Hilmar Ospelt (6 May 1929 – 22 February 2020) was a political figure from

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

who served as the

Deputy Prime Minister of Liechtenstein This is a list of heads of government of Liechtenstein. The current () is Daniel Risch, since 25 March 2021. Head of government Provincial administrator (1861–1921) The () was the title of the head of government from 1861 to 1921. Prime ...

from 1980 to 1986.

Early life and career

Ospelt was born on 6 May 1929 in

Vaduz Vaduz ( or , High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' Hrsg. ...

to the son of Hermann Ospelt and his mother, poet

Ida Ospelt-Amann Ida Ospelt-Amann (15 February 1899 – 12 March 1996) was a Liechtensteiner poet who wrote in the Alemannic German, Alemannic dialect that is spoken in the Vaduz region. She is considered the most important of her country's dialect poets. Her wo ...

. From 1941 to 1949 he attended high school in the city, then from 1949 to 1952 he studied botany, physics and chemistry in the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

. He participated in a study visit to Syracruse in 1957. From 1954 to 1955 he was a teacher at the Pfister Institute in

Oberägeri Oberägeri, until 1798 simply known as Ägeri, is a municipality in the canton of Zug in Switzerland. History Oberägeri first appears in historical documents in 1150 as ''Agregia''. In 1538 it was mentioned as ''Ober Egere''. The first church ...

, then from 1972 to 1972 a teacher in the state secondary school in Vaduz. In 1956, He was a member of the committee formed to establish a state library in Liechtenstein.

Political career

From 1963 to 1972 he was a member of the local council in Vaduz. He was deputy mayor of the city from 1969 to 1972, then mayor until 1980 as a member of the

Progressive Citizens' Party The Progressive Citizens' Party in Liechtenstein (german: Fortschrittliche Bürgerpartei in Liechtenstein, FBP) is a national-conservative political party in Liechtenstein. The FBP is one of the two major political parties in Liechtenstein, alon ...

. He was also a member of the

Landtag of Liechtenstein The Landtag of the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: Landtag des Fürstentums Liechtenstein), commonly referred to as the Landtag of Liechtenstein (german: Liechtensteinischer Landtag), is the unicameral parliament of Liechtenstein. Qua ...

from

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

to 1980. Paul Vogt (1987). ''125 Jahre Landtag.'' Vaduz: Landtag of the Principality of Liechtenstein. Ospelt resigned both his position as both mayor and Landtag member on 1 July 1980 due to him being appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Liechtenstein under the government of Hans Brunhart, succeeding Walter Kieber. In this position, he held the ministries of youth and sport, economy, transport and justice. In the

1982 Liechtenstein general election General elections were held in Liechtenstein on 5 and 7 February 1982. The result was a victory for the Patriotic Union, which won 8 of the 15 seats in the Landtag. Voter turnout was 95.4%, although only male citizens were allowed to vote.

, Ospelt was the Progressive Citizens' Party's candidate for Prime Minister. He was a supporter of

Women's suffrage in Liechtenstein Women's suffrage in Liechtenstein was introduced on , after the 1984 Liechtenstein women's suffrage referendum.Thomas Ernst Wanger: Vom Frauenstudium zum Frauenwahlrecht in der Schweiz und in Liechtenstein. In: Internationaler Verein für Gesch ...

. Of which, during his tenure, women received voting rights for the first time, following a referendum on the topic (among men only) in 1984. He was succeeded by Herbert Wille on 2 February 1986. In 1991, Ospelt once again ran for mayor of Vaduz, though was unsuccessful. He was the chairman of the board of directors of the Liechtenstein gas supply from 1985 to 1997. He was the president of the Switzerland-Liechtenstein society from 1992 to 1994 and an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Liechtenstein from 1988. From 1990 he was an honorary member of the Turkish association in Liechtenstein.

Personal life

GraveHilmarOspelt-CemeteryOfVaduz RomanDeckert04012024

Ospelt married Lore Harder (born 3 December 1941), an actress, on 3 August 1962 and they had two children together, but they got divorced at an unspecified time. He then went on to marry Hertha Walser (born 23 September 1940) on 10 July 1981. He died on 22 February 2020, aged 90 years old. He is buried in the cemetery in Vaduz.

Honours

* :

Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver for Services to the Republic of Austria The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (german: Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the A ...

(1984) * : Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein (1981)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ospet, Hilmar 1929 births 2020 deaths People from Vaduz Members of the Landtag of Liechtenstein Heads of government of Liechtenstein Deputy prime ministers of Liechtenstein Progressive Citizens' Party politicians 20th-century Liechtenstein politicians 21st-century Liechtenstein people Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein Recipients of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria Mayors of Vaduz