Leopold Figl (2 October 1902 – 9 May 1965) was an

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 ...

n politician of the Austrian People's Party (Christian Democrats) and the first Federal Chancellor after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He was also the youngest Federal Chancellor of Austria after the war before Sebastian Kurz.

Life

Born a farmer's son in the

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

n village of Rust im Tullnerfeld, Figl after graduation as '' Dipl.-Ing.'' of

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna became vice chair of the Lower Austrian

Bauernbund The Bavarian Peasants' League (german: Bayerischer Bauernbund, or BB) was an agrarian political party in Bavaria, Germany, from 1893 to 1933. It has also been known in English as the Bavarian Farmers' League. The BB represented the farming int ...

(Farmer's League) in 1931 and chairman in 1933. In 1930, Figl married Hilde Hemala (1906-1989) and had two children. After the authoritarian revolution of Engelbert Dollfuss, who had served as his mentor within the Farmer's League, Figl became a member of the federal council of economic policy and became leader of the paramilitary organisation of Ostmärkische Sturmscharen for the state of Lower Austria. After 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 Germa ...

, the

Nazis 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 N ...

deported Figl to

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

in 1938, from which he was released in May 1943. He then worked as an oil engineer, but in October 1944 Figl was rearrested and brought to Mauthausen concentration camp. On 21 January 1945, he was brought with the later executed resistance fighter Heinrich Maier to Vienna. The folder of his dossier was marked with the abbreviation 'VG' indicating that a '' Volksgerichtshof'' (People's Court) trial, often ending with a death penalty, was planned or in preparation. Figl was released on 6 April 1945, when troops of the Soviet Army advanced to the centre of Vienna in an operation which became known as the Vienna Offensive . After the defeat of the Nazis, the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

occupied Austria at the end of

. The Soviet military commander, Fyodor Tolbukhin, asked Figl to manage the provision of food for the population of Vienna. On 14 April 1945 he refounded the ''Bauernbund'' and integrated it into the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), which was founded three days later. Figl was elected vice chair. On 27 April he became interim Governor of

and vice-minister. At the first free elections since 1930, held in December 1945, the ÖVP won with 49.8 percent of the vote and an absolute majority of seats in the legislature. Figl was proposed as

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

; the

Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in ...

agreed, because of his opposition to the

and his managerial abilities. Although he could have formed an exclusively ÖVP government, the memories of the factionalism that had plagued the First Republic led him to continue the grand coalition between the People's Party,

Socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the econ ...

and Communists. The coalition (from which the Communists were pushed out in 1947), remained in office until 1966 and did much to solve the serious economic and social problems left over from World War II. After internal criticism, Figl resigned as Chancellor on 26 November 1953. His successor,

Julius Raab Julius Raab (29 November 1891 – 8 January 1964) was a conservative Austrian politician, who served as Federal Chancellor of Austria from 1953 to 1961. Raab steered Allied-occupied Austria to independence, when he negotiated and signed the Austri ...

, was less flexible towards the SPÖ, but was Chancellor when the

Austrian State Treaty The Austrian State Treaty (german: Österreichischer Staatsvertrag ) or Austrian Independence Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state. It was signed on 15 May 1955 in Vienna, at the Schloss Belvedere among the Allied occupying p ...

, which restored sovereignty to the country, was signed on 15 May 1955. However, Figl was strongly involved in its achievement, as he remained in the government as

foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

. His appearance on the balcony of

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa * Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco * Belvedere, Harare, Z ...

