Jodok Fink

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Portrait memorial in Bregenz , by Emil Gehrer (1957)
Portrait The appointment in Andelsbuch town hall, by Hans Bertle (1920)
Memorial plaque on Jodok-Fink-Platz in Vienna
Jodok Fink Medal

Jodok Fink (born February 19, 1853 in Andelsbuch ; † July 1, 1929 there ) was an Austrian farmer and politician ( CS ).

Life

Jodok Fink was born on February 19, 1853, the ninth child of a Bregenzerwald farming family in Andelsbuch . All of his older siblings had died before he was born, so only he and his younger brother Alois will reach adulthood. His father died when Fink was four years old. His mother married a second time when he was ten years old. At the age of 15, Fink attended grammar school in Brixen, which he dropped out after only one year, despite excellent school grades, to work in his parents' farm. In 1886, at the age of 33, Fink married Maria Katharina Meusburger, who was six years younger than him. The marriage resulted in twelve children, five of whom died prematurely.

In addition to his work as a farmer, Fink made a political career in the Danube Monarchy and played a central role in the establishment of the successor state, German-Austria . In the eventful early days of the 1st Republic , Fink appeared in his government function as Vice Chancellor alongside State Chancellor Karl Renner as a man of balance between the Christian Social and Social Democratic parties.

On the occasion of his death at the age of 76, the “ Kölnische Volkszeitung ” praised Fink's life: “Whenever an understanding with the enemy was necessary, Fink was sent ahead. A protocol with his name under it was secured to the right and left. Just looking at this farmer's face, which was bright up to the last few years, made a human bridge between the views appear possible. "

Jodok Fink is buried in the Andelsbuch cemetery. His tomb was created by the architect Alfons Fritz , also born in Andelsbuch.

Services

Community politics

Political events in the Bregenzerwald were dominated by the Catholic Conservative Party in Fink's youth. Fink acquired his political tools in the "Catholic Conservative Casino" - a party-political institution and educational institution - in neighboring Egg . From 1879 Fink began political activity at the local level. At the age of 26, he was elected to the community committee of his home community Andelsbuch . As a municipal mandate, Fink was successful in the field of property tax regulation and distinguished himself for the first time as a political figure. From 1882 he was a member of the community council and from 1888 he held the office of community leader. From 1888 to 1897 he was mayor of the Andelsbuch community. In addition to exercising his political offices, Fink showed himself to be a progressive farmer, founded the cattle breeding cooperative Andelsbuch in 1888 and laid out a breeding garden for fruit trees and an artificial meadow for growing grain. In the "Catholic Conservative Casino for Egg and the surrounding area", Fink was active from 1890 in functions as a board member and board member. In the casino, Fink's passions for politics and questions of agriculture merged seamlessly: In addition to his management function, in 1888 he gave a lecture on modern methods of fruit growing. In 1928 he founded the Alma cooperative with his son Anton (1890–1966) .

State politics

At the end of the 19th century the social question and nationalism gained in importance and led to the formation of new political groups. In the Catholic-Conservative camp of Vorarlberg, conflicts of direction raged between moderate and radical-conservative groups. The dispute over the political authority of the “high clergy” threatened to split the conservative camp. Pius Mätzler, pastor of Sulzberg and Fink's uncle, was unable to attend the meeting on May 22, 1890 for the appointment of the Conservative-Catholic state election committee for the election to the state parliament. He asked Fink to represent him at this controversial meeting. With a compromise proposal for an election committee, Fink managed to unite the estranged groups within the Catholic Conservatives and thus secure a common candidacy. At the request of the radical-conservative parliamentary group, he ran for the state parliament and in 1890 became a member of the state parliament and substitute for the state committee . Fink, the supposedly politically inexperienced farmer, laid the foundations for a reorientation of the Catholic Conservative Party in his home country, which ultimately resulted in the establishment of the politically moderate Christian Social People's Association in Vorarlberg in 1893. Fink was from 1893 committee member of the newly founded party. Agricultural and social issues formed the focus of Fink's work at the state level. In 1899 he initiated the establishment of a teaching and model dairy in Doren and was particularly committed to the construction of the Bregenzerwaldbahn and the establishment of a state mortgage bank .

Reichsrat

From 1897 Fink became a member of the House of Representatives of the Austrian Imperial Council . At first he remained a non-party member of parliament, who admittedly to the impetuous, anti-Semitic and anti-liberal Christian Socialists (CS) under Karl Lueger , but only joined their club four years later after the new elections in 1901. He became an advisor to Albert Gessmann and Karl Lueger. After Lueger's death in 1910, the forces within CS shifted in favor of rural areas and Fink advanced in the top management. From 1914 to 1918 Fink was director of the Imperial and Royal Office for People's Nutrition and was responsible for supplying the population with food during the war.

