Heribert Apfalter
Heribert Apfalter (born September 22, 1925 in Pregarten ; † August 26, 1987 in Weistrach ) was an Austrian industrial manager .
Life
The businessman Apfalter rose internally at Voest-Alpine AG in 1977 to the position of general director and until 1985 was considered the “strong man” in this nationalized industrial group. Under political pressure to secure jobs, he pursued the finalization of production (i.e. the advance of the basic materials company in the steel industry into finished goods production), and was partially successful with it. Apfalter managed VÖEST largely independently of the parent company, the state holding company ÖIAG . Apfalter was voted Austrian “Manager of the Year 1984” and in 1984 was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg . However, he got into trouble in 1985 due to the heavy losses related to the US-based VOEST steelworks Bayou, and when he had to admit enormous speculative losses from the VOEST subsidiary Intertrading to the nationalized holding in November 1985, the resulting intertrading scandal not only led to his dismissal, but also that of the entire remaining VOEST board by the responsible minister Ferdinand Lacina .
One of VOEST's most successful diversification activities in the short term was entering the arms business. However, this was associated with high political risks. Heribert Apfalter was considered to be the bearer of secrets and a potentially explosive witness in questions of the Noricum scandal (regarding cannon deliveries in violation of neutrality by the Liezen-based VOEST subsidiary Noricum to the war opponents Iran and Iraq). His sudden cardiac death in September 1987 was therefore surrounded by rumors.
Apfalter was a member of the Lodge Zu den 7 Wisen since 1969.
literature
- Franz Summer: The Vöest Debacle Vienna (Orac) 1987
Web links
- Entry on Heribert Apfalter in the Austria Forum (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Take a risk . In: Der Spiegel . No. 50 , 1985 ( online ).
- ↑ 20 years ago: Apfalters heart failed in time . In: Die Presse , August 3, 2007
- ^ Günter K. Kodek: The chain of hearts remains closed. Members of the Austrian Masonic lodges 1945 to 1985. Löcker, Vienna 2014, ISBN 978-3-85409-706-8 , p. 10 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Apfalter, Heribert |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian industrial manager |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 22, 1925 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pregarten , Upper Austria |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 26, 1987 |
| Place of death | Weistrach , Lower Austria |