Ignaz Kuranda

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Ignaz Kuranda, lithograph by Eduard Kaiser , 1861
Grave of Ignaz Kuranda in the Vienna Central Cemetery

Ignaz Kuranda (born May 8, 1811 in Prague ; died April 3, 1884 in Vienna ) was an Austrian publicist, politician and President of the Jewish Community of Vienna .

Life

As the son of an antiquarian bookseller, Kuranda was supposed to take over his father's profession, but went to Vienna in 1834, where he heard Lichtenberg's philosophical lectures and made acquaintance with writers like Grillparzer and Lenau . His first literary attempts were made during these first years in Vienna.

Travels took him to Stuttgart and Paris , where he made the acquaintance of Uhland and Heine . In Brussels he acted as a correspondent for the “ Allgemeine Zeitung ” from Augsburg. In addition to numerous other trips across Europe, he completed his studies in political science and history in Leipzig with a doctorate. His political activities, which had already begun in Brussels, came to light with the March Revolution of 1848. He was a member of the Committee of the Fifties and was a member of its deputation in preparation for the parliamentary elections in Prague. From June 27 to August 24, 1848, he was a non-attached member of the Frankfurt National Assembly as a representative for Teplitz . After the failure of the revolution he turned to local politics and from 1861 represented the “ constitutional party ” in the Lower Austrian state parliament . From this he was sent to the House of Representatives of the Reichsrat and, as a member of the “Subcomités of the Constitutional Committee”, played a major role in the creation of the December constitution in 1867. He was also a member of the Vienna City Council.

Through a lawsuit against Sebastian Brunner and his anti-Semitic article in the “ Wiener Kirchenzeitung ” he gained a high reputation among liberal forces and Eastern European Jews. Kuranda was elected President of the Israelite Religious Community in Vienna in 1872. He also promoted Jewish studies in his position as Vice President of the "Israelite Alliance". In 1872 he was made a knight of the Leopold Order. He never used the associated title of nobility. In 1881 he became an honorary citizen of Vienna, where a park was named after him.

Ignaz Kuranda found his final resting place in the old Israelite part of the Vienna Central Cemetery .

publicist

In his first year in Vienna he published as a theater critic in the "Telegraph" and in 1834 the drama "The Last White Rose" based on Schiller's fragment "Warbeck", which was performed in Stuttgart in 1838 and in 1846 at the Burgtheater in Vienna . As a correspondent in Brussels, he made contact with Flemish groups. In order to deepen these relationships, he founded the weekly newspaper “ Die Grenzboten ” there in 1841 , the editorial staff of which had to be relocated to Leipzig the following year. In Leipzig he increasingly turned to topics that shed light on intra-German relations. “Die Grenzboten” was the only magazine for liberal-minded Austrians at the time of the March. In 1848 he handed over management to Julian Schmidt and Gustav Freytag.

In connection with the March Revolution he founded the " Ostdeutsche Post ", which became the mouthpiece of his political ideas. In it he advocated a German-influenced - not federalist - Austria , which after the failure of an all-German solution in 1848/52 was to enter into at least close economic and military ties with the other German states. After the publication had to be temporarily suspended during the revolutionary unrest and he was under police surveillance, he resumed work on the "Ostdeutsche Post" in 1853. After the end of the German Confederation in 1866 and thus the end of all political hopes, the newspaper was finally discontinued. As the publisher of the " Grenzbote " and the "Ostdeutsche Post", Kuranda was one of the outstanding exponents of liberalism in Austria and thus made it heard.

Works

as author:

  • The Last White Rose , 1834 (dramatic poem)
  • Prussia and the Jews. In: Die Grenzbote, second year, first semester, pp. 301–306, online .
  • Belgium since its revolution , Leipzig 1846, 462 pages, online .

as editor:

  • The border messengers (weekly magazine, 1841–1848)
    • Second year, first semester, Leipzig 1842, 748 pages, online
    • Third year, second semester, volume II, Leipzig 1844, 612 pages.
    • Fourth year, 1st semester, 1st volume, 622 pages, online .
  • East German Post (newspaper, 1848–1866)
  • The real estate. Volkswirthschaftliche Zeitung for the whole of Austria, 1859

literature

Web links

Commons : Ignaz Kuranda  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files


personal data
SURNAME Kuranda, Ignaz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian publicist
DATE OF BIRTH May 8, 1811
PLACE OF BIRTH Prague
DATE OF DEATH April 3, 1884
Place of death Vienna