Ernst Koref (March 11, 1891, in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

– November 15, 1988, ibid.) was a social democrat politician and the mayor of Linz from 1945 to 1962.

Biography

Ernst Koref was the fifth child of a railway official. He had four younger brothers and sisters. He attended Gymnasium in Linz and thanks to his conspicuous talent, he was allowed to make a speech in the 60th reign anniversary of Kaiser Franz Josef in 1908. Afterwards, Koref studied

German studies German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German hi ...

and

English studies English studies (usually called simply English) is an academic discipline taught in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in English-speaking countries; it is not to be confused with English taught as a foreign language, which ...

Wien en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, but for earning his living, he worked on the side as a Hofmeister in the houses of nobilities. In 1914, he gained his PhD and joined the army in the

first world war World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as an officer. He was sent to the Russian front and was taken prisoner. He got away and finished his military service as an interpreter on the Italian front. After the war, he worked as a teacher and schools inspector. From 1927 to 1934, Koref was a member of local council and from 1930 to 1934 a member of National Council. Under subsequent dictatorship, he was put in prison from 1934 and 1944. Koref and his brothers and sisters were discriminated against because of their partially Jewish origin according to the

Nuremberg Laws The Nuremberg Laws (german: link=no, Nürnberger Gesetze, ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of th ...

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

era. After the removal of the national socialist mayor Franz Langoth from office, Koref was appointed mayor of Linz by the American occupying forces and his appointment was confirmed by following democratic elections. Within the bounds of the first states' conference, Koref could successfully prevent the demolition of the conference. Dr. Ernst Koref was mayor until September 10, 1962. His successor was Edmund Aigner. Until 1958, Koref worked also as the member of national council. In 1981, Koref published his memories in his work ''The tides of my life''. 1981 die Rückschau auf ''Als ich 19 war'' Ernst Koref: ''Als ich 19 war''. Jugend & Volk, Wien/München 1981, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koref, Ernst Members of the National Council (Austria) Social Democratic Party of Austria politicians 1891 births 1988 deaths Mayors of places in Austria Politicians from Linz Austrian prisoners of war