Hermann Stern (24 May 1878 – 24 August 1952) was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

lawyer, local politician, and economic pioneer.

Early life

Born in

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

, Hermann Stern was the seventh of the ten children of Johann Joachim Stern, a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

who converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, and Gertraud Stern

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Lechthaler. In 1902, he received his doctorate in law from the University of Innsbruck and passed his bar exam in 1906. He was initially secretary of the "Association of Catholic Agricultural Workers" in Innsbruck. In 1910, he moved to

Reutte Reutte (; Swabian: ) is a market town in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is the administrative center of the Reutte district (''Districts of Austria''). Reutte is located on the Lech, and has a population of 6704 (as of 2018). Neighbouring munic ...

(

Tyrol, Austria Tyrol (; german: Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a state (''Land'') in western Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical Princely County of Tyrol. It is a constituent part of the present-day Euroregion Tyrol–South Tyrol–Trentino (t ...

) as a lawyer.

Career

Stern initially had a good relationship with the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

but was never one of them himself. Together with the social democrat August Wagner, he initiated the first democratization movement in

. The Social Democratic Party said the following about him in 1920: This translates to, “Although Dr. Stern does not belong to the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

, nor has he run for election by the party, we appreciate that he has always stood up firmly for the workers and because he also has a heart for the poorer population." In 1918, Stern played a vital role in a democracy movement in

that aimed to restructure the town in a gradual process. In 1919, he became a member of the municipal council of Reutte. There he held various positions until 1927, ultimately as the deputy mayor. Within the municipal council, he was responsible for the successful expansion of the municipal power station in Reutte and for the establishment of a hospital in the social field. When sugar prices doubled on December 1, 1919, there were major conflicts because the available sugar had not been distributed to the population before December 1. The district authorities claimed that there was not enough sugar and that it was mainly needed only for the sick. Research by the Social Democrats and with the active support of Dr. Stern, however, brought to light that the Schretter company owned almost 10 times the declared amount of sugar. Through Stern's work, the sugar was confiscated and distributed to the population. As an economic pioneer, he pursued the course of using the available resources, such as water, wood, and electricity, for an economic upswing. Thanks to the greater power generation he brought about. In 1922, he succeeded in persuading Paul Schwarzkopf to found the

Plansee Plansee is a lake in Reutte District, Tyrol, Austria, located at . Its surface is approximately 2.87 km² and its maximum depth is 78 metres. It lies on Austrian Federal Highway B 179, which crosses the Ammersattel into Germany. History ...

metal works. He founded an oil plant to exploit natural resources and several wood processing companies to promote the natural abundance of wood. In 1923, Stern was the executive director of the Tiroler Oelwerke LLC. His main economic project was the construction of a cable car up to the

Zugspitze The Zugspitze (), at above Normalhöhennull, sea level, is the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains as well as the highest mountain in Germany. It lies south of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and the Austria–Germany border runs over ...

. The completion of this project in 1926 brought him to the peak of his popularity and also initiated his personal tragedy because the project failed due to the economic situation caused by the thousand-mark ban on the

German Reich German ''Reich'' (lit. German Realm, German Empire, from german: Deutsches Reich, ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty ...

imposed by

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

Personal life

In 1911, he married Anna Knittel, the daughter of a school inspector, Josef Knittel. They gave birth to five children.

Exile and death

In 1926, he was made an honorary citizen of the municipality of

Ehrwald Ehrwald is a municipality in the district of Reutte in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Geography Ehrwald lies at the southern base of the Zugspitze (2950 meters above sea level), Germany's highest mountain, but which is shared with Austria. The town ...

for his services to the construction of the cable car up to the

( de:Zugspitzbahn). This honorary citizenship was withdrawn from him in 1940 because of his Jewish descent. In 1938, the German racial laws labeled him as a "

half-Jew The term Halbjude (English: Half-Jew) is a derogatory term for people with a non-Jewish and a Jewish parent. The overwhelming majority of the so-called half-Jews were legally classified as " first-degree Jewish hybrids" during the era of Nazi Germ ...

." His offices were confiscated and he was imprisoned for 15 months. To keep him away from Tyrol forever,

Gauleiter A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party, rank in ...

Franz Hofer Franz Hofer (November 27, 1902 – February 18, 1975) was, in the time of the Third Reich, the Nazism, Nazi Gauleiter of the state of Tyrol, Tyrol and Vorarlberg. As the Nazi party chief for the Tirol/Vorarlberg province he was the most pow ...

had him expelled to Nuremberg. Stern went blind, returned in 1945 as a seriously ill man, and tried in vain to be rehabilitated. He died in Innsbruck on August 24, 1952.

Honor

In 1947, he was admitted to the bar again. His confiscation was expressly revoked by the municipality of

in 1998. In 2017, the market municipality of

unveiled a commemorative plaque in Hermann Stern's former home, which highlights some of his achievements.

References

{{Authority control 1878 births 20th-century Austrian lawyers Austrian politicians South Tyrolean nationalists People from South Tyrol People from Bolzano 1952 deaths Austrian people of Jewish descent