Erwin Klein (entrepreneur)

Erwin Klein (born September 12, 1924 in Vienna ; † September 17, 1983 ibid) was an Austrian entrepreneur.

Life

Erwin Klein was a ballet student from 1931 to 1933 and attended drama schools from 1933 to 1935 and from 1941 to 1943. After graduating from high school in 1943, he was a Burgtheatre student in 1943/44.

In 1947 he joined his father's business (soda water production). In October 1957, Klein started producing the herbal lemonade Almdudler at Weißgasse 3 in Vienna's 17th district . He had worked on the recipe for three years. As a result, Klein granted 350 other bottlers the right to produce Almdudler in return for payment of license fees, also outsourced sales via gastronomy and trade to sales partners and concentrated on marketing and advertising. Until 1973 the company produced its own soda water and lemonades, since 1973 the "Almdudler Limonade" A. & S. Klein GmbH & Co KG has only acted as a licensor.

In 1958 he bought the Nußberghof in Nussdorfer Hackhoferstraße, which he opened in 1959 as a Heurigen restaurant with a permanent Heurigen cabaret stage program. In this, the three rascals Helmut Schicketanz, Toni Strobl and Helmut Reinberger appeared until their dissolution in 1973. Klein himself was involved in 360 texts by the rascals.

In the run-up to the 1964 Winter Olympics , Klein built the Olympiahotel in the Axamer Lizum ski area .

In 1970 the film Dornwittchen und Schneeröschen , directed by him, was released , which remained his only directorial work.

He committed suicide on September 17, 1983 at the age of 59. Klein was buried at the Ottakringer Friedhof (group 35, row 25, number 15).

Erwin Klein was married to Ingrid Scheidig (1935–2017) from 1957, their son Thomas Klein (* 1963) took over the management of the family business after the death of his father. Daughter Michaela also works in the family business.

Erwin Klein's grave

In 2018, the Erwin-Klein-Weg in Vienna- Döbling (19th district) was named after him.

He was buried in the Ottakring cemetery (group 35, row 25, number 15) in Vienna.

Awards

• 1962: Professional title Commercial Council
• 1975: Great decoration of honor for services to the Republic of Austria

Individual evidence

1. ^ Erwin Klein in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna
2. ↑ Wiener Zeitung: A bottle of Heimat - Erwin Klein created the herbal lemonade "Almdudler", an Austrian brand that creates an identity. ( Memento of the original from November 23, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Article dated August 5, 2006, accessed December 20, 2014. 
3. ↑ format.at - A strong couple - Austria's cult herbal limo Almdudler wants to make it big again for its 50th birthday and is banking on internationalization . Article dated June 21, 2007, accessed December 20, 2014.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Wirtschaftsblatt - Almdudler is Vienna's best family business ( Memento from December 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). Article dated May 22, 2007, accessed December 20, 2014.
5. ↑ firmenabc.at - "Almdudler-Limonade" A. & S. Klein GmbH & Co KG . Retrieved December 21, 2014.
6. ^ Elisabeth Theresia Fritz, Helmut Kretschmer: Vienna: Volksmusik and Wienerlied. LIT Verlag Münster, 2006. ISBN 3-8258-8659-X
7. ↑ DER SPIEGEL 7/1964 - The victors fled. Peter Bruges at the Olympic Ball . Article dated February 12, 1964, accessed December 20, 2014.
8. ↑ Desperate because of illness: Viennese millionaire shot himself In: Arbeiter-Zeitung from September 19, 1983, accessed on December 20, 2014.
9. ↑ friedhoefewien.at - Search for the dead . Retrieved December 20, 2014.
10. ↑ orf.at: Almdudler owner Ingrid Klein has passed away . Article dated August 9, 2017, accessed August 9, 2017.
11. ↑ Short biography of Thomas Klein ( Memento from December 20, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved December 20, 2014.