Ludwig Reinthaler

Ludwig Reinthaler (born August 3, 1952 in Waldkirchen am Wesen ) is a former driving instructor and right-wing extremist from Austria .

He became known for his actions against modern art. In 1992 he protested against an installation by Cornelius Kolig in the Wels city gallery. In 1993 he fought together with Martin Humer's European Citizens' Initiative against an exhibition by Hermann Nitsch .

Political career

In 1991 he tried to run for a candidate on the list of the United Greens Austria (VGÖ). In 1995 he organized several racist direct mail. In 1996 he ran for the nationalist "Die Neutralen" for the European Parliament. When this candidacy failed, he founded a list called Die Bunten for the 2003 municipal council elections in Wels . This candidacy was also unsuccessful. The Upper Austrian News describes him as a "political bully".

activities

As a letter to the editor, Reinthaler appeared in the Welser Rundschau on right-wing issues. Reinthaler was a regular guest at the annual poet stone meeting of the Dichterstein Offenhausen association . Its chairman Ottokar Schöfer from Unterach emerged through right-wing extremist activities, was a member of the National Democratic Party (NDP), which was banned in 1988 and, together with Otto Scrinzi, initiated the rise of Jörg Haider as FPÖ leader in 1984 . Reinthaler remains in close contact with the Wels entrepreneur Robert Wimmer (Wiro-Polypex), who is known for his right-wing extremist ambitions. Reinthaler's wife is the secretary of the Hochscharten Circle of Friends . In 1995 he founded the documentation archive of the Wels resistance , through which he distributed racist leaflets.

As part of so-called experience flea markets in the Welser Messe, which Reinthaler organized, Nazi devotional objects and propaganda material such as Hitler busts, pictures, badges or books such as Mein Kampf have been offered since the mid-1990s . City council and exhibition management of Wels did not extend the contract with Reinthaler at the end of 2001 due to numerous protests. Reinthaler then sold the goods on Ebay.

He has close contacts with the Working Group for Democratic Politics (AfP): After he had already registered a demonstration by the Federation of Free Youth in Ried / Innkreis in March 2006 , he joined the 41st Political Academy of the AfP in Gumpoldskirchen on October 20 Documentary about the "problem of foreigners in Wels".

In November 2008, he took part in a right-wing extremist counter-demonstration to commemorate the victims of the Reichspogromnacht . Reinthaler was also criticized for his expansion of a poem by the Kronenzeitung editor Wolf Martin . Reinthaler had added the following lines to the poem on the subject of the “banking crisis”: “Who is it that Mr. Martin is talking about? Have you been crying after them for years? Did you do the same with the cart 80/90 years ago? It could be, if you call them by name, every one of them runs (again) for his life! "

In August 2009, the constitutional service of the Wels magistrate checked whether the list "Die Bunten" cited by Reinthaler could run for the municipal council election in Wels in autumn 2009. The reasons for the examination were Reinthaler's “brutally xenophobic” attitude and doubts as to whether Reinthaler complied with constitutional principles. The electoral commission examined whether a candidacy of the "colorful" would not constitute a violation of the National Socialist Prohibition Act. On August 20, it decided, with the approval of the SPÖ, ÖVP and the Greens and with the rejection of the FPÖ, that the "colorful" were not allowed to run.

Judgments

In 2005 Reinthaler was convicted of defaming the President of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labor, Johann Kalliauer , whom he portrayed as a collector of child pornography.

Reinthaler vs. Austria

In 1994 a fine was issued against Reinthaler. He had made private tapes during a criminal hearing without the presiding judge's permission, and was expelled from the room. When he entered the hearing room after lunch and refused to leave despite the threat of a fine, the court imposed a fine of 2000 ATS on him. Reinthaler challenged this decision by filing a complaint against the State of Austria before the European Commission for Human Rights , but his objections were rejected on all points.

Reinthaler vs. KPÖ

Reinthaler filed a lawsuit against the Austrian Communist Party for violating the media law and defamation, as it had reported in a press release that Reinthaler had sold Nazi devotional items on his flea markets in advance of a demonstration registration. In the appeal, the Linz Higher Regional Court found that these sales had been promoted by Reinthaler, and overturned the judgment of the regional court that had awarded Reinthaler compensation.