Palace waving the signed paper and speaking the words ''Österreich ist frei!'' ("Austria is free!"), as rendered by the '' Deutsche Wochenschau'' newsreel, has become an icon in the Austrian national remembrance. (The words were actually spoken before, inside the Palace, but the pictures on the balcony were underlain with the sound track made inside.) At the national elections of 1959 the SPÖ gained ground on the ÖVP, and the ratio of seats between the two parties in parliament was now almost 1:1. This gave the SPÖ the bargaining power to demand that

Bruno Kreisky Bruno Kreisky (; 22 January 1911 – 29 July 1990) was an Austrian social democratic politician who served as Foreign Minister from 1959 to 1966 and as Chancellor from 1970 to 1983. Aged 72 at the end of his chancellorship, he was the oldest ...

succeed him as foreign minister. Figl then became president of the National Council 1959–1962, but soon returned to

, to become governor of his home state. Figl was patron of the Pfadfinder Österreichs between 1960 and 1964 and president of this Scout association from 1964 until his death. He died from kidney cancer in 1965 in Vienna, and is buried in an Ehrengrab at the

Zentralfriedhof The Vienna Central Cemetery (german: Wiener Zentralfriedhof) is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its ...

. His son Johannes was International Commissioner of the Pfadfinder Österreichs and president of the Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs from 1994 to 2000.

Beatification

In December 2020, the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Sankt Pölten The Diocese of Sankt Pölten ( la, Dioecesis Sancti Hippolyti) is a diocese located in the city of Sankt Pölten in the Ecclesiastical province of Wien in Austria. History * January 28, 1785: Established as Diocese of Sankt Pölten from the Dioc ...

opened his cause for

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to Intercession of saints, intercede on behalf of individual ...

. He currently holds the title "Servant of God".

Honours and awards

* Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX * Honorary Ring of Lower Austria (1952) * Grand Gold Decoration with Sash of the Order for Services to the Republic of Austria (1954) * Golden Commander's Cross with the Star of Honour for Services to the Province of

Various locations have been named for Figl: * Leopold Figl Museum in

Michelhausen Michelhausen is a municipality in the district of Tulln in the Austrian state of Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in th ...

in Tulln, Lower Austria * Leopold Figl observatory on the

Schöpfl Schöpfl is the highest hill (893 m) in the Wienerwald mountain range (Vienna woods), the north-easternmost part of the Alps. Geologically, it belongs to the flysch Alps. The main top of the wooded mountain range carries a high observation tow ...

(mountain in the northern Vienna Woods overlooking the Tullnerfeld, Figl's home region) * Leopold Figl observatory on Tulbinger Kogel in Lower Austria (ditto) * Leopold Figl court: Vienna 1, District, Franz-Josef-Kai 31-33 (Home, 1963–1967) * Leopold Figl Lane: Vienna 1, District (next to the historic Lower Austrian House) * Monument: Vienna 1, District Minoritenplatz (bust, 1973, between Villa and the Federal Chancellery) * Plaques: Vienna 1, District Schenkenstraße 2 (Home, 1928–1932) and Plaque: Vienna 3, District Kundmanngasse 24 (Home, 1937–1946)

References

External links

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Karl Renner Karl Renner (14 December 1870 – 31 December 1950) was an Austrian politician and jurist of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria. He is often referred to as the "Father of the Republic" because he led the first government of German ...

, width="40%" align="center" , Chancellor of Austria
1945–1953 , width="30%" align="center" , Succeeded by:

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Karl Gruber Karl Gruber (3 May 1909 in Innsbruck – 1 February 1995 in Innsbruck) was an Austrian politician and diplomat. During World War II, he was working for a German firm in Berlin. After the war, in 1945 he became Landeshauptmann of Tyrol for a short t ...

, width="40%" align="center" ,

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

1953–1959 , width="30%" align="center" , Succeeded by:

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Figl, Leopold 1902 births 1965 deaths 20th-century Chancellors of Austria People from Tulln District Austrian Roman Catholics Chancellors of Austria Foreign ministers of Austria Austrian People's Party politicians Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery People associated with Scouting Scouting and Guiding in Austria Dachau concentration camp survivors Mauthausen concentration camp survivors Members of the National Council (Austria) Governors of Lower Austria (after 1918) Knights of the Order of Pope Pius IX Recipients of the Grand Decoration with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Austrofascists Presidents of the National Council (Austria) Deaths from kidney cancer University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna alumni