Karl Buresch (12 October 1878 – 16 September 1936) was a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

Chancellor of Austria The chancellor of Austria, officially the federal chancellor of the Republic of Austria (), is the head of government of the Austria, Republic of Austria. List of chancellors of Austria, Twenty-nine people have served as chancellor. The curre ...

during the

First Austrian Republic The First Austrian Republic (), officially the Republic of Austria, was created after the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 10 September 1919—the settlement after the end of World War I which ended the Habsburg rump state of ...

Life

Buresch was born the son of a merchant in

Groß-Enzersdorf Groß-Enzersdorf is a town and municipality in the district of Gänserndorf in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, directly east of Vienna and north of the river Danube. Apart from the town itself, it also comprises seven subordinated municipalit ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

, where he attended primary school (''

Volksschule The German term ''Volksschule'' () generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primar ...

''). After finishing secondary school in

Döbling Döbling () is the 19th Districts of Vienna, district in the city of Vienna, Austria (). It is located in the north of Vienna, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing. Döbling has some heavily populated urban areas with many residential bui ...

, he studied law at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, receiving his degree in 1901. Buresch worked for a firm of solicitors in his home town, became a Christian Social member of the Groß-Enzersdorf council in 1909 and in 1916 the town's mayor, a position he held until 1919. In 1919 he was an elected member of the Austrian Constitutional Assembly (in German ''Mitglied der Konstituierenden Nationalversammlung''). During the 1920s and early 1930s he was a delegate to the National Council parliament (1920-1934), ''

Landeshauptmann The Landeshauptmann (if male) or Landeshauptfrau (if female) (, "state captain", plural ''Landeshauptleute,'' ) is the chairman of a state government and the supreme official of an Austrian state and the Italian autonomous provinces of South Ty ...

'' governor of Lower Austria (1922–1931 and again 1932–1933), and a chairman of the Christian-Social group. GabineteBuresch1932

Upon the collapse of the biggest Austrian bank

Creditanstalt The Creditanstalt (sometimes Credit-Anstalt, abbreviated as CA), full original name k. k. priv. Österreichische Credit-Anstalt für Handel und Gewerbe (), was a major Austrian bank, founded in 1855 in Vienna. From its founding until 1931, the ...

in May 1931, difficulties created by the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and the instability of the national currency, the First Republic found itself in political turmoil. On 20 June 1931 Buresch was appointed

and finally managed to form a cabinet of Christian Social and

German nationalist German nationalism () is an ideological notion that promotes the unity of Germans and of the Germanosphere into one unified nation-state. German nationalism also emphasizes and takes pride in the patriotism and national identity of Germans a ...

politicians, after unsuccessful attempts by his predecessors Otto Ender and

Ignaz Seipel Ignaz Seipel (19 July 1876 – 2 August 1932) was an Austrian Catholic priest and conservative politician, who served as the List of Chancellors of Austria, Chancellor of the First Austrian Republic twice during the 1920s and leader of the Chris ...

to cope with the crisis. As the commercial crisis continued and domestic policies deteriorated after a failed ''

Heimwehr The Heimwehr (, ) or Heimatschutz (, ) was a nationalist, initially paramilitary group that operated in the First Austrian Republic from 1920 to 1936. It was similar in methods, organization, and ideology to the Freikorps in Germany. The Heimwe ...

'' putsch led by Walter Pfrimer, Buresch lost his German nationalist allies and went on to govern with a

minority cabinet A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

from January 1932. During his mandate, which lasted to 20 May 1932, a number of austerity measures were introduced. His government was succeeded by a cabinet formed by

Engelbert Dollfuß Engelbert Dollfuss (alternatively Dollfuß; 4 October 1892 – 25 July 1934) was an Austrian politician and dictator who served as chancellor of Austria between 1932 and 1934. Having served as Minister for Forests and Agriculture, he ascended t ...

. Buresch again assumed the office of Lower Austrian governor, before on 16 May 1933 he joined the Dollfuß cabinet as

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

. On 17 October 1935 he was succeeded by Ludwig Draxler. Until his sudden death in 1936, Buresch served as governor of the ''

Österreichische Postsparkasse Österreichische Postsparkasse (, , abbr. P.S.K.) was a postal savings systems, postal savings bank in Austria. It was owned by the Österreichische Post, Austrian Post Office and thus by the government. It merged on 1 October 2005 with the ...

'' (postal savings bank) 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. ...

References

Wiener Zeitung Online Dossiers

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buresch, Karl 1878 births 1936 deaths 20th-century chancellors of Austria Austrian people of Czech descent Austrian Roman Catholics Christian Social Party (Austria) politicians Ministers of finance of Austria Ministers of foreign affairs of Austria Governors of Lower Austria (after 1918) Members of the Constituent National Assembly (Austria) Members of the 1st National Council (Austria) Members of the 2nd National Council (Austria) Members of the 3rd National Council (Austria) Members of the 4th National Council (Austria) People from Gänserndorf District