Heinrich Zechmann

Heinrich Zechmann (born May 24, 1898 in Pichl-Preunegg , † July 25, 1979 in Feldkirchen in Carinthia ) was an Austrian politician ( FPÖ ) and President of the Railway Directorate. From 1956 to 1962 he was a member of the National Council .

After the early death of his mother, Zechmann came to a large farmer as an adopted child. Through the mediation of a pastor, after attending elementary school in 1913, he went to the kuk marine machine school, where he learned the profession of fitter and ship engine operator. After completing his training, he was employed as a machine sergeant on cruisers and torpedo vehicles until the end of the First World War . After the end of the First World War he worked for the Austrian Federal Railways as a locksmith, chancellery, dispatcher and school clerk and at the same time continued his education through private studies up to the secondary school entrance qualification. He adored Adolf Hitler at an early age and became SA leader as well as NSDAP local group and district leader in Landeck . At the same time he pursued philosophical and legal studies and obtained his doctorate in 1931. After completing his studies, he moved to the Linz Federal Railway Directorate as a legal clerk, where he remained until 1942. In addition, he was active as district manager and district speaker in Linz . In 1941 he was offered to take over the management of the railroad front in Tbilisi , but Zechmann turned it down and in 1941 became president of the Reichsbahn management in Villach . There he kept the Reichsbahn operational despite bombing and partisan attacks. At the request of the Reich Minister of Transport, he was subsequently awarded the Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross with Swords on February 20, 1945 .

After the Second World War , Zechmann was interned between 1945 and 1947 and released from rail service. He was initially unemployed and kept himself afloat by giving language lessons. Subsequently, he was a telephone operator, construction worker and employee at excavation companies. Politically, he was a co-founder of the FPÖ in the 1950s and was active as a federal deputy chairman and federal organizer of the FPÖ. Between June 8, 1956 and January 26, 1962, he represented them in the National Council.

literature

• Carinthian. Biographical sketches. 16. – 20. Century . Klagenfurt 1998

Web links

• Heinrich Zechmann on the website of the Austrian Parliament