Josef Schoeffel

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Josef Schöffel, lithograph by Adolf Dauthage , 1879
Schöffel's signature

Josef Schöffel (born July 29, 1832 in Příbram , Bohemia ; † February 7, 1910 in Mödling , Lower Austria ) was an Austrian journalist , politician , homeland and nature conservationist .

Life

Josef Schöffel, caricature by Karl von Stur, 1873

Josef Schöffel served in the Austrian army from 1857 to 1863 and disarmed as first lieutenant (he processed his sometimes shocking experiences in his later work Memories from my life ). Coming from a family of mining officials, he worked in the Geological Reichsanstalt from 1863–1868. He became known as the “savior of the Vienna Woods ” when, through a journalistic campaign in 1870–1872, he prevented a quarter of the wooded area of ​​the Vienna Woods from being sold to the Viennese timber merchant Moritz Hirschl for felling . At first, Schöffel hardly found any comrades-in-arms for his project. From 1862, state ownership in the Vienna Woods was assigned to the Financial Directorate, which, according to the Ministry of Finance, sought to improve the catastrophic budget situation due to the wars of 1859, 1864 and 1866 through privatizations. In the Neue Wiener Tagblatt and later in the Deutsche Zeitung , Schöffel reported on the abuse of office by the State Goods Disposal Bureau and some senior ministerial officials. He was summoned to court several times. The press was obviously closer to those interested in privatization than to conservationists and opponents of the underpriced sale of public property. But since Schöffel's research was irreversible, all complaints were withdrawn. He was even offered hush money to dissuade him from his plan. There was a rumor that a shooter who mistakenly met Schöffel while hunting would not face any consequences. Then Schöffel did not take part in any more hunts.

Schöffels acquittal from the prosecution for "degrading orders of the authorities" on March 20, 1872 ushered in the turning point. The government withdrew the control of the state forests from the Ministry of Finance in favor of the Ministry of Agriculture, and the stock market crash of 1873 put an end to the feverish construction boom that had formed the background to the affair.

Schöffel, who had become prominent, became a member of the Imperial Council in 1873 and Mayor of Mödling from 1873–1882 . As such, he ran the city of Mödling survey in 1875. He also made in 1875 in a Reichsrat speech as the first attention to the risk that the entrained to Austria phylloxera for viticulture showed. During this time he also founded an orphanage in Mödling in collaboration with his friend Josef Hyrtl . In Mödling, but also in numerous other Wienerwald communities, he became an honorary citizen . Schöffel supported the modernization and expansion of the city of Mödling and restructured its finances. Immediately before his death, he planned to move to the orphanage , the establishment of which he himself had suggested. That never happened, Schöffel died alone. His death was only briefly mentioned in Mödling. The Mödlinger Zeitung wrote rather casually after his death: "Schöffel was also mayor of Mödling."

As a member of the Reichsrat and the Lower Austrian Provincial Committee, he headed the Lower Austrian road system. He also introduced refreshment stations for the craft boys.

His motto was: "I only wish that if the Vienna Woods, which is not impossible, should be threatened by speculators again, a man will be found at the right time who will defend it successfully."

Appreciation

Schöffel memorial stone in the Vienna Woods
Second monument in the Schöffelstadt in Mödling

In 1912 the Schöffelgasse in Vienna- Währing (18th district) was named after him, in 1994 the Schöffelplatz in Penzing (14th district).

In Mödling, the district he created received his name ( Schöffelvorstadt ), today Schöffelstadt . The city also laid out the Schöffel Park , which also houses one of the three monuments in Mödling.

While a memorial was dedicated to him in Purkersdorf just one year after his initiative to save the Vienna Woods, this was done for the first time in Mödling on the 20th anniversary of the town's elevation on November 18, 1895. This monument at the foot of the Frauenstein was designed by the architect Eugen Sehnals who already built the Schöffels crypt chapel at the Mödlinger Friedhof. The bust, cast in bronze , came from the then popular sculptor Viktor Tilgner . This bust was stolen by non-ferrous metal thieves during the First World War . However, it was refilled and the monument was erected on the main street in front of the Mödlinger Sparkasse building . After several wanderings, the monument is now on Schrannenplatz opposite the town hall.

A second memorial was dedicated to him on the occasion of his 70th birthday in 1902 by his pupils in the orphanage. Today it is in Schöffelpark.

In 1968 a third monument was erected in Weinhebergasse to the savior of the Vienna Woods . The bust, which is also a cast by Tilgner, stands on a natural stone monument created by the architect Helene Koller-Buchwieser .

Schöffel was further honored three years before Josef Hyrtl's death in the form of a medal created by Heinrich Jauner . In addition to the portrait of Hyrtl, Schöffel was also shown at Hyrtl's express request. The dedication text read:

"Orphanotrophii Medelicensis conditorum Memoriae dicatum Senatus Medelic. Consult. 1891 "

Fraternity

He was an honorary member of the Viennese fraternity Franko-Cherusker.

Works

  • The institutions of the natural refreshment stations, 1887
  • History of the establishment and development of the Hyrtl Orphanage Foundation, 1903
  • Memories from my life, 1905, reproduction: ISBN 1-2790-0138-0

literature

Web links

Commons : Josef Schöffel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Josef Schöffel on his 100th birthday on July 29, 1932. In:  Wiener Bilder , June 26, 1932, p. 9 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / wrb
  2. ↑ S. Petrin:  Schöffel Joseph. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 11, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1999, ISBN 3-7001-2803-7 , p. 11 f. (Direct links on p. 11 , p. 12 ).
  3. ↑ a b c d e Christian Matzner: Joseph Schöffel on the 100th anniversary of his death in the cultural magazine medilihha number 3/2010
  4. ↑ P. Krause, "Achievement - Commitment - Responsibility", p. 22; Edited by Wiener MKV, undated
personal data
SURNAME Schoeffel, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian journalist, politician, homeland and nature conservationist
DATE OF BIRTH July 29, 1832
PLACE OF BIRTH Příbram , Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH February 7, 1910
Place of death Mödling , Lower Austria