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

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n politician of the

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...

(Christian Democrats) and the first Federal Chancellor after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 ( , , 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 ...

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

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna became vice chair of the Lower Austrian Bauernbund (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 Engelbert Dollfuss (alternatively Dollfuß; 4 October 1892 – 25 July 1934) was an Austrian politician and dictator who served as chancellor of Federal State of Austria, Austria between 1932 and 1934. Having served as Minister for Forests and ...

, 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 State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

of Lower Austria. 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 ...

, the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

deported Figl to

Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

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 Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 f ...

. 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 Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

, 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 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

(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 () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

; the

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

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 A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...

between the People's Party,

Socialists Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...

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 Austr ...

, was less flexible towards the SPÖ, but was Chancellor when the Austrian State Treaty, 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 In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. His appearance on the balcony of Belvedere Palace waving the signed paper and speaking the words ''Österreich ist frei!'' ("Austria is free!"), as rendered by the ''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, he was the oldest chancellor after World War II. Kr ...

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

. 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 Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a group of cancers that starts in the kidney. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, a lump in the abdomen, or back pain. Fever, weight loss, and tiredness may also occur. Complications can include ...

in 1965 in Vienna, and is buried in an Ehrengrab at the Zentralfriedhof. 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 () is a Latin Church diocese located in the city of Sankt Pölten in the ecclesiastical province of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wien, Wien in Austria. History * 28 January 1785: Established as Diocese of Sankt Pöl ...

opened his cause for

beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the p ...

. 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 in Tulln, Lower Austria * Leopold Figl observatory on the Schöpfl (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

* , - , border="1" cellpadding="10" align=center width="30%" align="center" , Preceded by:

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

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

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 ...

1945–1953 , width="30%" align="center" , Succeeded by:

, - , border="1" cellpadding="10" align=center width="30%" align="center" , Preceded by:
Karl Gruber , width="40%" align="center" ,

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

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

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Figl, Leopold 1902 births 1965 deaths 20th-century chancellors of Austria Austrian People's Party politicians Austrian Roman Catholics Austrian torture victims Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery Dachau concentration camp survivors Deaths from kidney cancer Fatherland Front politicians Ministers of foreign affairs of Austria Governors of Lower Austria (after 1918) Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Knights of the Order of Pope Pius IX Mauthausen concentration camp survivors Members of the 5th National Council (Austria) Members of the 6th National Council (Austria) Members of the 7th National Council (Austria) Members of the 8th National Council (Austria) Members of the 9th National Council (Austria) Members of the 10th National Council (Austria) People associated with Scouting People from Tulln District Presidents of the National Council (Austria) Recipients of the Grand Decoration with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria Scouting and Guiding in Austria University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna alumni

Life

Beatification

Honours and awards

See also

References

External links