Anton Rintelen (15 November 1876 in Graz,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

– 28 January 1946) was an Austrian academic, jurist and politician. Initially associated with the right wing Christian Social Party, he later became involved in a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

coup d'état plot.

Early years

Rintelen was the son of a well-known lawyer and studied law at

University of Graz The University of Graz (german: link=no, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, ), located in Graz, Austria, is the largest and oldest university in Styria, as well as the second-largest and second-oldest university in Austria. History The univers ...

from 1894 to 1898, at which pointed he began lecturing in civil law at the university. He would later serve as a professor at the same institute.

Philip Rees Philip Rees (born 1941) is a British writer and librarian formerly in charge of acquisitions at the J. B. Morrell Library, University of York. He has written books on fascism and the extreme right. Works *''Fascism in Britain'' (Harvester Pres ...

, ''

Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890. It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the r ...

'', Simon & Schuster, 1990, p. 323 He was also a professor at the

Charles University in Prague ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

before taking up a career in politics with the Christian Social Party.Profile
/ref> He served the party as '' Landeshauptmann'' of Styria from 1919 to 1926 and again from 1928 to 1933 and as Minister of Education in 1926 and 1932-3. He was the president of the

Federal Council of Austria The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat, ) is the upper house of the Austrian Parliament, representing the nine States of Austria at the federal level. As part of a bicameral legislature alongside of the National Council, it can be compared wi ...

in 1923. Rintelen was also the founder and President of Steirer Bank although the scandal that followed the collapse of this initiative in 1926 was enough to see him lose his role as ''Landeshauptmann'' for a period. In his role in Styria he was active in supporting the local

Heimwehr The Heimwehr (, ) or Heimatschutz (, ) was a nationalist, initially paramilitary group operating in Austria during the 1920s and 1930s that was similar in methods, organization, and ideology to the Freikorps in Germany. It was opposed to parliam ...

leader

Walter Pfrimer Walter Pfrimer (22 December 1881 – 31 May 1968) was an Austrian politician and leader of the Heimwehr in Styria. He was the leader of a failed putsch in 1931. Early years The son of a wine merchant, Pfrimer studied law at the University of Gr ...

. He also maintained close links with another right-wing militia leader Georg Escherich. Rintelen's links to the far right made him a target for leftists and in May 1921 a group of miners in St. Lorenzen attacked Rintelen, throwing him out a window and stoning him. Rintelen hoped to use the Heimwehr and related groups as a personal army to launch his own version of the

March on Rome The March on Rome ( it, Marcia su Roma) was an organized mass demonstration and a coup d'état in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 1922, ...

and indeed he even tried unsuccessfully to enlist the aid of Benito Mussolini in this venture. He was sent to Rome in 1933 as Ambassador to Italy. Here he became involved in intrigues with

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

leaders from Austria and Germany and worked to push Italian sentiments towards Nazism.Rees, ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right'', p. 324

July Putsch

Despite having been a member of his government Rintelen had become an opponent of

Engelbert Dollfuss Engelbert Dollfuß (alternatively: ''Dolfuss'', ; 4 October 1892 – 25 July 1934) was an Austrian clerical fascist politician who served as Chancellor of Austria between 1932 and 1934. Having served as Minister for Forests and Agriculture, he ...

; and the

Austrian National Socialist Party Austrian Nazism or Austrian National Socialism was a German nationalism in Austria, pan-German movement that was formed at the beginning of the 20th century. The movement took a concrete form on 15 November 1903 when the German Workers' Party (A ...

, at the time planning a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

under the direction of

Theodor Habicht Theodor Habicht (4 April 1898 – 31 January 1944) was a leading political figure in Nazi Germany. He played a leading role in the Austrian Nazi Party. During World War II, he was involved in the administration of Nazi-occupied Norway until his dis ...

, Rudolf Weydenhammer and

Fridolin Glass Fridolin Glass, also Glaß (14 December 1910, in Lemberg – 21 February 1943, in the Soviet Union) was an Austrian Nazi activist and Schutzstaffel (SS) officer. Glass came to prominence in 1934 when he became the effective leader of the July Putsc ...

, brought him into their conspiracy as a prospective Chancellor in 1934. Rintelen wanted to quit at the last minute but the plan went ahead, although it proved a failure, resulting in the death of Dollfuss but not a Nazi government.Höhme, ''The Order of the Death's Head'', p. 271 Rintelen's involvement in the July coup d'état saw him sentenced to life imprisonment for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

in 1935. He was released in 1938 following the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

but he took no further part in politics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rintelen, Anton 1876 births 1946 deaths University of Graz alumni Academics of the University of Graz Charles University faculty Austrian Nazis Government ministers of Austria Members of the Federal Council (Austria) Presidents of the Austrian Federal Council Christian Social Party (Austria) politicians People convicted of treason against Austria Politicians from Graz Austrian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Austria Governors of Styria Education ministers Austrian bankers