Eberhard Reininghaus

Eberhard Reininghaus (until 1919 Edler von Reininghaus; born August 14, 1890 in Graz , † October 18, 1950 in Munich ) was an Austrian insurance manager. In 1936 he was instrumental in coming to terms with the Phoenix scandal ; from 1945 until his death he was general director of the Munich reinsurance company .

biography

Reininghaus came from the Graz brewery dynasty and studied law at the University of Vienna from 1910 to 1919 - interrupted by military service in World War I and imprisonment . Since that time he was close friends with Viktor Kienböck, who later became finance minister . After completing his studies, Reininghaus joined Phönix-Versicherung, then switched to the Anglo-Danubian Lloyd transport company, where he was promoted to Deputy General Manager. In 1927 he was appointed general director of the mutual fire damage insurance . He kept this position until after the sudden death (it was only later revealed that it was suicide ) of Wilhelm Berliner, he became his successor as head of the Phönix life insurance company.

In a sealed envelope, the company's chief accountant finally handed over the true company balance sheets to the new general manager. For years, under the leadership of Berliners, falsification of balance sheets had been practiced on a large scale. As a result, the head of the Austrian insurance supervisory authority committed suicide and some leading Phönix employees were sentenced to prison terms. Reininghaus was instrumental in coming to terms with the affair; After the Phönix was liquidated, he became director of the Allgemeine-Elementar-Phönix-Gesellschaft, a subsidiary of the Munich Reinsurance Company.

From 1934 to 1936 he was a member of the Federal Economic Council in the Austrian corporate state .

On March 14, 1938, Reininghaus, who was viewed as “non-Aryan”, was removed from office and imprisoned by the Nazi rulers; the National Socialists were planning a show trial of the “Jewish culprits” in the Phoenix scandal; criminal breach of trust has been initiated against him but appears to have not been completed. During the Nazi era, he remained employed in an inconspicuous position at the Munich Reinsurance Company . After the end of the war he became the company's general manager and held this position until his death.

After 1945 Reininghaus was also on the supervisory board of the Schwechat brewery .

Web links

Literature by and about Eberhard Reininghaus in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

↑ Gerald D. Feldman: Competition and Collaboration among the Axis Multinational Insurers. in: Christopher Kobrak / Per Hansen: European Business, Dictatorshiop and Political Risk 1920-1945. Berghahn Books, Oxford 2004, ISBN 1-57181-629-1 , pp. 41–61, here p. 47.
↑ Gertrude Enderle-Burcel: Christian-class-authoritarian. Mandatars in the corporate state 1934 - 1938. Documentation archive of the Austrian Resistance, Vienna 1991, ISBN 3-901142-00-2 , pp. 196f.

personal data
SURNAME	Reininghaus, Eberhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Edler von Reininghaus, Eberhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Austrian insurance manager
DATE OF BIRTH	August 14, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH	Graz
DATE OF DEATH	October 18, 1950
Place of death	Munich

[1] Gerald D. Feldman: Competition and Collaboration among the Axis Multinational Insurers. in: Christopher Kobrak / Per Hansen: European Business, Dictatorshiop and Political Risk 1920-1945. Berghahn Books, Oxford 2004, ISBN 1-57181-629-1 , pp. 41–61, here p. 47.

[2] Gertrude Enderle-Burcel: Christian-class-authoritarian. Mandatars in the corporate state 1934 - 1938. Documentation archive of the Austrian Resistance, Vienna 1991, ISBN 3-901142-00-2 , pp. 196f.