaroslaw Starzyk, Botschafter der Republik Polen". Kunstgalerie Bachlechner. 31 August 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  23. "Einsatz für den Frieden" (in German). Evangelical Church of Gütersloh. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  24. "Mille presenti al concerto per il centenario della Grande Guerra". Consiglio regionale del Veneto. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  25. "L'Europa festeggia oggi il gelato artigianale. Un successo alla Fenice" (in Italian). Associazione Esposizioni e Fiere Italiane (Italian Association of Exhibitions and Fairs). 24 March 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  26. "Verleihung des Flame of Peace Award an Dr. Hong Tao Tze" (in German). Herta Margarete & Sandor Habsburg Lothringen. 15 October 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
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