First republic

The Austro-Hungarian monarchy disintegrated in October 1918. In his Manifesto, Emperor Karl I called on the nationalities of the Cisleithan half of the empire to form national councils to discuss the reorganization of Austria with his government; the nationalities saw this as an impetus to make themselves completely independent of the emperor and his Viennese government.

Johann Nepomuk Hauser , the club chairman of the Christian Social Party, fell ill during the crucial days, and Fink stepped into the breach as his deputy. On October 21, 1918, he was elected by acclamation as one of the three equal presidents of the Provisional National Assembly for German Austria , but resigned before the next meeting, at which Hauser was elected to this position on October 30, 1918. However, Fink remained in the Presidium of the Council of State , which on October 30 established the Renner I state government , the first government of German Austria, and prepared the proclamation of the republic on November 12, 1918. The viability of the small German-speaking successor state of the monarchy, which had lost its agricultural areas in Hungary and its industrial centers in Bohemia and Moravia, was massively called into question by the policies of the victorious powers of the First World War: the rest is Austria. Fink stood up as an advocate of the statehood of Austria against the decision to join German Austria on November 12, 1918 to the German Reich.

In the elections for the constituent national assembly on February 16, 1919, the Christian Socials were narrowly defeated by the Social Democrats under Karl Renner . Fink was able to lead his party into a grand coalition with the Social Democrats ( Renner II state government ) after a tough political dispute, in order to build an "emergency roof" for the unstable state structure. Fink became Vice Chancellor of the young republic alongside State Chancellor Renner. He took care of the state agendas in Vienna, while the Chancellor led the peace negotiations in St. Germain from May to September 1919 . From October 1919 he took over the function of club chairman of the Christian Social Party. The grand coalition was highly controversial in the Christian Social Party. At the party congress on February 29, 1920, Fink pragmatically pointed out: “A coalition is an evil; because the parties cannot exercise their fundamental policy in such a policy, but only a vague compromise policy. But we had to stand higher than party politics to save the people and the state from greater misfortune and to try to lead them out of misery. ” The grand coalition state government Renner III of 1919/20 with Fink as Vice Chancellor managed a bloodless political and social revolution and carry out a defeudalization of the country and thus laid the foundation for modern Austria.

In June 1920 the grand coalition broke up and was replaced by the interim proporate cabinet of the state government Mayr I (without Fink), to which all three political camps belonged. In the first parliamentary elections in Austria in 1920 on October 17, the Christian Social Party won, but did not achieve an absolute majority. The Mayr II minority cabinet was dependent on the support of the Greater Germans; the social democrats were in opposition. The former grand coalition Fink was no longer wanted in a government function and concentrated on his functions as club chairman of the Christian-Social and as a member of the National Council. The following years were marked by economic hardships, accompanied by frequent changes of government, which took place only in the conservative and German-national camp, changing parliamentary majorities and political radicalization ( fire in the Palace of Justice ). Fink pulled the strings in the background and until his death in 1929 was considered a “ministerial maker” and “bridge builder” across all ideological boundaries.

State of Vorarlberg

In the revolutionary days of autumn 1918, Fink's homeland Vorarlberg took a different route. Fink convinced Otto Ender , the regional party leader of the CS, of the necessity to actively lead Vorarlberg into the republic. The regional assembly of November 3, 1918 decided in the spirit of Fink: “Vorarlberg is an independent state within the framework of the German-Austrian state.” Since the viability of German-Austria was also questioned in Vorarlberg, a citizens' initiative with the aim of quickly formed the connection to stable and prosperous Switzerland . Fink was opposed to these tendencies, as they would have meant a further weakening of German Austria. After a citizen vote with an approval of 80% for follow-up negotiations with Switzerland, he offered to resign as a member of parliament. However, the leadership of the state party expressed their confidence in him. The connection of Vorarlberg to Switzerland failed due to the lack of assertiveness of the supporters in Vorarlberg and Switzerland. The " connection ban " in the peace treaty of St. Germain ended the Vorarlberg connection movement to Switzerland. As a result of the hyperinflation of 1919, food deliveries from Switzerland rose sharply. From April onwards there were finally no more food deliveries and famine and unrest in Vorarlberg were feared. On the basis of a Fink initiative, the Ministry of Finance under Josef Schumpeter made the necessary payments to Switzerland two days before the state elections, thus ensuring that the population in crisis-ridden Vorarlberg was fed.

Awards

literature

Web links

Commons : Jodok Fink  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Matricula Online - Andelsbuch, Taufbuch, 1807–1863, 11th line
  2. ^ Matricula Online - Andelsbuch, Sterbebuch, 1908–1938, page 70, entry no. 12, 1st line
  3. ^ Wolfgang Weber: Andelsbuch and the Nazi dictatorship. October 28, 2006, p. 13 , accessed April 15, 2014 .
personal data
SURNAME Fink, Jodok
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian farmer and politician (CS), member of the state parliament
DATE OF BIRTH February 19, 1853
PLACE OF BIRTH Andelsbuch
DATE OF DEATH July 1, 1929
Place of death Andelsbuch