Vaduz (pps) In good health, Baron Eduard von Falz-Fein, Honorary Member of the International Luge Federation (FIL), celebrated his 95th birthday in his villa „Askania Nova“ in Vaduz, Liechtenstein on Friday, September 14. FIL President Josef Fendt (Germany) and Vice-President for Finance Harald Steyrer (Austria) went to Liechtenstein in order to congratulate him personally. From 1962 to 1972, Baron von Falz-Fein was FIL treasurer; at the side of founding President Bert Isatitsch from Austria, the Baron played a major role in the inclusion of the sport of luge in the Olympic program.

Baron von Falz-Fein looks back on an eventful life and is one of the most colorful personalities of contemporary history. As a five-year old boy, he experienced the Russian revolution of 1917. On his father’s side, he was heir to the richest land owner in south Russia. On his mother’s side, he stems from one of Russia’s oldest dynasties, the Epantschin, which was related by blood to the tsar family of the Romanovs. The book „Baron von Falz-Fein – a Russian aristocrat in Liechtenstein“ is really worth reading and describes the fairytale-like lives of his predecessors, the tragic years of emigration in Germany and the international jetset of the 20th century.

Up to a proud age, he fancied fast cars and drove to the venues of various FIL Congresses himself; he also made a name to himself under the pseudonym „Quick“, under which he worked for the French sport magazine „L´Epique“ as a correspondent in Berlin and as a photographer. After becoming a citizen of Liechtenstein, “Quick” founded two souvenir shops and posted a reward of half a million dollars for the person who would find the “Amber Room”, which is still lost until today.

As a sport official, Baron von Falz-Fein participated in 16 Olympic Games, for which he was acknowledged by the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge from Belgium, in 2002. A detailed portrait of Baron von Falz-Fein was broadcasted on Ukraine television in recognition of his 95th birthday.