Heinrich Philipp Gleißner (26 January 1893,

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

– 18 January 1984, in Linz) was an Austrian politician and lawyer who unsuccessfully ran for the Austrian presidency in 1951 as a candidate for the

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...

, served as the Governor of Upper Austria from 1934 to 1938 and again from 1945 to 1971 as a member of the Fatherland Front, and as an Ambassador of Austria to the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1982. A graduate of

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

, he served in the

Kaiserschützen The ''k.k. Landesschützen'' (in English, "imperial-royal country 'or'' provincialriflemen") – from 16 January 1917 ''Kaiserschützen'' ("imperial riflemen") – were three regiments of Austro-Hungarian mountain infantry during the '' kais ...

, being imprisoned in the

Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

and the

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Nazi Germany, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (pre-1938 ...

during

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was later decorated with a

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

, a

Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the Austrian national honours system. History The Decoration of Hono ...

, and a

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. The

Heinrich Gleißner Prize The Heinrich Gleißner Prize is an Upper Austrian Cultural Award named after Heinrich Gleißner Heinrich Philipp Gleißner (26 January 1893, Linz – 18 January 1984, in Linz) was an Austrian politician and lawyer who unsuccessfully ran for the ...

is named after him.

References

1893 births 1984 deaths Austrian politicians Austrian lawyers Austrian diplomats Candidates for President of Austria Charles University alumni Dachau concentration camp survivors Buchenwald concentration camp survivors Governors of Upper Austria Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Recipients of the Legion of Honour People from Linz {{Austria-politician-stub