Robert Lichal (9 July 1932 – 25 April 2024) was an Austrian politician for 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 ...

(ÖVP).

Biography

Robert Lichal 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. ...

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 ...

on 9 July 1932. He graduated from high school in 1950 and subsequently went to

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 ...

. As a student he studied

legal science Legal science is one of the main components in civil law tradition (after Roman law, canon law, commercial law, and the legacy of the revolutionary period). Legal science is primarily the creation of German legal scholars of the middle and late n ...

, and in 1965, he earned a doctorate in law. As a so-called ''Weißer Jahrgang'' (a man born at a time that made him too old by the time Austria reintroduced compulsory military service in 1956), he never did military service. Lichal politically engaged himself as an Austrian Workers Federation (ÖAAB) member and member of the public service trade (OGB). From 1987 to 1991, he was the Federal Chancellor of the ÖAAB. From 1976 to 1979, Lichal was a member of the

Federal Council of Austria The Federal Council (, ) 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 the National Council, it can be compared with an upper house or ...

. From 1979 to 1987, he was a deputy to the National Assembly of Austria. From 1987 to 1990, he held the post of defense minister at the Federal Ministry for National Defence and Sport. In his tenure, militia structure was enshrined in the Constitution and the Austrian Army received missiles. From 1990 to 1994, he was again member of parliament and the Second President-in-Office in the Second Republic. Lichal was a member of the Catholic fraternities Ö.kaV Rhaeto-Danubia Vienna and K.Ö.HV Franco Bavaria Vienna, both in the Austrian

Cartellverband The Union of Catholic German Student Fraternities ( or , CV) is a German umbrella organization of Catholic male student fraternities (). History Foundation During the period of 19th century in Germany called the , the Prussian state tried to ...

, and the Catholic Fraternity K.Ö.St.V. Austria Purkersdorf in the

Mittelschüler-Kartellverband The Mittelschüler-Kartell-Verband der katholischen farbentragenden Studentenkorporationen Österreichs or simply Mittelschüler-Kartellverband (MKV) (English: MKV Middle School Cartel Association) is an Austrian umbrella organisation of Cath ...

. Lichal died on 25 April 2024, at the age of 91.

Oerlikon Scandal

In 1987, it became known according to a report in a news magazine profile that Lichal had an order for 50,000 pieces of tracer practice ammunition for antiaircraft guns worth 35 million

Austrian Schilling The schilling (German language, German: ''Schilling''; ) is a former currency of Austria from 1925 to 1938 and from 1945 to 1999, and the circulating currency until 2002. The euro was introduced at a fixed parity of €1 = 13.7603 schilling t ...

that had been awarded to the Swiss manufacturer

Rheinmetall Air Defence Rheinmetall Air Defence AG is a division of German armament manufacturer Rheinmetall, created when the company's Oerlikon Contraves unit was renamed on 1 January 2009 and integrated with Rheinmetall's other air-defence products. Oerlikon Contra ...

, although the French supplier Matra Manurhin Défense an offer for 15 million Schillings. At the time of the award, the

Bundesheer The Austrian Armed Forces () are the combined military forces of Austria. The military consists of 16,000 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 1.0% of national GDP (including pensions) or €3.317 billion (202 ...

had ammunition reserves of two years. Lichal had ordered the Bundesheer at least three times to pass the more favorable offer from Matra. In 1988, a criminal investigation for abuse of authority was introduced, which included house searches at Lichal's home, his secretaries

Michael Spindelegger Michael Spindelegger (; born 21 December 1959) is an Austrian politician. He served in the cabinet of Chancellor Werner Faymann as Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, foreign minister of Austria from 2008 to 2013 and as Fina ...

and Walter Schön home's, and the then Oerlikon-General representatives in Austria's homes'. Lichal and Schön were close friends and Spindelegger was a member of

. One sticky note found read "2 party financing; and two million: Value of contract: 35 million Spindelegger: 1". Prosecutors suspected an illegal party financing for the

ÖVP 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 ...

, after which was considered non-partisan, but the ÖVP Minister of Justice

Egmont Foregger Egmont Foregger (21 September 1922, Salzburg, Austria – 17 May 2007, Bruck an der Mur, Austria) was an Austrian jurist, official and politician. Life Foregger came from the old Austrian family of ''Foregger Ritter von Greiffenthurn''. He was ...

initiated disciplinary proceedings against the investigating prosecutor and the case of the Supreme Public Prosecutor that rendered the investigations invalid in 1990.Der Spiegel: Fliederbusch für die Gattin
15.

References

External links

* *
Radiobooks with Robert Lichal
in the online archive for the Österreichischen Mediathek {{DEFAULTSORT:Lichal, Robert 1932 births 2024 deaths Austrian People's Party politicians Cartellverband members Members of the 15th National Council (Austria) Members of the 16th National Council (Austria) Members of the 17th National Council (Austria) Members of the 18th National Council (Austria) Ministers of defense of Austria Politicians from Vienna University of Vienna alumni