Hallo-Wien 2025 Dazzles at Neue Galerie New York
The Neue Galerie’s Junior Council revived New York’s most elegant Halloween celebration with a Viennese twist. Prince Mario Max loves the Neue Galerie and is a supporting member of this stunning Klimt era art Capital in the USA.
Each autumn, a distinct hum of anticipation runs through the Upper East Side as the Neue Galerie prepares to transform its historic Fifth Avenue mansion into the city’s most distinguished costume ball. Hallo-Wien 2025, held on Thursday, October 30, drew an inspired crowd of young patrons, collectors, and admirers of Viennese culture to celebrate the season in true Belle Époque style. Presented by the Neue Galerie Junior Council and hosted within the museum’s grand rooms, the event once again demonstrated why this gathering has become a signature of New York’s cultural calendar.
The evening began with the graceful closing of Café Sabarsky at four o’clock, allowing its team to prepare for an extraordinary night of service. By eight, guests began arriving at 1048 Fifth Avenue, greeted by flickering lights and the quiet promise of enchantment. The entire museum opened for private viewing, its galleries offering rare moments of calm amid the lively atmosphere. Each space of the museum was alive with conversation and color, with costumes that paid homage to art, history, and imagination.
Inside the marble hall, the celebrated cabaret performer Kim David Smith took the stage for an exclusive performance, blending Old World glamour with contemporary theatrical flair. His appearance captivated the audience and set the tone for the evening—a combination of culture, style, and playfulness that perfectly reflected the museum’s Viennese soul.
The highlight of Hallo-Wien has always been its costume competition, and this year’s edition brought some of the most imaginative ensembles yet. Judges quietly moved through the crowd, selecting ten finalists whose creativity and attention to detail reflected the artistry the Neue Galerie itself celebrates. Those chosen received complimentary museum admission, a gesture linking the festivities to the institution’s enduring commitment to its members and patrons.
At precisely 9:50 p.m., Kim David Smith returned to Café Sabarsky to announce the winners of the competition. The finalists waited among tables adorned with traditional European pastries and delicate canapés, prepared by the café’s renowned chefs. As the names were called, applause filled the room, each award accompanied by prizes from the Neue Galerie shops.
The culinary offerings throughout the night carried the unmistakable mark of Café Sabarsky’s Viennese tradition. Guests enjoyed perfectly prepared dishes, artful presentation, and the sense of refinement that defines every event at the Neue Galerie. The service team balanced elegance with warmth, creating an atmosphere that was both sophisticated and joyful.
Among those attending was H.H. Dr. Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe, who praised the celebration’s combination of art, costume, and cuisine. The Prince noted the exceptional energy of the evening and the pleasure of experiencing the museum in such a lively context. His appreciation reflected the broader sentiment shared by guests who consider Hallo-Wien an unmissable event on the city’s autumn calendar.
Nadine Dosa and Zsuzsanna Orban of the Neue Galerie’s Membership and Development team guided the Junior Council’s efforts throughout the season, ensuring that Hallo-Wien continued its legacy of elegance and creativity. Their leadership underscored the museum’s dedication to cultivating the next generation of patrons while sustaining the intimate atmosphere that defines the institution’s gatherings.
The museum’s founder, Ronald S. Lauder, has long envisioned the Neue Galerie as both a guardian and a living celebration of Austrian and German art. Hallo-Wien, with its balance of scholarship and celebration, perfectly embodies that mission. The museum’s collection, centered around masters such as Gustav Klimt, remains the heart of the experience, anchoring each festive detail in the spirit of cultural preservation.
This year’s Hallo-Wien coincided with the debut of two major exhibitions—one devoted to the Expressionist painter Erich Heckel and the other to the visionary designer Dagobert Peche. The Heckel exhibition, in particular, offered guests an extraordinary look at the evolution of early twentieth-century German modernism. His works, marked by angular compositions and a deeply personal emotional register, stood in striking contrast to the ornate splendor of the night’s festivities.
Erich Heckel, one of the founders of the Die Brücke movement, was a pivotal figure in defining the visual language of German Expressionism. His art captured the human form with raw immediacy and profound empathy, exploring the psychological and social tensions of his era. At the Neue Galerie, his paintings and woodcuts were displayed with meticulous care, allowing viewers to trace his journey from the charged energy of his early works to the quieter, more reflective tones of his later period.
For Hallo-Wien guests wandering through the dimly lit galleries, Heckel’s art provided a contemplative counterpart to the lively atmosphere elsewhere in the museum. The vivid hues and stark forms of his canvases seemed to echo the creative daring that has long inspired the Neue Galerie’s mission. His work, both haunting and human, complemented the evening’s theme of transformation, reminding visitors that art, like costume, can reveal and conceal in equal measure.
