A reunion in a fitting place
Vienna, February 2026. Some evenings are a social occasion, others stay with you. The 68th Vienna Opera Ball was both for Marvin Schertl and Dr Sina Schertl, not least because of one encounter: in the box they met Her Highness Herta Margarete Habsburg-Lothringen again, together with fashion designer Harald Glööckler.
Occasion: 68th Vienna Opera Ball, Vienna State Opera
In the box: Her Highness Herta Margarete Habsburg-Lothringen, Harald Glööckler, dressage rider Tatiana Makarova and selected friends
Casa Padrino: Marvin Schertl, founder and artistic director, and Dr Sina Schertl
The evening in the box
The Vienna Opera Ball is considered one of the most significant social occasions in Europe. Every year the Vienna State Opera brings together figures from business, culture, politics and the aristocracy, and the arrival of the guests is broadcast live on ORF 2 and 3sat. Between the ceremonial opening by the committee of young ladies and gentlemen and the famous "Alles Walzer", a box leaves room for the very thing one is there for: conversation.
One of those conversations led back into the history of the House of Habsburg-Lothringen, one of the most formative dynasties in Europe, a name that has stood for history, culture and representation for centuries.
"It was a great pleasure to meet Herta Margarete Habsburg-Lothringen again. Our first meeting was some time ago, which made this reunion all the warmer and more meaningful."
Marvin Schertl, founder and artistic director of Casa Padrino
The Flame of Peace
In January 2008 Herta Margarete Habsburg-Lothringen founded the non-profit Association for the Promotion of Peace in Vienna, and she has presided over it ever since. It is best known by the name of its award: the Flame of Peace. The association is non-partisan and non-denominational, and since 2008 it has honoured individuals and organisations who have worked for peace, among them politicians, diplomats, members of the media and peace activists.
Its symbol is deliberately plain: a flame carved from wood on a stone base. As a peace monument it stands in several places, including Schölbing near Hartberg in Styria. A piece of craftsmanship, in other words, that carries a conviction, and therefore something a house like Casa Padrino understands immediately.
The connection runs through Harald Glööckler
There is a reason this was not a first meeting in Vienna. Harald Glööckler is an ambassador of the Flame of Peace. Ahead of the Opera Ball he hosted a champagne reception at the Grand Hotel Wien together with the association's president, where the wooden flame was installed in the hotel. It was in this circle that the first meeting with Casa Padrino took place, long before the ball.
For Casa Padrino, Harald Glööckler is not a stranger but a long-standing partner: Pompöös by Casa Padrino is a joint glamour collection of furniture, decorative pieces and bathtubs, joined by the southern French line Pompöös Provence. Over the years a business partnership has grown into a circle in which people meet again.
Why such conversations are part of the work
The exchange took place in a building whose architecture speaks exactly the language Casa Padrino works in. That is not incidental. Anyone furnishing residences, grand hotels and historic buildings has to know their history: what proportions a nineteenth-century hall can carry, where gold leaf works and where it tips over, why a room with a high ceiling calls for different furniture heights. For a house like this, conversations about tradition, style and cultural heritage are material knowledge.
Production at Casa Padrino is largely by hand: furniture in Italy, ceramics by Spanish artisans, brass in Indian workshops, together with solid marble, gold leaf and hand upholstery. Dimensions, materials and finishes can be chosen freely for every project, up to unique one-off pieces.
Vienna as part of a season
The Opera Ball is part of a series of European appearances. Marvin and Dr Sina Schertl recently attended the 70th Bal de la Rose in Monte Carlo, the Bal de Noël in Monaco and the Festival du Cinéma Américain in Deauville. During the Cannes Film Festival, Casa Padrino was honoured for outstanding design quality and international brand positioning. ELLE Decoration, Paris Match, Marie Claire and Forbes France, among others, have reported on the brand.
Vienna is a market with a long-standing affinity for classical interior architecture, and the Opera Ball is the evening on which that affinity becomes visible.
About Casa Padrino
Casa Padrino is an international luxury furniture and interior brand from Essen, Germany, founded in 2007 by Marvin Schertl and run together with Dr Sina Schertl. The brand stands for handcrafted furniture and decorative pieces in the baroque, art deco, neoclassical and art nouveau styles. Casa Padrino furnishes luxury hotels, villas, yachts, restaurants and boutiques worldwide, takes on complete projects on request and produces individual one-off pieces.
Casa Padrino at the Vienna Opera Ball 2026 · Discover luxury furniture by Casa Padrino
