Stefan Kohler

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Stefan Kohler, painting in the mayor's gallery in Bregenz town hall

Stefan Kohler (* 1894 ; † January 4, 1964 ) was an Austrian short-term politician and dentist in Vorarlberg .

Life and activities

Stefan Kohler had a doctorate in dentistry and from May 30, 1945 to June 13, 1945 mayor of the provincial capital Bregenz in Vorarlberg. He was installed as mayor after the French troops (Allies) marched in on May 1, 1945, although he had never held a political position before. This establishment is said to be based on an error. In the literature it is stated that the conservative city councilor and namesake , (Gebhard) Stefan Kohler (born June 11, 1870 in Schwarzach ; † April 22, 1951 ), from Bregenz was actually proposed as mayor to the French allies . When the mistake became known, Stefan Kohler resigned and left the office to Julius Wachter , who was also appointed mayor of Bregenz by the French allies.

After his very short tenure of 15 days, Kohler was also involved in the action committee of the Alpine Democratic Federation for the creation of an Alpine-Danube state ( Alpine Federation or Union alpine ) made up of (Western) Austria, Liechtenstein and Catholic southern Germany , which in Vorarlberg was largely dependent on Julius Wachter was propagated. A project that did not find sustained political support and did not correspond to the Allied plans for post-war Europe.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Date of death according to the website of the City of Bregenz ( online ).
  2. ↑ Hans Holzner became the deputy mayor.
  3. ↑ Conservative city councilor for around 18 years since 1906 ( small-town bourgeoisie in the Habsburg monarchy, 1862-1914 , google books, p. 192).
  4. ↑ Meinrad Pichler: Das Land Vorarlberg 1861 to 2015: History of Vorarlberg , Volume 3, p. 271. Google books. (Gebhard) Stefan Kohler comes from a family that had previously provided several members of the Reichstag and Landtag or mayors in Vorarlberg (e.g. Julius Wachter was the son-in-law of (Gebhard) Stefan Kohler; Gebhard Schwärzler was the grandfather by (Gebhard) Stefan Kohler and Johann Kohler's father). The mayor of Rankweil (1990 to 2008) and member of the state parliament (1994 to 2008) Hans Kohler is a descendant of him.
  5. ↑ Julius Wachter's father, Matthias Wachter, was Mayor of Bregenz from 1929 to 1938.
  6. ↑ Jürgen Klöckler, Abendland - Alpenland - Alemannien: France and the discussion about restructuring in southwest Germany 1945-47 , Munich 1998, Oldenbourg Verlag, dissertation, ISBN 3-486-56345-9 , p. 130.


personal data
SURNAME Kohler, Stefan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian politician and dentist
DATE OF BIRTH 1894
DATE OF DEATH 4th January 1964