Vienna's mayor, Michael Ludwig (SPÖ), was “deeply touched” by Horowitz's death, along with Horowitz, who had lost “an important figure in the media industry” and “a slanderer”, Ludwig said in a broadcast. Described his “passion for photography and pleasure”: “He always sensed the right moment.” In 2007 Horowitz received the Gold Medal for services to the State of Vienna. “Viennaers and newspaper readers will never forget Michael Horowitz. “My condolences go out to the bereaved,” Ludwig said.
Vienna City Councilor for Culture Veronica Köpp-Hassler also expressed her condolences to the victims. “Michael Horowitz is a 'true Viennese' of many talents. In addition to his creative work as a journalist and publisher, he also observes essentials as a photographer. Horowitz has often placed Vienna at the center of his work, not only as a passionate singer and great lover of Viennese songs, but also as a biographer. was also a writer,” Kaup-Hasler said.
Born in Vienna on December 1, 1950, Horowitz pursued his passion for photography as a teenager. The list of celebrities he has photographed over the decades is quite impressive. He photographed Arnold Schwarzenegger with his bare torso in a coffee house, visited Kiki Kogelnick in New York at age 18, and during a visit to Vienna in 1981 caught Andy Warhol and Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger at a concert in the federal capital. In 1967.
He captured local artists in sometimes unusual settings. You might wonder if Arnulf Rainer's face was painted black, Thomas Bernhardt on a bicycle, or Fatty George, Al Futs Edwards and Helmut Gwaldinger, the three wise men. “The most important thing, then and now, is that you trust people before you portray them,” Horowitz said in 2020 during an exhibition about his photographic career in Albertina: “The camera is not just an ally, but a friend.”
As a journalist, Horowitz made his mark on local media history primarily by founding the Courier's weekend supplement, “Freesite.” From 1989 to 2004, he also served as Headmaster for a quarter of a century. Later he wrote several series in “Presse am Sonntag” about “poets and thinkers”, great Austrian artists and “Viennese originals”, which were also published as books in collected form.
Horowitz began writing books in the 80s. His first book, a biography of Heimito von Toderer – with a guest essay by Peter Handke – was published in 1983. This was followed by biographies of Egon Erwin Kish, Karl Krauss, Leonard Bernstein and personal friends such as HC Artman and Otto Schenck. Helmut Kwaldinger. In addition, he recalls his childhood and youth in “The Golden Vienna” and looks back on Austria's dark times in “Oppression – Forget – Forgive”.
Horowitz repeatedly wrote scripts for television documentaries. His script for “Caracas” won the “Prix de la Jeunes” at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. His other awards include the Grand Decoration of Honor for Services to the Republic, the Crown Decoration for Services to the State of Vienna, and the Cross of Honor for Science and Art, 1st Class.