Franz Georg Strafella

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Franz Georg Strafella (born March 3, 1891 in Pettau , † February 26, 1968 in Graz ) was an Austrian entrepreneur, politician and director of the federal railways .

Education and Youth

Franz Georg Strafella came from a long-established, politically active family of lawyers in the Styrian lowlands. His grandfather was a lawyer and mayor of Pettau. Franz Georg Strafella was born in 1891 as the son of Franz Strafella (1857–1928). After attending high school in Ptuj, he studied Jus at the University of Graz and received his doctorate in 1914 for Dr. iur. In the First World War he served as an artillery officer .

Career

After the war, Strafella completed her judicial and legal practice . He then worked in business: in addition to managing his parents' property, he was also involved in managing several private railways . From 1923 to 1930 he was a member of the board of directors and general director of the Grazer Tramwaygesellschaft , vice-president of the Mühlkreisbahn- Gesellschaft, vice-president of the association of local and private railways, the employers' association of private railways and bus companies, committee member of the main industry association and vice-president of the regional association for tourism in Styria. In addition, he was also active as a writer.

When the Graz tramers went on strike from September 30 to October 13, 1928, Strafella took a hard hand, making him a name for himself as an anti-Marxist and for the Social Democrats an outspoken enemy. He deployed strikebreakers from the Christian-social soldiers' union Wehrbund , around 150 free- union strikers were dismissed and not reinstated.

In the Graz municipal council election on April 21, 1929, he was elected as a candidate for the Christian Social Party (CS) in the Graz municipal council, where he headed the trade department. He was chairman of the local council club of the Christian Socials in Graz and was elected Vice Mayor of Graz on October 24, 1929.

Strafella was an exponent of the Heimwehr and had good relations with the Styrian Governor Anton Rintelen and the Army Minister Carl Vaugoin (both CS).

The "Strafella Affair"

In the spring of 1930, Carl Vaugoin (then Vice Chancellor of the Federal Government Schober ) demanded that Strafella be appointed General Director of the Federal Railways. He should take a firm hand in the state enterprise dominated by social democrats . However, his appointment was postponed and in July 1930 he was initially only appointed to the administrative commission of the Federal Railways after the social democratic workers' newspaper Strafella accused, among other things, of being involved in dubious financial transactions. Above all, he was accused of having amassed a substantial fortune in the period of inflation through property speculation. In addition, the newspaper pointed out a possible incompatibility: Strafella could not take over the management of the state railway because he was also a shareholder in several private railway companies, i.e. direct competitors of the ÖBB. He sued the editor in charge, Oscar Pollak, of libel. In the trial from September 17 to 19, 1930, the Arbeiter-Zeitung was convicted on several points, but the court considered the allegations of “incorrectness” and “uncleanliness” to be proven and agreed with the newspaper on this point. Strafella appealed and Vaugoin again called for his appointment as general manager. Due to the ruling, however, Chancellor Johann Schober refused the appointment. Thereupon Vaugoin resigned from the office of Vice Chancellor and thus brought about the resignation of the entire federal government on September 25th.

Federal President Wilhelm Miklas now entrusted Carl Vaugoin as party chairman of the strongest parliamentary group with the formation of a government. In the new federal government of Vaugoin , on October 2, 1930, Strafella was appointed general director by the newly appointed president of the administrative commission of the federal railways Engelbert Dollfuss . As a result of his appointment as director general of the Federal Railways, he resigned as Vice Mayor of Graz in November 1930.

There were further scandals because of the favoring of friends, for example through the establishment of the "study office for personnel management measures" at the federal railways (management by Iring Grailer ), because of excessive pension payments, etc.

On May 5, 1931, a motion by Otto Bauer was accepted in the National Council , in which the government was asked to submit all service contracts of persons recently entrusted with the management of the Federal Railways. On May 20, 1931, an appeals court upheld the first instance judgment in the trial between Strafella and the Arbeiter-Zeitung. There was a scandal in the main committee on June 3, 1931: The coalition partners Landbund and Greater German People's Party supported a social democratic motion to recall Strafella as director general of the federal railways. On July 5, the Council of Ministers decided to remove Strafella from office. The CS also support this, as they feared otherwise they would be exposed to a vote of no confidence in the National Council, which the coalition partners might also agree to. On June 6, 1931, Strafella was relieved of his position as General Director of the Federal Railways.

Further career up to the "connection"

After his dismissal, Strafelle became more active in tourism advertising. He became president of the regional association for tourism in Styria. On October 20, 1932, he became chairman of the Transport Association of the Austrian Alpine Countries. On October 30, 1933, he was appointed President of the Austrian Transport Office , and on December 29, 1933, President of the Austrian Trade Museum , which under his leadership was converted into the Austrian Export Promotion Institute in the summer of 1934 . On March 2, 1934 he became president of the Austrian transport advertising service of the Federal Ministry for Trade and Transport . In the same year he also became president of the main association of transport companies in Austria.

