Heinrich von Wittek

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Heinrich (until April 10, 1919 Ritter von ) Wittek (born January 29, 1844 in Vienna ; † April 9, 1930 in Vienna 1., Schottengasse 3, Melker Hof ) was a senior civil servant, Christian social politician, Imperial and Royal Railway Minister and in 1899/1900 four Prime Minister of the Austrian half of Austria-Hungary for weeks .

Heinrich von Wittek

Life

family

Heinrich was the eldest son of Johann Marzellin Ritter von Wittek (1801–1876), the educator of the future Emperor Franz Joseph I and his brothers. Heinrich was the playmate of Ludwig Viktor of Austria , the youngest brother of the emperor. Through these courtly relations he enjoyed a certain protection during the monarchy.

Wittek had three sisters, Sophie (* 1844), Johanna (* 1860), who became a painter and wife of Minister Rudolf Freiherr Schuster von Bonnott , and Maria Annunziata (1867–1951), who worked as a writer under the name Irma Wittek .

Ministerial official

After attending the Schottengymnasium in Vienna and studying law at the University of Vienna, Heinrich Wittek became a Dr. jur. accepted into the civil service of the kingdoms and countries represented in the Imperial Council ( Cisleithania ). He made a name for himself as an expert in the railway sector and was appointed Section Head in the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Commerce in 1886 . In 1895 he was briefly Minister of Commerce. During his activity in the Ministry of Commerce, he was involved in the preparations for the transfer of the Ministry's railway agendas to the Imperial and Royal Railway Ministry, which was founded in 1896 , to which he himself also changed as head of section; Here the agendas of the Austrian State Railways were processed under the direct direction of the Minister.

Railway Minister

From November 30, 1897 to May 1, 1905, he was appointed by Franz Joseph I, Minister of Railways under five Cisleithan Prime Ministers . He was successful in expanding the railway network and advocated social issues for railway workers. During his tenure as minister, the Vienna light rail system was opened from 1898–1901 . In 1901 he successfully brought the New Alpine Railways project , the largest civil investment project in the Austrian half of the empire in the last twenty years of the monarchy, through parliament (the new railway lines were opened under later ministers). At his instigation, a railway construction directorate directly subordinate to him was set up in the ministry and a ticket tax was decided.

From December 21, 1899 to January 18, 1900, Wittek served as a "temporary solution" for Ernest von Koerber , also briefly as Prime Minister of the Austrian half of the empire. In doing so, he approved a liberal Viennese municipal electoral code, which was in line with the Christian Socials.

Problems arose with two of the new Alpine railways currently under construction : on the Pyhrnbahn due to water ingress in the Bosruck tunnel and in the Wocheiner railway due to geological features and water ingress in the Wocheiner tunnel. The Ministry of Railways budget did not provide for such and other additional costs.

resignation

As the Viennese daily Neue Freie Presse summarized on May 2, 1905, Wittek had made enemies of various groups in the Reichsrat because of his railway policy, which allegedly did not address the needs of the economy. When the responsible subcommittee of the House of Representatives found significant budget overruns in the New Alpine Railways project, for which no parliamentary approval had been obtained, Railway Construction Director Karl Wurmb announced his resignation. According to the newspaper, however, the parliamentarians considered Wittek to be the real politically responsible party, so that all parliamentary groups except the Christian Socialists opposed him and they did not consider it possible to support Wittek. His ministerial colleagues did not want to speak in favor of remaining in government either. Wittek therefore submitted his resignation, which was accepted by the emperor on May 1, 1905.

The Viennese daily Reichspost , which acts as the mouthpiece of the Christian Social Party , commented on Wittek's resignation on May 3, 1905, saying that Wittek's failures are actually more the product of Koerber's overall cabinet than of Wittek's faults, who is otherwise always a capable worker, a good specialist and an honorable representative of the general state interests in railway policy. The newspaper recalled that the private railways were very dissatisfied with the technical improvements that Wittek had asked of them. The budget overruns in the construction of the railway are due to the fact that experts and parliamentarians calculated the costs of the new railway construction too superficially when they were decided and therefore estimated them too low. In addition, the newspaper speculated that Wittek's departure could also have something to do with the fact that ministerial posts ( parliamentarization of the cabinet ) should be vacated in order to give the government the support of a Reichsrat majority by including important parliamentary representatives. The Christian Socials would certainly not ruin their reputation by participating in the government. The Mayor of Vienna, Karl Lueger , had Wittek elected an honorary citizen of Vienna on May 5, 1905 by the Christian-Social majority in the municipal council .

Parliamentarians

The Secret Council, Minister Retired, Dr. Heinrich Ritter v. Wittek was appointed by the Kaiser on August 16, 1905, along with other men of honor, to be a member of the manor for life. From the Reichsrat election in 1907 until the end of the XI. Legislative period, 1911, Christian Social Member of the House of Representatives . He took over the mandate from Karl Lueger. The affiliation to the manor was suspended while he was a member of parliament.

Wittek was buried on April 11, 1930 in Hietzinger Friedhof in Vienna's 13th district, not far from Schönbrunn Palace , in group 6, grave no. 65, in the grave of his parents (his father in 1876, his mother Elise in 1891). In 1951 his sister Maria Annunziata was buried here.

literature

  • L .: Minister of Railways ret. D. Dr. Heinrich Ritter v. Wittek. In: Newspaper of the Association of German Railway Administrations, Volume 54, No. 8 (January 28, 1914), pp. 121–122.
  • Johanna Schitzhofer: Heinrich Ritter von Wittek. A picture of life. Unprinted dissertation, Vienna 1949.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Erich Kielmansegg: Imperial House, Statesmen and Politicians. Records of the Imperial and Royal Governor Erich Graf Kielmansegg. Verlag für Geschichte und Politik, Vienna 1966, p. 338.
  2. ↑ Johann Wittek at Austro-Hungarian-Army
  3. ↑ Women's biographies, lists of names accessed on December 21, 2011
  4. ^ Ernst Rutkowski: Letters and documents on the history of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Volume 1: The Constitutionally Loyal Large Estate 1880-1899. Verlag Oldenbourg, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-486-51831-3 , p. 530.
  5. ^ Ernst Rutkowski: Letters and documents on the history of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Volume 2: The Constitutionally Loyal Large Estate 1900-1904. Verlag Oldenbourg, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-486-52611-1 , pp. 15 and 332.
  6. ^ The resignation of the railway minister v. Wittek. In: New Free Press. Vienna, No. 14615, May 2, 1905, p. 1 f.
  7. ↑ Wittek's resignation. in: Daily newspaper Reichspost Vienna, XII. Volume, No. 100, May 3, 1905, p. 1
  8. ↑ Stenographic Protocols. Mansion. 53rd session of the XVII. Session on December 1, 1905 , p. 1105 : Letter from Prime Minister Gautsch dated August 17, 1905
  9. ↑ a b Heinrich von Wittek on the website of the Austrian Parliament

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wittek, Heinrich von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wittek, Heinrich Ritter von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian politician and Prime Minister
DATE OF BIRTH January 29, 1844
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH April 9, 1930
Place of death Vienna