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Leopold Figl
Figl as Lower Austrian governor, about 1962
Chancellor of Austria
In office 20 December 1945 – 2 April 1953
President	Karl Renner (1945-1950) Theodor Körner (1951-1953)
Deputy	Adolf Schärf
Preceded by	Karl Renner (acting)
Succeeded by	Julius Raab
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 26 November 1953 – 9 June 1959
Chancellor	Julius Raab
Preceded by	Karl Gruber
Succeeded by	Bruno Kreisky
Personal details
Born	(1902-10-02)2 October 1902 Rust, Michelhausen, Austria-Hungary
Died	9 May 1965(1965-05-09) (aged 62) Vienna, Austria
Political party	Austrian People's Party (ÖVP)
Alma mater	University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
Profession	Agricultural engineer
Religion	Roman Catholic

Leopold Figl (October 2, 1902 - May 9, 1965) was an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party (Christian Democrats) and the first Federal Chancellor after World War II. He was also the youngest Federal Chancellor of Austria after the war.

Life[link]

Born a farmer's son in the Lower Austrian village of Rust im Tullnerfeld, Figl after graduation as Dipl.-Ing. of Agriculture 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.

After the authoritarian revolution of Engelbert Dollfuss, who had served as his mentor within the Farmer's League, Figl became 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 Nazis deported Figl to Dachau concentration camp 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. In February 1945, he was sentenced to death for "high treason" in Vienna, but the death penalty was not carried out before the end of the war.

After the defeat of the Nazis, the Allies occupied Austria at the end of World War II. The Russian Military Commander asked Figl to manage the provision of food for the population of Vienna. On April 14, 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 April 27 he became interim Governor of Lower Austria and vice-minister.

At the first free elections since 1934, held in December 1945, the ÖVP won an absolute majority. Leopold Figl was proposed as Chancellor; the Soviets agreed, because of his opposition to the Nazis and his managerial abilities. He was very popular, to which lots of jokes about home provide evidence, e.g., concerning "wine policy" with the USA and the "Russian bear".^{[citation needed]} From 1945 until 1966 a grand coalition between his own party and the Socialist Party (SPÖ) was able to solve the serious economic and social problems of the devastated country. The USA's Marshall Plan was also a great help.

After internal criticism, Figl resigned as Chancellor on November 26, 1953. His successor Julius Raab was less flexible towards the SPÖ, but was Chancellor when the Austrian State Treaty, which granted full independence to the country, was signed on May 15, 1955. However, Figl was strongly involved in its achievement, as he remained in the government as foreign minister. 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 underlayed with the sound track taken 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 succeed him as foreign minister. Figl then became president of the National Council 1959–1962, but soon returned to Lower Austria, 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.^[1] His son Johannes was International Commissioner of the Pfadfinder Österreichs^[2][3] and president of the Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs from 1994 to 2000.^[1] He died 1965 in Vienna and is buried in an Ehrengrab at the Zentralfriedhof.

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b} Pribich, Kurt (2004) (in German). Logbuch der Pfadfinderverbände in Österreich. Vienna: Pfadfinder-Gilde-Österreichs. p. 277. 
2. ^ Philipp Lehar (2009). "Pfadfinderarbeit als Beitrag zur Integration?" (in German). PPÖ-Brief (Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs) 2/2009: 11. 
3. ^ Pribich, Kurt (2004) (in German). Logbuch der Pfadfinderverbände in Österreich. Vienna: Pfadfinder-Gilde-Österreichs. p. 191. 

v t e Chancellors of Austria First Austrian Republic Karl Renner · Michael Mayr · Johann Schober · Walter Breisky · Johann Schober · Ignaz Seipel · Rudolf Ramek · Ignaz Seipel · Ernst Streeruwitz · Johann Schober · Carl Vaugoin · Otto Ender · Karl Buresch · Engelbert Dollfuss · Kurt Schuschnigg · Arthur Seyss-Inquart Second Austrian Republic Karl Renner · Leopold Figl · Julius Raab · Alfons Gorbach · Josef Klaus · Bruno Kreisky · Fred Sinowatz · Franz Vranitzky · Viktor Klima · Wolfgang Schüssel · Alfred Gusenbauer · Werner Faymann

v t e Foreign Ministers of Austria First Austrian Republic Victor Adler Otto Bauer Karl Renner Michael Mayr Johann Schober Walter Breisky Leopold Hennet Alfred Grünberger Heinrich Mataja Rudolf Ramek Ignaz Seipel Ernst Streeruwitz Johann Schober Ignaz Seipel Johann Schober Karl Buresch Engelbert Dollfuß Stephan Tauschitz Egon Berger-Waldenegg Kurt Schuschnigg Guido Schmidt Wilhelm Wolf Second Austrian Republic Karl Gruber Leopold Figl Bruno Kreisky Lujo Tončić-Sorinj Kurt Waldheim Rudolf Kirchschläger Erich Bielka Willibald Pahr Erwin Lanc Leopold Gratz Peter Jankowitsch Alois Mock Wolfgang Schüssel Benita Ferrero-Waldner Ursula Plassnik Michael Spindelegger

Scouting portal

Karas on a 1951 autograph card.

