'Karl Lueger' (
IPA ) (
October 24,
1844-
March 10,
1910) was an
Austrian politician and
mayor of
Vienna, known for his skills as an administrator.
Career
Born in
Vienna, he graduated in
law from the
University of Vienna (receiving his
doctorate in
1870). He founded and led the
Christian Social Party which took political power from the
German Liberals in
Vienna and combated the
Social Democrats. A faction in the
Austrian parliament, the
Christian Social Party won Vienna city council in
1895 and subsequently helped Lueger win mayoralty. After three refusals, Emperor
Franz Josef (who allegedly loathed him as a person) finally sanctioned his election in
1897. He was the mayor of
Vienna from
1897 to
1910.
Performance as Municipal Administrator
Dr-Karl-Lueger-Ring is part of Vienna's famous
Ringstraße.
He proved to be an outstandingly good mayor of Vienna as far as municipal organisation and politics go. A significant part of the infrastructure and organisations that are responsible for the high standard of living in contemporary Vienna - such as the second main aquifer (Hochquellwasserleitung) which provides tap water of mineral water quality to large parts of the city, and the integrated public transport system owned by the municipality - were created during his terms of office.
This part of his legacy is the reason why he is generally viewed as a positive figure in Viennese history.
Further influence on Austrian politics
His general style of politics later inspired some of the right-wing leaders of the Austrian first republic in
1918-
1933, such as
Ignaz Seipel,
Engelbert Dollfuss and
Kurt Schuschnigg. Unlike with Adolf Hitler, he did not so much inspire antisemitism in them (none of these three were particularly anti-semitic), but rather provided one important role model for their generally combative, unrelenting stance towards ideological political opponents (especially communistic socialists). This ultimately proved to be highly detrimental to the cohesion of the Austrian first republic as a whole.
The three politicians mentioned here also played decisive roles in the Austrian Ständestaat. This was a right-wing, authoritarian government (
1933-
1938), which was unilaterally and forcibly established by the political right after the first republic failed in 1933.
Lueger and antisemitism
Lueger was known for his
antisemitism and was an admirer of
Édouard Drumont. Decades later,
Adolf Hitler saw him as an inspiration for his own virulent hatred of anything Jewish. Lueger advocated
racist policies against all non-German speaking minorities in
Austria-Hungary. He voted, in
1887, for
Georg Ritter von Schönerer's proposed
bill to restrict the
immigration of
Russian and
Romanian
Jews.
Léon Poliakov wrote in ''The History of Anti-Semitism'':
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.[1]
Other observers consort that Lueger's public racism was in large part a pose to obtain votes. 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. So there is not a lot of evidence to support his large effect on the views of Adolf Hitler."
[2]
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.' ''"
[3]
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."
[4]
Lueger overtly supported the
Guido-von-List-Gesellschaft, an
occult nationalist society.
References
1. Léon Poliakov: ''The History of Anti-Semitism''. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003. ISBN 0812218639. p.24
2. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William L. Shirer, , , Simon & Schuster, 1990, ISBN 0-671-72868-7
3. Amos Elon: ''The Pity of It All: A Portrait of the German-Jewish Epoch, 1743-1933'', 2002, p.224
4. The World of Yesterday, Stefan Zweig, , , University of Nebraska Press, 1964, ISBN 0-8032-5224-2
External links
★
Catholic Encyclopedia entry
★
Photo of the monument to Karl Lueger in
Dr-Karl-Lueger-Platz,
Vienna
★
''Karl Lueger And The Twilight Of Imperial Vienna''
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