Hans Mayr (politician, 1928)

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Hans Mayr (born June 27, 1928 in Vienna ; † October 25, 2006 there ) was an Austrian politician ( SPÖ ).

In local council and national council

Mayr was born in the 16th district of Vienna, Ottakring , a working-class district. After graduating from the HTL Matura , he first worked for the state pension insurance company for employees, where he became director. From a young age he was involved in social democracy in Vienna. From 1963, when the mayors Franz Jonas and Bruno Marek were in office, he represented the SPÖ in the Vienna municipal council and state parliament . In the 15th district, Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus , he was in 1971, in the tenure of Mayor Felix Slavik , SPÖ district chairman, from 1971 to 1973 he was a deputy to the then of Bruno Kreisky with absolute majority SPÖ -dominated National Council .

Vienna City Councilor for Finance and Vice Mayor

In 1973 he was appointed by Mayor Leopold Gratz , who took office in the same year, to the state government and city senate of Gratz II as the leading city councilor for finances and economics (see also Gratz III and IV ).

In 1984 the new mayor Helmut Zilk also made him deputy mayor (see state government and city senate Zilk I to Zilk III ). The resigned Gratz soon said goodbye to his Viennese party functions. 1985 Mayr became deputy chairman of the Viennese party. Since Zilk did not want to be intensely involved in party politics in order to be eligible for non-Social Democrats, Mayr succeeded Gratz as party leader in Vienna in 1988.

For Zilk's often spontaneous ideas, Mayr always loyally obtained the necessary funds from the city budget; on the other hand, Zilk Mayr spoke out in his economic policy (including the management of Wien Holding as an external control instrument for the many companies wholly or partially owned by the city). So the two very different personalities mostly got along well.

Vienna Central Cemetery - Honorary grave of Vice Mayor Hans Mayr

The most important investments in Hans Mayr's term of office included the continuation of the underground construction, the completion of the new general hospital (university clinics) , the construction of several bridges over the Danube, the construction of the UN City (the city was a minority participant), the construction of the Spittelau district heating plant designed by Hundertwasser and the establishment of the Theater an der Wien as a musical stage. Together with the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, he founded the Vienna Economic Development Fund (now called Vienna Business Agency ) to attract companies to settle in Vienna, and from 1984–1996 served as President of the Vienna Tourism Association , which he supported financially from the city's budget.

After 21 years as a councilor for finance, Mayr resigned on November 7, 1994 at the same time as Mayor Zilk. 1995–2002 Mayr served as President of the Supervisory Board of the Porr construction company .

After his death, Mayr's urn was buried in a grave of honor in Vienna's central cemetery. In June 2013, Hans-Mayr-Platz was named after him in the 22nd district, Donaustadt , on both sides of the Stadlau underground station on the U2 line near Kaisermühlenstraße, which was opened in 2010 .

personal profile

Most of the time, Mayr seemed quite conciliatory, but exercised his enormous real power towards others without any problems and regardless of criticism. With the conservative Viennese economic politicians, especially in the Vienna Chamber of Commerce , Mayr cultivated such close partnerships that they fell out as critics of the Viennese SPÖ, which ruled with an absolute majority: firstly, they were mostly involved in the decisions, secondly, the city administration was the client of the Vienna's economy is simply too important to afford total opposition.

Mayr was seen as a power-conscious, pragmatic type of doer who was sometimes able to warm to "visionary" projects. In 1984 he surprised the public with the proposal to convert the Rossau barracks into an opera house for reasons of tourism promotion, and large tunnel construction projects across Vienna also found his support. Together with ÖVP politician Jörg Mauthe, Mayr is considered to be the father of the World Exhibition 1995 Vienna – Budapest project , which began before the end of the Eastern Bloc, but which was rejected in a referendum in 1991 .

For critics of the social-democratic Viennese city administration, Mayr was the embodiment of the Red Vienna , a huge network of power and relationships with a strong claim to rule that was hardly visible from the outside.

Publications

  • Paths to the future . In: Lainz - Pavilion V. Background and motifs of a criminal case . Ueberreuter, Vienna 1989, ISBN 3-8000-3339-9 , p. 128 ff .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ see the Wiener Tagespresse 12. – 15. December 1984, e.g. B. Arbeiter Zeitung of December 12, 1984
  2. ↑ see the relevant media coverage around March 24, 1983

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mayr, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian politician (SPÖ), member of the state parliament, member of the National Council
DATE OF BIRTH June 27, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH October 25, 2006
Place of death Vienna