The Vatican army contributes to Pope Benedict XVI’s funeral. on Thursdays harnesses and helmets “made in Austria”. A “good feeling” for the Schmidberger family business from Upper Austria.
It is a real generational project that the Schmidberger family from Molln in Upper Austria has led: For ten years, the sons Johann and Georg worked with their father on 80 armours, helmets, etc. for the Swiss Guard. “We are a small family business. We need 100 hours for normal armor and up to 400 for officer armor,” says Johann Schmidberger. The 40-year-old has been a guest at the Vatican twenty times in recent years.
Incidentally, the 200-year-old traditional blacksmith owes the commission to the late Pope Benedict. The province of Styria gave him the restoration of the armor by the provincial armory in Graz for his visit to Mariazell in 2007. “But the armor was too old.” It was made for soldiers who were about five feet tall – these days you have to be taller than five feet to even become a guard.
New armament was needed
“The old armor belonged in the museum. We got the order through our contacts with the restaurateurs in Graz.” First they had to make four harnesses for testing – only then did it become clear who the customer was.
“Something Very Special”
Johann Schmidberger will certainly attend the pope’s funeral on Thursday. “Just like all other major events with the Swiss Guard. For us as a small village blacksmith it is something very special when millions of people see our work. It is a really nice feeling.”
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