Anton Karas (July 7, 1906 – January 10, 1985) was a Viennese zither player, best known for his soundtrack to Carol Reed's The Third Man.^[1]

Early life[link]

Born in Vienna, of Hungarian and Czech origin, one of five children of a factory worker, Anton Karas was already keen on music as a child. He desired to become a band leader, which due to the family's financial situation was impossible. However, he was allowed to learn to play an instrument, as were his two brothers and two sisters. He later reported that his first zither was one he found in his grandmother's attic, at the age of 12.

As ordered by his father, he started an apprenticeship as a tool and die maker at the age of 14, while also taking music evening courses at a private institution. He successfully finished his apprenticeship in 1924 and worked in a car factory until being unemployed in January 1925. As he had already begun to study at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna in 1924, he subsequently earned his living as an entertainer in a Heuriger (a wine bar, typically with a garden, usually selling the year's new wine) and soon found himself earning more income than his father. He continued his studies until 1928.

Career[link]

In 1930, he was married, followed by the birth of his daughter three months later. From 1939–1945 he was with German Wehrmacht anti-aircraft warfare, temporarily in Russia, where he also took a zither along. He lost more than one instrument due to war action, but always managed somehow to find another one.

[edit] The Third Man

In 1948, director Carol Reed was preparing to shoot The Third Man in Vienna and decided to have Karas playing the zither for the soundtrack.^[2] Reluctant Karas was invited to London and lived with Reed while composing the score, and at that time was drawing a considerable salary of 30 GBP a week, plus 20 in pocket money, with expenses. The soundtrack was created in Korda's London Films studios, and Karas, who was homesick most of the time, worked up to 14 hours a day for twelve weeks: He had not been a composer before, but a great performer, and added improvisations to his repertoire. Later, Karas would mention that Reed almost "kept him like a slave"^{[citation needed]} when he wanted to go back to Vienna more than once.

The film, not least due to its music, turned into a gigantic success which changed Karas' life.^[3] As a result, he toured all over the world and performed for many celebrities, among them members of the British Royal family (Princess Margaret had invited him to London's fashionable Empress Club, where he played twice a week during his stay at London), Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, members of the Swedish royal family, and Pope Pius XII).^[4]

By the end of 1949, a half million copies of "The Harry Lime Theme" had been sold, an unprecedented amount for the time. The success of the score also caused a surge in zither sales.

In Austria, the film opened on March 10, 1950, in Vienna's Apollo Kino, and it initially offended some Viennese inhabitants, as it focused on the disgrace of the destroyed city. Vienna's newspaper critics hated the film, except for its music.^[5] When Karas returned to Austria after his first world tour in July 1950, he was welcomed by chancellor Leopold Figl and other members of the government. Most importantly, the public liked the film. In Brigittenau, where Karas was born, people queued for tickets which were sold out eight days in advance.

Karas, however, disliked all of the glamour: "I never was a star, and never felt like one. It is because of that film that I was pushed from one place to the other… My only desire was to be back home again."^{[citation needed]} he stated later. However, he went on tour again in 1951, travelling to Montreal and Las Vegas, followed by a number of other tours, including Japan in 1962, 1969 and 1972, where he performed for emperor Hirohito.

In 1954, he opened his own Heuriger which immediately was fashionable among Hollywood celebrities like Orson Welles, Gina Lollobrigida, Curd Jürgens, Hans Moser, Paul Hörbiger, Marika Röck and Johannes Heesters; therefore becoming a tourist attraction. However, he was still not satisfied, as he would have preferred to perform for locals who would understand him, his language and music. Because of this, he retired and retreated from the limelight in 1966, explaining "I'm not a tourist guy, and what I did there hadn't hardly anything to do with 'Vienna Heuriger'".^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

1. ^ The Third Man on YouTube [1]
2. ^ Where and how Reed and Karas met, is not sure. There are a couple of versions, and therefore most of them are legends.
3. ^ "Wherever the film is shown you can almost see the procession from cinema to gramophone shop. In its first three weeks sales have reached 100,000." (The Continental Daily Mail quoted by Ulrike Granögger, p.84.)
4. ^ Karas's biography by Peter Payer, p. 13.
5. ^ "Der Sieveringer Zithervirtuose hat den Streifen kompositorisch untermalt und ersetzt mit seinem Instrument wirkungsvoll ein Orchester. Er beherrscht die Zither mit einer Virtuosität, die aller Anerkennung würdig ist." (Die Presse, 1950-3-11) Rough translation: "The zither-virtuoso from Sievering has composed his accompaniments for the film and effectively replaces, with his instrument, a whole orchestra. He plays the zither with a virtuosity that is praiseworthy."

External links[link]

• Anton Karas page by his Grandson (english version)
• Karas with celebrities in his "Heurige"
• Biography at Allmusic
• In Search of the Third Man at Amazon.com
• Karas biography by Peter Payer from historical research, sponsored by the city of Vienna in 2005 (15 pages, in German).