A carnival event in Pöham, a town in the Pongau region of Salzburg, has sparked widespread condemnation and legal consequences after groups of attendees wore costumes referencing the Ku Klux Klan and Nazi ideology.
According to local reports, several young men and women aged between 20 and 30 arrived at the event on Saturday night dressed in white robes and hoods, resembling the infamous white supremacist Ku Klux Klan. A student and member of the costume award committee confronted the group and was told they “knew exactly how far they could go.” With help from security, the group was escorted out of the main hall. However, some members were later allowed to re-enter the event without their costumes, a decision the student criticized.
Shortly afterward, another group appeared dressed in orange prison uniforms with the symbols “SS88” taped onto them, a known code in neo-Nazi circles referencing the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) and “Heil Hitler” (H is the 8th letter of the alphabet). Once they noticed the commotion, the symbols were hastily removed.
Eyewitnesses also reported that a separate individual performed the Hitler salute during the event’s cleanup. The organizers from the local music association overseeing the ball stated that the person was immediately expelled and condemned the behavior, emphasizing that a few individuals were damaging the reputation of the entire event.
Legal complaints have been filed against those involved.
No Room for Misinterpretation
Salzburg University historian Christoph Kühberger emphasized the seriousness of the incident. “This cannot be dismissed as carnival humor,” he said. “There is no room for interpretation; these are deliberate references to racist and Nazi ideologies. This was open racism and an attempt to make such views socially acceptable under the guise of festivity.”
Kühberger warned of a “new dimension” in such displays, not just isolated actions, but coordinated efforts that ignore Austria’s Verbotsgesetz, the law prohibiting Nazi glorification and propaganda.
Rise in Right-Wing Extremism in Salzburg
The incident comes amid a concerning rise in far-right activity in the region. A recent report on right-wing extremism revealed that Salzburg, along with Vorarlberg, had the highest per-capita rate of far-right incidents in Austria in 2024, both seeing their numbers double compared to 2021.
Just weeks earlier, a man in Salzburg was convicted for wearing a Ku Klux Klan “White Power” T-shirt at a gym and for displaying a version of the German Reich eagle (minus the swastika) on his car.
Authorities, civil society, and academics alike are warning that trivializing or ignoring such acts, especially in public and celebratory settings, poses a significant threat to social cohesion and democracy.
