Franko Stein, also Franz Stein (1 June 1869 – 17 July 1943) was an Austrian and

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

journalist, politician, activist, and

national syndicalist National syndicalism is a socially far-right adaptation of syndicalism within the broader agenda of integral nationalism. National syndicalism developed in France in the early 20th century, and then spread to Italy, Spain, and Portugal. F ...

of German ethnicity. Very close to

Georg von Schönerer Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker * Spiders Georg, an Internet meme See also * George (disambiguation) George may refer to: ...

, he led the union wing of his movement. He was also a member of the

Bohemian Diet The Bohemian Diet (, ) was the parliament of the Kingdom of Bohemia within the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1861 and Czechoslovak independence in 1918. The Diet during the Absolutist Period In 1471, the Bohemian estates elected the Ja ...

between 1899 and 1908 and of the Reichsrat between 1901 and 1907.

Life

Franko Stein was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

on 11 June 1869, the son of a factory worker. He trained as a mechanic and passed his journeyman exams. From 1888, at the age of 19, he was active in

's pan-German movement and tried to establish pan-German workers' organizations, through which he intended to bring Schönerer's cause to the working masses from which he came. In 1893, he founded the National Association of German Workers in Bohemia, which from 1899 was called the German Workers' Association of Germany. Stein further established a press organ for this national syndicalist organization called ''Der Hammer'', which began publishing in 1895. From 1897 he worked as a journalist in

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights, Eger is best known for Castle of Eger, its ...

, where he published the Hammer yearbook in 1898–1938. In 1899, he convened the first national congress of German workers in Eger and pushed for the adoption of a twenty-five-point program for revolutionary action. With the turn of the century, he also became involved in regional politics. In the elections of 1899, he was elected to the

in the city curia (Vrchlabí constituency). He defended the mandate for the same district in the regular elections of 1901. Politically, he belonged to the Alldeutschen Vereinigung. In the 1901 election, he was also elected to the Reichsrat, for the Eger district. In the years 1902–1906, he was also a member of the so-called delegations (parliamentary group for negotiations on common issues of both parts of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

). When the schism between Schönerer and

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

occurred in 1903, after which Wolf and his supporters established the All-German Free Party, Stein was one of the few who remained loyal to Schönerer. After the schism, Schönerer's movement collapsed, which is why neither he nor Stein were reelected in 1907. In 1914–1917 he worked for the German national newspaper ''Deutsche Presse'', published in

. In the interwar period, he promoted the Schönerer legacy and the ideas of Greater Germany. He headed the Society of the Last Schönererians, founded in 1922 after Schönerer's death. After the establishment of the Social Christian regime, he was repeatedly arrested. After the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

Stein joined the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

, he became politically active once more and ran for the Reichstag in the

1938 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1938. Africa * 1938 South African general election Asia * 1938 Philippine general election * 1938 Philippine legislative election * 1938 Soviet Union regional elections Europe * 1938 Estonian parliame ...

, but failed to obtain a seat. During the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

, he received numerous awards and received a regular state pension. In 1942 he participated in the organization of an exhibition on Georg von Schönerer held in Vienna. Franko Stein passed away on 17 July 1943. His funeral was held at Hietzing Cemetery, where he was buried.Franz Stein, Grabstelle 38, Nr. 31A

References

{{reflist 1869 births 1943 deaths Journalists from Vienna Politicians from Vienna Sudeten German people Czech journalists Austrian journalists German journalists Members of the Bohemian Diet Members of the Austrian House of Deputies (1901–1907) Nazi Party politicians Austrian Nazi propagandists German nationalism in Austria German nationalists Austrian anti-communists Anti-Slavic sentiment Antisemitism in Austria Germanization Pan-Germanism National syndicalists