432 waltz couples in dirndls and lederhosen in Graz, a 113 mm long and 81 mm wide strawberry from Burgenland or a gymnastics class with about 71,500 participants: all these records were certified last year by the “Rekord Institut Österreich”. In the case of the 864 women and men who hit the dance floor in mid-September, it was even a world record. A total of 63 records were certified.
Herbert König from Gmund brought the platform to life in 2020. There you will find information about the largest Advent market, the largest wind music festival, the largest solstice festival and Austria’s largest traditional costume and Oktoberfest festival.
Songs, locomotives, newspapers, wooden stairs and waterfalls
Other recorded records are the most famous Christmas carol “Silent Night”, the Wiener Zeitung as the oldest surviving newspaper in the world (first published in 1703 as “Vienneisches Diarium”) or the world’s longest backward running on a treadmill, where Martin Trimmel from Burgenland completed it in twelve hours and “travelled” 68.5 kilometers for charity. According to the institute, the largest waterfalls (Krimmler Falls), the oldest wooden staircase (in the Hallstatt salt mines) and the largest collection of historic locomotives (Ampflwang, Upper Austria) can also be found in this country.
No less impressive are Austria’s oldest skyscraper (the 49-metre-high observatory of Kremsmünster Abbey, Upper Austria), the tallest coffee shop (Café 3440, Tiroler Wildspitzbahn mountain station) and the country’s largest wine cellar, which is under the Lower Austrian wine town of Retz.
Guinness World Records: £15,000 for certification
König does not see his platform as a competitor to the world-famous “Guinness Book of Records”, but rather as a simple, official and last but not least cheaper option to have records imported into Austria and German-speaking countries. London’s record collectors would demand up to £15,000 for the certification alone, and an entry in what is now the world’s second best-selling book could cost up to £1 million.
Unlike the British, the “Rekord Institut Österreich” does not have to adhere to any category for new world records. In addition, the world, European, federal state and regional archives are enriched with stories and “experiences” that invite you to explore your homeland.
But even König cannot and will not certify every record that is brought to his attention. “I have to reject about 30 percent of all record ideas,” the record curator regrets.
Incidentally, the Austrian record king’s personal favorite record is the “Low to High” world record held by Lower Austria’s Christian Bruckner, who traveled from the lowest point in Austria to the top of the Grossglockner. The competitive athlete covered the distance of almost 440 kilometers and a total altitude difference of almost 7000 meters in just 20 hours and 30 minutes swimming, climbing and cycling.
Source: Krone
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