Alois Vogt

Alois Vogt (born July 19, 1906 in Balzers , † March 23, 1988 in Vaduz ) was a politician in the Principality of Liechtenstein . Despite his alleged sympathy for Adolf Hitler and the NSDAP , he was one of the leading forces that prevented a putsch by National Socialist groups from Liechtenstein and neighboring Vorarlberg in Liechtenstein on March 24, 1939 . The putsch had the goal of removing Liechtenstein from the customs union with Switzerland and integrating it into the Greater German Reich. In his function as deputy head of government, he had the leader of the putschists, Theodor Schädler, arrested and reached out to the SA and NSKK associations from Feldkirch not to intervene in the neighboring country.

Life

Alois Vogt was the son of the farmer Josef Kaspar Vogt and his wife Magdalena Theresia Vogt nee Gstöhl. He grew up in the southernmost parish of the principality and had 5 siblings, two brothers and three sisters. He attended the primary school in Balzers, the secondary school in Vaduz and from 1921 to 1928 the grammar school in Feldkirch in nearby Austria. From 1928 to 1933 he studied law in Austria and Switzerland in Innsbruck , Freiburg and Vienna . At that time the small principality did not have its own university or secondary school. On October 9, 1948, he married Beate Hussak. He had 6 children with her.

He was already politically active during his school days. He was one of the founders of the Liechtenstein Academic Association Rheinmark and co-founded the Liechtenstein Homeland Service on October 1, 1933 . On January 5, 1936, the Heimatdienst merged with the Christian Social People's Party, which had considerably more members, to form the Patriotic Union for short.

In the VU he was party secretary from 1936 to 1940. From January 1937 to March 1938 he was editor-in-chief of the party's own daily newspaper “ Liechtensteiner Vaterland ”. After the VU entered into a coalition with the ruling Progressive Citizens' Party in Liechtenstein, FBP, he was appointed deputy head of government on March 30, 1938. He took over the office of Anton Frommelt from the FBP. He held this position until September 1945 and was responsible for the “Economy” resort.

On March 2, 1939, Alois Vogt visited Berlin with Prime Minister Josef Hoop and Prince Franz Josef II and met the Führer Adolf Hitler in the New Reich Chancellery. On March 24, 1939, he thwarted a putsch by the National Socialist Volksdeutsche movement in Liechtenstein, VDBL for short. The VDBL planned a violent demonstration in the main town of the principality in Vaduz that evening. The organizers of the putsch had agreed with the party organizations of the NSDAP in neighboring Feldkirch in Vorarlberg. If there had been violent clashes with pro-Swiss parts of the VU and counter-demonstrators from the FBP, they would have called Vorarlberg for help. In Feldkirch 600 SA and NSKK men were on alert to invade the neighboring country and arrest the government of the principality. But the plans of the putsch could not be kept secret and Alois Vogt had the time to intervene with Ignaz Tschofen, district captain of Vorarlberg . He threatened the district captain with personal consequences. He would have received the assurance from the Führer personally on March 2nd that Liechtenstein would remain independent. He would inform the Führer. He also informed Swiss authorities about the planned coup. Switzerland also intervened with the Führer. When the units of the SA and NSKK wanted to cross the border to Liechtenstein at 10 p.m. on March 24, they were prevented from marching into Vaduz by NSDAP officials. The Führer had issued a "stop instruction". He did not remain idle in Vaduz either. So he had the leader of the putschists Theodor Schädler come to the government building in Vaduz and told him that he could not count on any help from Vorarlberg. He had the Fuehrer's word and said he would not hesitate to order the police and the Swiss Border Guard to shoot his demonstrators. Theodor Schädler was unimpressed and despite everything tried to hold a demonstration with his supporters in Vaduz late in the evening. But counter-demonstrators and police blocked the VDBL meeting place in Schaan . At midnight, the VDBL gave up their plan due to the massive counter-demonstrations and spread out to the surrounding inns. At 4 a.m. the following Saturday, 18 VDBL leaders were arrested on the instructions of Alois Vogt. In the following months he stood up for the leaders of the putsch and achieved that they were expelled to Germany in December 1939. He feared criminal trial and death sentences for high treason. This would have caused irreparable damage to relations with the German Reich.

From 1949 to 1966, Alois Vogt was a member of the state parliament for several years, including vice-president of the state parliament. From 1950 to 1954 he was a member of the supervisory board of the Liechtensteinische Landesbank , from 1962 to 1965 a member of the government. Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 1949 to 1959. From 1953 to 1964 he was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the AHV and from 1969 to 1974 Vice President of the State Court of Justice. Also published several articles on historical and economic topics.

Alois Vogt is not without controversy in historical research. He was remembered as pro German, especially during his time in the Liechtenstein homeland service. He was considered pro NSDAP and anti-Switzerland. After VU was founded, Alois Vogt was one of the party's influential, pro-German Heimatdienst wing. As deputy head of government, he continued to maintain contacts with NSDAP circles in Germany and Austria. At times he advocated the termination of the customs treaty with Switzerland and a closer economic connection between Liechtenstein and the Third Reich. After the war, these contacts were investigated by the police and public prosecutors. Switzerland imposed an entry ban on Alois Vogt in the years 1946–1947.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Jürgen Schremser Historical Lexicon of Liechtenstein
2. ^ Peter Geiger: The time of crisis in Liechtenstein in the 1930s , Chronos Verlag Zürich (2000), Volume 2, pages 364-408