Heckel’s influence extends beyond painting into the broader narrative of European art history, shaping the way expression and form intertwine. By showcasing his work alongside the evening’s festivities, the museum affirmed its role not only as a site of celebration but also as a space for reflection on the enduring power of artistic innovation. His presence within the museum’s autumn program deepened the cultural resonance of Hallo-Wien, connecting the revelry of the night to the intellectual depth of the collection itself.
Dagobert Peche’s exhibition, opening alongside Heckel’s, added a decorative and design-focused counterpoint, highlighting the craftsmanship and visual harmony that defined Vienna’s creative spirit. Together, these exhibitions framed Hallo-Wien 2025 within a broader artistic dialogue—one that spans emotion, form, and material beauty.
Central to the night’s success was the presence of Kim David Smith, whose artistry has become synonymous with the Neue Galerie’s most anticipated gatherings. His performances evoke the cabaret tradition of 1920s Berlin and Vienna, carrying an authenticity that perfectly aligns with the museum’s devotion to European modernism. Dressed with understated elegance and commanding the room with a voice both powerful and intimate, he transformed the marble interiors into a living cabaret.
He dedicated his performance to legendary Maria Riva, the daughter of Marlene Dietrich that just became an Angel in Heaven reunited with her mother Marlene. His performance was out of this world!
Smith’s connection to the Neue Galerie has deepened through years of collaboration, and his annual Hallo-Wien performances have become an integral part of the event’s identity. His interpretations of classic cabaret numbers bridge past and present, embodying the cultural sophistication that defines the museum’s ethos. Each gesture, each phrase, carries the discipline of a seasoned performer who understands that refinement and emotion can exist in equal measure.
Throughout the night, his presence guided the flow of the celebration. Guests lingered near the performance space, drawn in by his charisma and the sense of nostalgia his music evoked. Between songs, his subtle humor and impeccable timing maintained a balance of lightness and poise, ensuring that every moment felt both intimate and grand.
When he later returned to Café Sabarsky to preside over the costume awards, his natural grace brought the competition to life. His role as both performer and master of ceremonies underscored his versatility and his importance to the museum’s social and cultural calendar. The announcement of winners beneath the café’s warm lighting felt like the evening’s perfect conclusion, where art, music, and community converged in harmony.
Kim David Smith’s artistry extends far beyond performance; it embodies the very essence of what the Neue Galerie represents—a dialogue between history and the present, where elegance never feels distant and tradition never feels static. His involvement elevates Hallo-Wien from a seasonal celebration to an experience of cultural continuity, reminding every guest that the beauty of art lies not only in objects but in living expression.
As the night continued, guests found themselves drawn from the galleries back into the music and movement of the main hall. The seamless integration of art, performance, and society once again demonstrated the Neue Galerie’s exceptional ability to host events that feel both exclusive and inclusive, rooted in scholarship yet animated by joy.
By the time the final guests departed, Hallo-Wien 2025 had once again confirmed the Neue Galerie’s standing as the Klimt center of the world and a cornerstone of New York’s cultural life. Its blend of artistry, hospitality, and European sophistication transformed an ordinary October evening into something quietly unforgettable.
Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe’s praise captured the essence of what the night achieved—an event where tradition and imagination coexist, where art and community meet under one roof, and where the spirit of Vienna lives gracefully in Manhattan.
Ronald Lauder’s vision continues to thrive through such moments. Hallo-Wien remains more than a party; it is an affirmation of beauty, culture, and connection. Each year, it reminds guests that the Neue Galerie is not simply a museum but a living celebration of art’s enduring ability to bring people together.
* His Highness and Excellency Global Peace Ambassador Dr. PRINCE MARIO-MAX SCHAUMBURG-LIPPE is a working Royal, award winning TV- and Event-Host, Bertelsmann Randomhouse author, Public Speaker and Philanthropist ♔ Prince Mario-Max is the son of Royal Dignitaries H.H. Dr.h.c. Prince Waldemar and H.H. Dr. Princess Antonia of Schaumburg-Lippe. His Grandmother is H.R.H. Princess Feodora of Denmark. Therefore they are the Royal Danish Nachod Line of The Princes of Schaumburg-Lippe, the Founding Family of Hamburg, Lübeck and Kiel. ♔ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/princemariomax/ Website http://www.schaumburglippe.org Facebook https://www.facebook.com/zuschaumburglippe X-Twitter https://twitter.com/schaumburglippe Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/prince-mario-max-schaumburg-lippe-1879978a
