August Engel from Mainfelden

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August Engel von Mainfelden (born July 1, 1855 in Vienna ; † January 9, 1941 there , since 1875 Ritter , 1910 to 1919 Baron von Mainfelden ) was an Austrian finance expert and 1915/16 Finance Minister of Cisleithania , the Austrian half of Austria-Hungary .

Life

Engel's father Franz Anton Engel, a member of an originally Nassau family from Hofheim am Taunus , was a wholesaler, stock exchange councilor and director of the Austro-Hungarian National Bank . This was raised in 1875 to the knighthood with the predicate "Mainfelden".

August Engel studied law at the University of Vienna . After obtaining the Dr. jur. , he entered the civil service in 1878 at the Lower Austrian Financial Procuratorate . In 1883 he moved to the Ministry of Finance , where he became section head in 1905 . He was responsible for setting up and managing an independent budget section that influenced all areas of financial management. Engel thus achieved the balance of the state budget. Because of his strictness in budget matters, in order to maintain the balance in the state budget, he was referred to as a "strangling angel".

From October 1913 on, Privy Councilor Engel represented the sick Minister of Finance Wenzel von Zaleski. After his death on October 24, 1914, after the outbreak of the First World War , he was also officially Austrian Finance Minister in the Stürgkh government . Before the war he did not believe in problems in financing the costs of the war, since, like most, he assumed that the armed forces would only last a few months. When that turned out to be a gross miscalculation, he tried to secure war financing by relaxing the central bank statute and issuing war bonds. Ultimately, the central bank financed around 40% of Austria-Hungary's war costs. In November 1914, Engel launched the first war loan . Two more were to follow during his tenure. Contrary to his conviction, he had to introduce state control of the war economy. Because as a liberal he rejected state participation in private companies in principle.

In the crisis after a catastrophic first year of war and the associated financial problems, he was replaced on December 1, 1915 by the Post Savings Bank Governor Karl Leth . Conflicts with the military administration under Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf , which was expanding their power, and the Hungarian government under István Tisza led to his departure. With the removal from the ministerial post, Engel was appointed by the emperor to the manor house of the Vienna Imperial Council. There he was a member of the liberal middle party until the end of the monarchy in November 1918.

After his retirement, Engel published financial policy articles and gave lectures. His grave is in the Grinzing cemetery .

Fonts (selection)

  • Consideration of the state financial reconstruction of Austria. Strache, Warnsdorf 1917.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Genealogical handbook of the nobility . Volume 3: Dor – F. (Volume 61 of the complete series) CA Starke, Limburg 1975, p. 147.
  2. ↑ a b c d .pdf Engel von Mainfelden, August Frh. (1855–1941), politician. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1957, p. 251.
  3. ↑ Short biography in: Rudolf Vierhaus (Ed.): Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie . Volume 3: Einstein – Görner. Saur, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-59825-033-9 , p. 74.
  4. ↑ a b c d Wolfgang Fritz : The "Würge-Engel" in war and peace. Wiener Zeitung September 3, 2002.
    Wolfgang Fritz: For Emperor and Republic. Austria's finance minister since 1848. Edition Atelier, Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-85308-088-X , p. 119ff.
  5. ↑ Josef Redlich (ed.): Fragments of a political diary. The South Slav Question and Austria-Hungary before the World War. Verlag für Kulturpolitik, Berlin 1928, p. 228.
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Fritz, Gertraude Mikl-Horke : Rudolf Goldscheid. Financial sociology and ethical social science. Lit, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-7000-0521-6 , p. 7.
  7. ↑ Wolfgang Fritz: Leth, a man from the Post Office Savings Bank. Wiener Zeitung September 17, 2002.
    Wolfgang Fritz: For Emperor and Republic. Austria's finance minister since 1848. Edition Atelier, Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-85308-088-X , p. 124ff.
  8. ↑ Graves Grinzinger Friedhof: August Engel, Freiherr von Mainfelden. viennatouristguide.at (with picture of the grave)
personal data
SURNAME Engel von Mainfelden, August
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Engel, August Freiherr von Mainfelden; Angel, August
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian tax officer and finance minister
DATE OF BIRTH July 1, 1855
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH January 9, 1941
Place of death Vienna