Karl Lueger
Karl Lueger | |
---|---|
Mayor of Vienna | |
In office 8 April 1897 – 10 March 1910 | |
Preceded by | Josef Strobach |
Succeeded by | Josef Neumayer |
Personal details | |
Born | Wieden, Austrian Empire (current-day Austria) | 24 October 1844
Died | 10 March 1910 Vienna, Austria-Hungary (current-day Austria) | (aged 65)
Political party | Christian Social Party |
Profession | Lawyer |
Karl Lueger (German: [ˈlu̯eːɡɐ]; 24 October 1844 – 10 March 1910) was an Austrian lawyer and politician who served as Mayor of Vienna from 1897 until his death in 1910. He is credited with the transformation of Vienna into a modern city at the turn of the 20th century, although the populist and antisemitic politics of the Austrian Christian Social Party (CS), which he founded and led until his death, remain controversial, as they are sometimes viewed as a model for Adolf Hitler's Nazism.[1]
Life and early career
Karl Lueger came from a modest background, born at Wieden (since 1850 the 4th district of Vienna) to Leopold Lueger of Neustadtl an der Donau and his wife Juliane.
His birthplace is now the western part of the main building of the
He nevertheless was able to attend the renowned
He established his own lawyer's office in Vienna in 1874 and soon became known as a "little people's" („kleine Leute“) advocate. In this position, his role model and mentor was the popular Jewish physician and local politician Ignaz Mandl [2] , known as "God of the Little People" in Lueger's district of Landstraße (Third District), whom he followed into political life. The association ended when Lueger became identified with antisemitism.[2] He died in 1910.
Political career
Lueger played a part in many political spheres, including Vienna City Council where he eventually became mayor, the federal Austrian parliament, and the state parliament of Lower Austria.
Viennese municipal politics
In 1875, he was elected to Vienna's City Council (Gemeinderat), initially as a
In 1888 he brought together the German National (Deutschnationale) and Christian Social factions at City Hall to form a group that later became known as the United Christians (Vereinigte Christen).
After the 1895 elections for the Vienna Gemeinderat, the Christian Socials won two thirds of the seats, ending the long Liberal rule. The Christian Social supermajority subsequently elected Lueger as mayor. However, during imperial times, mayors had to be confirmed in office by Emperor Franz Joseph. The emperor allegedly loathed Lueger as a person and considered him a dangerous revolutionary. He was also concerned about Lueger's antisemitism. With the support of Prime Minister Kasimir Felix Badeni, Franz Joseph refused to confirm Lueger as mayor. The Christian Socials retained a large majority in the council, and reelected Lueger as mayor three more times, only to have Franz Joseph refuse to confirm him each time. He was elected mayor for a fifth time in 1897, and after a personal intercession by Pope Leo XIII, his election was finally sanctioned later that year.
He was a zealous Catholic and wished to “capture the university” for the Church. He would have neither
He planned to make Vienna one of the most beautiful of garden cities.[3]
In his incumbency, Lueger is credited with the extension of the public water supply by its second main aquifer (Hochquellwasserleitung), which provides tap water of mineral-water quality to large parts of the city. He also pursued the municipalization of gas and electricity works as well as the establishment of a public transport system, introducing streetcars (trams), and of numerous institutions of social welfare, most of which strongly relied on debt financing. He incorporated the suburbs, and built parks, gardens, hospitals, and schools.
Der schöne Karl ("handsome Karl") achieved tremendous popularity among the citizens. During his tenure, Vienna ultimately changed its appearance as the capital of a great power of the pre-World War I era—a heritage that remained even in Red Vienna after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918. A significant part of the infrastructure and organisations that are responsible for the high standard of living in the contemporary city were created during his terms of office.
Lueger served as mayor of Vienna until his early death from
Christian Social movement
Lueger's early political life was associated with
In 1885 he was elected to the lower house (Abgeordnetenhaus) of the Austrian Imperial Parliament (
Lueger, Prince Liechtenstein, Vogelsang and Schindler met regularly at the Hotel Zur goldenen Ente (Golden Duck, Riemergasse 4) in Vienna's First District, and would refer to their meetings as Enten-Abende (Duck Evenings). This working group became the focus for social reform, and they organised the Second Austrian Katholikentag in 1889. From this Schindler developed the platform of the fledgling Christian Social Party (Christlichsoziale Partei, CS). Lueger was to found and lead the party in 1893, which quickly rivaled the Social Democrats (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, SPÖ). He remained one of its most effective leaders till his death and developed his party's federation policy as a means of dealing with the monarchy's issues of multiple nationalities.
