VIENNESE-WALTZ

Alfred Gruber Gedächtnispokal
Alfred Gruber Challenge Cup

The very first Viennese Waltz Championship took place on Feb 18th, 1967, on the occasion of the “100 years Viennese Waltz” festival. 40 couples participated in this first competition. At this time, the discussion whether the Viennese Waltz should be included in the international program of standard dances was just at it’s peak.

Alfred Gruber, the President of the Austrian DanceSport Federation at the time, came up with the idea of organizing this competition. It was his achievement to inspire those responsible in the municipality of Vienna, and since then, the Culture Department of the municipality supports this event.

Since 1994, the Viennese Waltz Championship is called “Open to the World” and the best Austrian couple is awarded with the Alfred-Gruber Challenge Cup.