Karl Leth

Karl Leth (born May 27, 1861 in Vienna ; † November 17, 1930 there , 1914 to 1919 Ritter von Leth ) was an Austrian banking specialist and 1915/16 Finance Minister of Cisleithania , the Austrian half of Austria-Hungary .

Karl Ritter von Leth (1915)

Life

Leth, son of the cloth merchant Julius Leth, graduated from the Academic Gymnasium in 1879 and studied law at the University of Vienna . Even before obtaining the Dr. jur. 1885, he entered the civil service in 1884 at the Post Office Savings Bank . His father had to guarantee the bank a wage subsidy of 30 guilders . As early as 1896, when the bank was first involved in issuing a government bond , Leth acted as its representative in the responsible syndicate. In 1902 he was appointed section councilor and deputy director, and in 1904 he became interim head of the Post Office Savings Bank. In 1906 he was appointed court counselor, and in 1911 vice governor. In 1912 Leth took over the provisional management of the bank again, and in September 1915 he officially became its governor.

Leth played a key role in the reform and economic success of the Post Office Savings Bank. He was responsible for rationalization measures and the introduction of check transactions at the postal services. The postal savings bank was increasingly used to cover government loan requirements and government loans, such as war bonds . In 1914 Leth was made a knight, after successfully placing the second war loan, he received the Commander's Cross of the Order of Leopold .

From December 1, 1915 to October 31, 1916, Leth was Austrian Finance Minister in the Stürgkh government . In the crisis after an unsuccessful first year of the war, Leth was supposed to organize the state finances. He implemented important tax policy measures and was able to successfully finance a third war loan. However, he did not succeed in introducing a property tax to finance the costs of the war; only a war profit tax was passed in April 1916. According to Josef Redlich , he had the illusion that Austria's war-related debts would be repaid after the victory by compensating the opponents.

From 1917 until the end of the monarchy in November 1918, Leth was also a member of the manor house of the Vienna Imperial Council . From 1917 to 1919 he was governor of the Bodencreditanstalt .

Leth was chairman of charities, honorary member of the professional writers' association, honorary president of the Vienna ice skating club and board member of the Reichsbund der Haus- und Landowners. He was married and had a daughter. In 1930 he died of a stroke in his apartment on Teinfaltstrasse in Vienna .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Robert Winter: The Academic Gymnasium in Vienna. Past and present. Böhlau, Vienna 1996, ISBN 3-205-98485-4 , p. 192.
   Alois Czedik von Bründlsberg and Eysenberg : On the history of the kk Austrian ministries, 1861-1916. Based on the memories of Alois von Czedik. Volume 4: Period 1908-1916. K. Prochaska, Teschen / Vienna 1920, p. 504.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Wolfgang Fritz : Leth, a man from the postal savings bank. Wiener Zeitung September 17, 2002.
   Wolfgang Fritz: For Emperor and Republic. Austria's finance minister since 1848. Edition Atelier, Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-85308-088-X , p. 124ff.
3. ^ ^{A b c d} Leth, Karl von (1861–1930), banking specialist. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 5, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1972, p. 159.
4. ^ Karl von Leth in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna
5. ^ Fritz Fellner (Ed.): Fateful Years of Austria 1908-1919. Josef Redlich's political diary. Volume 3: Biographical data and registers. Böhlau, Vienna / Cologne 2011, ISBN 978-3-205-78617-7 , p. 128.