(from left) Mayor Michael Ritsch, last year’s winner, Eva Fahlbusch, and Deputy Mayor Sandra Schoch at the handover of the second
©Udo Mittelberger
Bregenz (BRK) – For the second time, the state capital of Bregenz is awarding the Agathe Fessler Women’s Prize, which will be presented in the run-up to International Women’s Day on March 7, 2023 in Bregenz’s Marienheim.
Women with special professional or honorary achievements, with exemplary work for equal opportunities for women or with verifiable successes in social areas that have so far been atypical for the female gender can be nominated.
The prerequisite is that the nominated woman works, lives or was born in Bregenz. An expert jury consisting of three women and two men evaluates the entries and then selects a winner. Nominations can be submitted digitally using an online form. The submission deadline is February 16, 2023. All further information and a link to the nomination form can be found at bregenz.gv.at/frauenpreis.
Last year, a total of 33 women were put on the nomination list by citizens and various organizations. After the jury’s decision, the award was officially presented on March 4th in the Marienheim in Bregenz. It went to Eva Fahlbusch from the association “Vindex – Schutz & Asyl”. In 2013, Fahlbusch founded the association together with Chechen refugees, which she has been managing director ever since. In this function, she works to ensure that people who are fleeing or in long-term asylum procedures can lead a decent life in Vorarlberg, for example through advice, lectures and the organization of topic-related events.
The new prize, which is to be awarded regularly from now on, was named after Agathe Fessler, who set up an asylum for unemployed young women with the Marienheim in Bregenz in 1905 and is considered the founder of modern social work in Vorarlberg. It was about offering a place of refuge to young women who belonged to the underprivileged, sometimes to the marginalized groups of society. All women who needed help were welcome in Agathe Fessler’s Marienheim, regardless of the reason. Not the worthiness to help decided on an admission to the Marienheim, but the need for help.
