Lueger, Karl

LUEGER, KARL. - Austrian politician, b. 24 Oct. 1844 in Vienna, d. there 10 March 1910. Son of a janitor at the Polytechnic, he graduated in law in 1866 and practiced as a lawyer. Entering public life, he found Vienna and Austria in the hands of speculators and profiteers, for the most part Jews. He therefore felt a most intense aversion toward this yoke imposed on the Austrians and the Viennese, and became a convinced anti-Semite.

Under the common denominator of anti-Semitism were united individuals of various tendencies: Catholics concerned about the spread of anticlericalism and the campaign against their faith, supported by the liberals financed by Semitic capitalism; nationalists who were opposed to the interference of other races in Austria's internal affairs and who considered Austrian politics a matter of exclusive concern to the German element; members of the petty bourgeoisie, artisans and peasants, who ran the risk of being economically crushed by the profiteering apparatus. To combat Semitic predominance and the parties dependent on it, the Christian Social Union of Baron von Vogelsang was formed, of which L. was also a member. Elected city councilor for the first time in 1875, L. progressively eliminated the liberals and Semitic influence from the public life of the Austrian capital, until in 1897 he became mayor, an office he then held until his death. Having come to power, his first concern was to decisively remove the municipal administration from any form of speculation. He therefore initiated a determined program of municipalization of public services, which made Vienna one of the best-administered and socially most advanced capitals of his age.

Silvio Furlani