Reinthaler vs. District administration Ried

A demonstration registered by Reinthaler for May 27, 2007 in Ried under the motto “End multiculturalism. Füa unsa Hoamatland “was officially forbidden because, according to the district administration, there would be foreseeable National Socialist propaganda in the course of the rally. Reinthaler appealed against this decision to the Austrian Constitutional Court, which, however, fully shared the assessment of the BH and confirmed the ban as lawful.

Reinthaler vs. Kronen newspaper

In the spring of 2009 Reinthaler sued the Upper Austria editorial team of the Kronen Zeitung according to the media law, because they had described him in an article as "the brown one". After the Kronen Zeitung was judged in a hearing at the end of May, Reinthaler appealed the judgment, but withdrew it in August 2009, which means that the judgment is now final.

Reinthaler vs. the mayor of Wels

The mayor of Wels, Peter Koits , sued against a photo montage by Ludwig Reinthaler, which was sent in e-mails and published on the website of the " Bunter ", for "defamation" and "insult" (§§ 111 and 115 StGB). The court did not uphold the complaint. Judge Anton Weber made it clear in the grounds of the judgment that the limits of acceptable criticism should be drawn further with a professional politician than with private individuals.

Reinthaler vs. the Austrian Constitutional Court

At the end of 2011, Reinthaler and 19 other people brought charges of abuse of office against 13 supreme judges of the Austrian Constitutional Court (VfGH) . In March 2010, the VfGH joined the decision of the Wels city electoral authority not to allow the “colorful” to run for the municipal council and mayoral elections, because the party had set itself the goal of expelling “elements foreign to the people” - similar to the NSDAP and candidates of the "colorful" have shown themselves in public with T-shirts from right-wing extremist music groups. The public prosecutor's office in Vienna closed the investigation in 2011 because of Reinthaler's complaint against the VfGH judges.

Reinthaler vs. Uwe Sailer

In April 2013, Reinthaler was sentenced by a court to refrain from his allegations of abuse of office against the police officer and data forensic scientist Uwe Sailer and to reimburse the latter for his legal costs of around 8,000 euros. Reinthaler had alleged in a Facebook entry a year earlier that he had falsified evidence in connection with a trial for re-activating members of the right-wing extremist League of Free Youth .

Web links

• Documentation archive of the Austrian resistance - functionaries, activists and ideologues of the right-wing extremist scene in Austria (PDF; 1.6 MB) on Ludwig Reinthaler

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Currently he is professionally active as a road supervisory body (special transport escort). Source: Oberösterreichische Rundschau, online edition: Tax office at porn fair: raid in the hall of sex shows , November 21, 2007.
2. ^ German-Austrian entanglements , article from October 30, 2010 in Blick nach rechts .
3. ↑ www.nachrichten.at
4. ↑  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. KPÖ]  
5. ↑ Michael Möseneder: Marketplace of relevant devotional objects. Wels: Mayor wants to terminate the adventure flea market , in Der Standard of February 16, 2001, p. 9; further articles ibid: (moe) Wels shifts flea markets March 7, 2001, p. 11, (moe) New excitement about flea markets. Wels organizer sees himself as a victim of smear campaigns , April 4, 2001, p. 9
6. ↑ Hagalil
7. ↑ Context (magazine) ( Memento of the original from September 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ^ Press release from Kulturverein Infoladen Wels on November 7, 2008, online
9. ^ Website of the Upper Austrian News, 1 and 2
10. ↑ http://ooe.orf.at/stories/383753/
11. ↑ Menschenrechte.ac.at  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
12. ↑ Reinthaler vs. Austria (PDF; 14 kB), full text of the EkfM decision (eng.)
13. ↑ https://www.vfgh.gv.at/downloads/liste_die_bunten_-_wels_-_presseinformation.pdf
14. ^ Kurier.at
15. ↑ http://kurier.at/chronik/oberoesterreich/polit-rabauke-darf-polizisten-nicht-als-beweisfaelscher-bezichtigen/16.901.760