Sepp Straffner (31 January 1875

Bad Goisern Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect *Unhealthy, or counter to well-being *Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored trolley ...

- 29 October 1952) was an Austrian federal railway official and politician in the

Greater German People's Party The Greater German People's Party (German ''Großdeutsche Volkspartei'', abbreviated GDVP) was a German nationalist and national liberal political party during the First Republic of Austria, established in 1920. Foundation After World War I and ...

. He was a pupil at

Hallstatt Hallstatt ( , , ) is a small town in the district of Gmunden, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Situated between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See and the steep slopes of the Dachstein massif, the town lies in the Salzkammergut ...

near

Salzkammergut The Salzkammergut (; ; bar, Soizkaumaguad, label=Central Austro-Bavarian) is a resort area in Austria, stretching from the city of Salzburg eastwards along the Alpine Foreland and the Northern Limestone Alps to the peaks of the Dachstein Mounta ...

, then a student in the Forestry Service at Goisern. He attended high school 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 ...

. Between 1899 and 1907 he was an official with the

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

and

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

service of the State Railways at

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

. He went on to study law at the universities of

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

and

(PhD 1913).

Politics

Straffner was active in

Georg von Schönerer Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker See also * George (disambiguation) George may refer to: People * George (given name) * ...

's German National Movement (''Deutschnationale Bewegung''). He was a member of the council of

Saalfelden Saalfelden am Steinernen Meer is a town in the district of Zell am See District, Zell am See in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. With approximately 16,000 inhabitants, Saalfelden is the district's largest town and Salzburg (state)# ...

, the Tyrolean Landtag and from 1918-1919 member of the Tyrolean government. In 1919 he was successful in the Constitutional Assembly elections, becoming a member of the

Republic of German-Austria The Republic of German-Austria (german: Republik Deutschösterreich or ) was an unrecognised state that was created following World War I as an initial rump state for areas with a predominantly German-speaking and ethnic German population wi ...

legislature, and from 1920 to 1923 and 1927 to 1934 a deputy in the National Council. In 1930-31 and 1932–33, he served as third president of the National Council.

End of the First Republic

He was one of the three national presidents who on 4 March 1933 resigned his office during a debate on a railway strike, precipitating a constitutional crisis, the dissolution of parliament and the seizure of power by the

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Engelbert Dollfuss Engelbert Dollfuß (alternatively: ''Dolfuss'', ; 4 October 1892 – 25 July 1934) was an Austrian clerical fascist politician who served as Chancellor of Austria between 1932 and 1934. Having served as Minister for Forests and Agriculture, he a ...

as dictator. On 15 March 1933 Straffner tried to withdraw his resignation and reconvene the parliamentary session but Dollfuss had ordered the police to prevent this "undeclared meeting" ( ''„nicht angemeldete Versammlung“'') or to disperse it if it occurred, even though many members of the Greater German and

Social Democrat Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

parties were already present in the chamber. Handed a copy of Dollfuss' order, Straffner filed a criminal complaint against Dollfuss under § 76 Criminal Code (public violence).

Aftermath

From 1934-1935 he was manager of the daily newspaper 'Alpenland'.

External links

Austrian Parliament: Dr Sepp Straffner

Austria Forum: Sepp Straffner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Straffner, Sepp 1875 births 1952 deaths People from Bad Goisern Greater German People's Party politicians Members of the Constituent National Assembly (Austria) Members of the National Council (Austria)