Much of Lueger's popularity stemmed from his appeal to women; his female followers were variously known as "Lueger's Amazons", "the Lueger Garde" or "Lueger Gretls" and were organised in the Christian Social Women's League. Although women could not vote, he calculated that they could significantly influence how their menfolk voted, and they also inculcated the party ideology in their children. To maintain his female following, Lueger remained a bachelor and publicly disavowed any private life, claiming that he was too busy because he belonged totally to "my Viennese". After his death there was a scandal when his long-time mistress, Marianne Beskiba, published a tell-all memoir including facsimiles of love letters from him; the book provides useful information about his political tactics and how the party was run.[4][5]
Antisemitism
Lueger was known for his
It soon became apparent that especially in Vienna any political group that wanted to appeal to the artisans had no chance of success without an anti-Semitic platform. [...] It was at that time that a well-known phrase was coined in Vienna: "Anti-Semitism is the socialism of fools." The situation was exploited by the Catholic politician Karl Lueger, the leader of Austrian Christian-Social party with a program identical to that of the Berlin party of the same name led by Pastor Stoeker. In 1887, Lueger raised the banner of anti-Semitism. [...] However, the enthusiastic tribute that Hitler paid him in Mein Kampf does not seem justified, for the Jews did not suffer under his administration.[7]
Other observers contend that Lueger's public racism was in large part a pose to obtain votes, being one of the first who made use of populism as a political tool. Historian William L. Shirer wrote that "his opponents, including the Jews, readily conceded that he was at heart a decent, chivalrous, generous and tolerant man."[8] According to Amos Elon, "Lueger's anti-Semitism was of a homespun, flexible variety—one might almost say gemütlich. Asked to explain the fact that many of his friends were Jews, Lueger famously replied, 'I decide who is a Jew.' "[9] Viennese Jewish writer Stefan Zweig, who grew up in Vienna during Lueger's term of office, recalled that "His city administration was perfectly just and even typically democratic."[10]
German nationalism
Lueger expressed some scepticism about German nationalism, but as with his antisemitism was quick to exploit the sentiments for his own political purposes. He opposed Austro-Hungarian dualism in favour of federalism and the equality of all the nations making up the empire.
Legacy
His general style of politics later inspired some of the right-wing leaders of the
For some, the Lueger monuments show that Vienna has neglected its obligations to the victims of the Holocaust in order to keep its nostalgic appeal as the grand Imperial City. For example, when Austrian-born neurobiologist Eric Kandel won the Nobel Prize in 2000, he "stuck it to the Austrians" by saying it was certainly not an Austrian Nobel; it was a Jewish-American Nobel. He was subsequently telephoned by the Austrian president Thomas Klestil who asked him, "How can we put things right?" Kandel said that first, Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Ring should be renamed. Kandel was offended that the address of the University of Vienna is on that street.[12] After yearlong debates, the Ring was renamed to Universitätsring in April 2012.[13] The monument to Lueger at Dr. Karl Lueger Platz at the Stubenring as well as the memorial plaque at the TU Wien have since been contextualized by descriptions highlighting Lueger's antisemitism and his influence on National Socialism.
Lueger was the subject of a 1943 biopic Vienna 1910, in which he was played by Rudolf Forster.
Honours
He received the following orders and decorations:[14]
- Austria-Hungary: Grand Cross of the Order of Franz Joseph, 1907[15]
- Kingdom of Bavaria: Grand Cross of the Merit Order of St. Michael
- Belgium: Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold, with Star
- France: Commander of the Legion of Honour
- Holy See:
- Grand Cross of St. Gregory the Great
- Cross of Honour "Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice"
- Ottoman Empire: Order of the Medjidie, 1st Class
- Persian Empire: Order of the Lion and the Sun, 2nd Class with Star
- Kingdom of Prussia: Knight of the Red Eagle, 1st Class in Diamonds
- Grand Cross of the Crown of Romania
- Russian Empire: Knight of St. Stanislaus, 2nd Class with Star
- Kingdom of Saxony: Commander of the Albert Order, 1st Class with Star
- Spain: Grand Cross of Isabella the Catholic, 19 October 1906[16]
- Sweden-Norway: Commander Grand Cross of the Polar Star
- United Kingdom: Honorary Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, 9 October 1903[17]
References
- ^ Fareed Zacharia, The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad, Norton, 2003, 2007, p. 60
- ISBN 3-7001-0128-7, p. 47.
- ^ a b "Karl Lueger | Austrian politician". Encyclopedia Britannica.
- ISBN 978-0814320778, pp. 209–11, 220–21.
- ISBN 978-0195125375, pp. 375–77.
- OCLC 444495428.
- ISBN 0-8122-1863-9. p. 24
- ^ Amos Elon: The Pity of It All: A Portrait of the German-Jewish Epoch, 1743–1933, 2002, p. 224
- ISBN 978-0-8032-5224-0.
- ^ Mia Swart. Name Change as Symbolic Reparation after Transition: the examples of Germany and South Africa, 9 German Law Journal, 2008 Archived 2011-06-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Science, American Association for the Advancement of (June 6, 2008). "Newsmakers". Science. 320 (5881): 1269 – via science.sciencemag.org.
- ^ "Österreich: Wiens Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Ring heißt künftig Universitätsring". Tiroler Tageszeitung. 2012-04-19. Retrieved 2012-04-12.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Erzherzogthum Österreich unter der Enns: A. Landes-Vertretung", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, 1910, p. 448, retrieved 14 January 2021
- ^ "Ritter-Orden: Kaiserlich-Österreichischer Franz Joseph-orden", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, 1910, p. 127, retrieved 14 January 2021
- ^ "Real Orden de Isabel la Católica". Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish). 1909. p. 183. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ^ The Edinburgh Gazette, issue 11558, p. 1038.
Further reading
- Boyer, John W. Political Radicalism in Late Imperial Vienna: Origins of the Christian Social Movement, 1848-1897. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.
- Connolly, P. J. "Karl Lueger: Mayor of Vienna." Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review (1915): 226-249. online
- Geehr, Richard S. Karl Lueger: Mayor of Fin de Siècle Vienna (Wayne State University Press, 1990)
- Schorske, Carl E. Fin-de-siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture (1979)
- Wistrich, Robert S. "Karl Lueger and the Ambiguities of Viennese Antisemitism." Jewish Social Studies 45.3/4 (1983): 251-262. online