Franz Grafenauer

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Franz Grafenauer

Franz Grafenauer (born September 10, 1860 in Hermagor , Carinthia , Austria ; † December 13, 1935 there ) was an Austrian organ builder and politician .

Life

“Franz Grafenauer was not only one of the most important and important personalities among the Carinthian Slovenes because he knew how to consistently represent his people in public bodies for almost three decades, but also because as a folk man he was deeply rooted in Carinthian Slovenianism it was rooted, practically embodied it, showed its potential for development and tried to motivate it to specific political behavior ”( Josef Lukan : Franz Grafenauer (1860–1935). Tribune of the Carinthian Slovenes. Kattnig, Klagenfurt 1981, p. 8.)

Grave of his father Josip Grafenauer in Egg / Brdo
Parish church hl. Michael in Egg / Brdo, Hermagor

The minority politician was born in the westernmost tip of the Slovenian settlement area, in Brugg near Hermagor, on December 2nd, 1860 as the son of a farmer and organ builder . After elementary school he learned the organ building trade from his father and also practiced it. His new organs in Carinthia were mostly small single-manual village organs with six to eight registers , for which he developed his own type of cone chest. In 1890 he built an organ with eight registers in Feistritz an der Gail and around 1890/1891 in Auserteuchen a small organ with six registers, which has been almost completely preserved. His organ with eight registers in Augsdorf (Loga vas) was built in 1904 and has been preserved, while his instrument from 1905/1906 in Rinkenberg was reconstructed with six registers in 1982.

By reading Slovenian literature, he became familiar with Pan-Slavic ideas and set out to shake the members of his ethnic group in the home community of Egg from their passive attitude in national terms. He soon got into conflict with the teacher, the pastor and the community leader . He despised the German-friendly and liberal-minded Slovenes . The German School Association was a special grater for him. In 1888 the authorities took action against father and son, and had them arrested for libel and high treason . While the father was sentenced to six months in prison, the prosecution of the son was not carried out on the instructions of the Minister of Justice.

The " Hetzer " went on unswervingly on his way. At first he managed to move into the town council of Egg. In 1896, he was representing the Catholic and economic association for the Slovenians in Carinthia deputy in parliament , and in 1907 he represented the Slovenes in the Imperial Council . The situation became critical for him with the outbreak of the First World War . Grafenauer, regarded by the German nationalists and the German-friendly Slovenes as one of the most dangerous and influential Slovenian national politicians, withdrew to his property in the Gail Valley as early as the summer of 1914, but the authorities did not trust him. In March 1916, the 10th Army Command took action against him because of various statements and alleged sympathies for Russia and sentenced him to five years' imprisonment for the crime of disturbing public peace. Grafenauer was released again in 1917 by an act of grace by the emperor .

During the confusion of transition from monarchy to republic and after the start of the Carinthian defensive struggle, Grafenauer fled as a member of the special committee of the Laibach national government for the annexation of the mixed-language area of ​​Carinthia to the SHS state at the beginning of 1919 via the Egger Alm to Laibach , where he should remain until 1926. During the armistice negotiations in Graz in January 1919, Grafenauer was the only Carinthian to sit on the Slavic side of the table across from the Carinthian representatives. When Grafenauer failed to get into the Ljubljana National Assembly in 1920, he gradually began to withdraw from political life and turn away from his like-minded people.

During the agitation for the Carinthian referendum in 1920 , he once again threw the whole weight of his personality into the scales. When the political refugee was allowed to return to the Gail Valley in 1926 , the failed man was 66 years old. Franz Grafenauer died in his homeland on December 13, 1935 at the age of 75 of kidney disease.

The Kärntner Tagblatt reported his death on December 18 and wrote about the funeral: “The conduct turned out to be a touching rally by local farmers. Roughly three hundred had come together to accompany Herr Grafenauer - his house name is Blitz - for the last time. A larger delegation of the Slovenian Carinthians there had come from Yugoslavia , young men who had come to study and work through Grafenauer. The cathedral chapter was led by Msgr. Podgorc. At the open grave he dedicated an honoring obituary to him. "

literature

Web links

Commons : Franz Grafenauer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Organ in Rinkenberg , accessed on January 9, 2018.
  2. ^ Josef Lukan: Franz Grafenauer (1860-1935). Tribune of the Carinthian Slovenes. Kattnig, Klagenfurt 1981, p. 111.
personal data
SURNAME Grafenauer, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 2, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH Hermagor , Austria
DATE OF DEATH December 13, 1935
Place of death Hermagor , Austria