In the Austro-Fascist corporate state , Strafella was a member of the Federal Economic Council from November 1, 1934 to May 2, 1936, from which he was elected to the Bundestag on November 28, 1934 as a representative of the trade and transport main professional group .

After the sale of local railway shares to the insurance company at five times their market value in the course of the collapse of the life insurance company "Phönix" , Strafella was dismissed from the Federal Economic Council by decision of the Federal President on May 2, 1936 and lost his parliamentary mandate on May 6, 1936. He also had to resign from the Transport Association.

Imprisonment during the reign of National Socialism

After Austria was "annexed " to the German Empire , Strafella was relieved of all of his political functions. On July 13, 1939, he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for embezzlement, breach of trust and fraud in connection with the sale of the shares in the local railway to Phönix Insurance. The verdict was later reduced to four years by the Leipzig Imperial Court .

Career in the Second Republic of Austria

After 1945, Strafella was convicted again in Graz for pushing around. After 1946 he became the public administrator of the Kobald brickworks near Voitsberg , although there were protest votes against it. 1959–1968 he was on the supervisory board of Alpine Montan AG , 1960–1968 on the supervisory board of Austria Tabak AG .

Works

  • The social primitive. The criminal's tools and the primitive thing about him. FCW Vogel, Leipzig 1917.
  • The gold finance law and the railways. Graz 1925.
  • Austria and tourism. Our streets and the unemployed. Graz 1925.

Cultural reception

After he was appointed General Director of the Federal Railways, the Viennese cabaret took up the issue of the Federal Railways as a topic. One of the most popular cabaret songs was the “Strafella song”, sung to the tune of Robert Katscher's “If Elisabeth didn't have such beautiful legs”:

If the Strafella
can save the federal railways for us,
the scandal
with the red staff ends ,
then the cock's tail
on the railroad loses its feathers completely
and the winners are
the Marxists on the railroad.
He must be recognized,
appointed, appointed.
Because he has a strong hand
for our fatherland.

literature

  • Gertrude Enderle-Burcel , Johannes Kraus: Christian - Estates - Authoritarian. Mandataries in the corporate state 1934–1938. Ed .: Documentation Archive of Austrian Resistance and Austrian Society for Historical Source Studies, Vienna 1991, ISBN 3-901142-00-2 , p. 233 f.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c General Director Dr. Franz Strafella. In:  Wiener Zeitung , October 4, 1930, p. 6 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / wrz
  2. ↑ Bharat-John Kulamarva: The Austrian Federal Railways and the Austro-fascist seizure of power . Vienna 2013, p. 45–49 ( online on the Vienna University Library website - diploma thesis).
  3. ↑ 150 victims of the Graz tram strike. In:  Reichspost , October 16, 1928, p. 7 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / rpt
  4. ↑ The new Vice Mayor of Graz. In:  Arbeiter-Zeitung , October 25, 1929, p. 1 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / aze
  5. ^ Lothar Höbelt : The Heimwehren and Austrian politics 1927-1936. From "chain dog" to "Austro-Fascism". Aresverlag, Graz 2016, ISBN 978-3-902732-66-8 , p. 144 ff.
  6. ↑ Strafeella judged! The Arbeiter-Zeitung acquitted on the crucial points. Proof of the truth for incorrectness, uncleanliness and political protection provided. In:  Arbeiter-Zeitung , September 20, 1930, pp. 1-4 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / aze
  7. ^ Klaus Berchtold: Constitutional history of the Republic of Austria . tape 1: 1918-1933 . Springer, Vienna / New York 1998, ISBN 3-211-83188-6 , pp. 580-584 .
  8. ^ Hugo Portisch : Austria I: The underestimated republic . Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1989, ISBN 978-3-218-00485-5 , p. 377 f .
  9. ^ The new board of the Federal Railways. In:  Wiener Zeitung , October 4, 1930, p. 6 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / wrz
  10. ^ Klaus Berchtold: Constitutional history of the Republic of Austria . tape 1: 1918-1933 . Springer, Vienna / New York 1998, ISBN 3-211-83188-6 , pp. 611 .
  11. ↑ Targeted measures to promote exports. In:  Salzburger Volksblatt , June 28, 1934, p. 2 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / svb
  12. ↑ Jürgen Doll: Theater im Roten Wien: From social democratic agitprop to dialectical theater Jura Soyfers (=  Klaus Amann , Friedbert Aspetsberger, Claudio Magris [ed.]: Literature in history - history in literature . Volume 43 ). Böhlau, Vienna 1997, ISBN 978-3-205-98726-0 , p. 128 f . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
personal data
SURNAME Strafella, Franz Georg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian entrepreneur, politician and director of the federal railways
DATE OF BIRTH March 3, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Pettau , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH February 26, 1968
Place of death Graz , Austria