Franz Siegel

Plaque on the Svobodahof community building in the 19th district with a reference to the housing tax and naming of Karl Seitz , Hugo Breitner , Franz Siegel and Anton Weber

Franz Siegel's grave in the Ottakringer Friedhof with reference to the "New Vienna"

Franz Siegel (born June 15, 1876 in Perchtoldsdorf , † October 30, 1927 in Vienna ) was an Austrian politician ( SDAP ) and a leading city councilor in Vienna.

Life

Siegel was born as the son of a caretaker couple in Vienna and grew up in poor circumstances. After compulsory school, Siegel learned the trade of bricklayer. As a result, Siegel became involved in the union and rose to be the chairman of the construction workers' union. In 1908 he was appointed Austria's first building inspector, and he also worked as a building inspector for the trade inspection.

After the end of the First World War, Siegel was first appointed to the provisional municipal council in December 1918, which the Christian Socialists and Social Democrats had agreed as a provisional arrangement until the first democratic local elections. After the municipal council election in Vienna in 1919 , which on May 4, 1919 resulted in a successful election for the Viennese Social Democrats with the top candidate Jakob Reumann , Siegel was sworn in on May 22, 1919 in the elected municipal council.

City council

He was also a member of the city council in 1919/1920, which at that time was still acting as a collegial body and did not yet know any city councilors in charge of the Amst. With the introduction of the city councilors under Mayor Reumann, Franz Siegel was appointed city ​​councilor on June 1, 1920 . He took over the then Administrative Group V (Technical Affairs); From November 10, 1920, Siegel was also a member of the Vienna provincial government, as the Federal Constitution that came into force on that day had declared Vienna an independent federal state.

Act

Through orders placed by the Vienna City Planning Department for modern architects to carry out the municipal buildings that were increasingly implemented in "Red Vienna" from 1923 onwards , Siegel and his team contributed to the architectural diversity of Vienna. In addition, Siegel reformed the garbage disposal, had streets and gardens renovated and supervised the construction of public baths through the building authority. During his term of office, he also stepped up the equipping of Vienna apartments with gas stoves and electricity, the takeover and electrification of the tram and the construction of kindergartens.

Siegel also exercised his office as a city councilor under Reumann's successor Karl Seitz (see state government and city senate Seitz I ) and his mandate as a local councilor and member of the state parliament until his death. He died in the Lainz hospital and was buried in the Simmering fire hall in the urn grove of the Ottakring cemetery after being cremated . The residential complex at Wilhelminenstrasse 37 in the 16th district, Ottakring , was named Siegelhof in 1949.

Individual evidence

1. ^ The reconstitution of the municipal council. In:  Neue Freie Presse , June 2, 1920, p. 6 (online at ANNO ).

literature

• Felix Czeike : Historical Lexicon Vienna . Volume 5. Verlag Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1996
• Gregor Gatscher-Riedl: There was no industry in Perchtoldsdorf: Studies on the development of the labor movement in the Vienna area 1871-2001. Berlin 2011.
• Franz Patzer: The Vienna City Council 1918-1934. A contribution to the history of the City of Vienna and its parliament. Vienna 1961 (Wiener Schriften; Issue 15).
• Gregor Gatscher-Riedl: The organizer of “Red Vienna” from Perchtoldsdorf: City councilor Franz Siegel (1876-1927): Pacemaker of urban modernization. In: In: Local history supplement [to the official gazette of the district authority Mödling], 50th year, F. 4, (Mödling December 5, 2015), p. 25f.

Web links

• Franz Siegel. In: dasrotewien.at - Web dictionary of the Viennese social democracy. SPÖ Vienna (Ed.)