Anton Reinthaller
| Anton Reinthaller | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Anton Reinthaller 14 April 1895 Mettmach |
| Died | 6 March 1958 (aged 62) Innviertel |
| Citizenship | Austrian |
| Occupation | Forestry engineer |
| Known for | Politician |
| Title | FPÖ Party Chairman |
| Term | 1956-1958 |
| Predecessor | first office holder |
| Successor | Friedrich Peter |
| Political party |
Landbund Nazi Party Federation of Independents Freedom Party of Austria |
Anton Reinthaller (14 April 1895 – 6 March 1958) was an Austrian right wing politician active before and after the Second World War. He was the inaugural leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ).
Born in Mettmach, he served in World War I where he was taken prisoner by Russia in 1916 before being exchanged in June 1918. He held the rank of Lieutenant in the Reserve Army. Returning to Austria he studied at the Agricultural College and became a forestry engineer in Lilienfeld, Attersee and Haus im Ennstal.
Politically, Reinthaller initially belonged to the Landbund before switching to support the Nazis in 1928. He rose through the ranks of Austria's Nazi set-up, becoming state peasant leader in 1934, although his moderate stance, particularly with regards to the use of violence, meant that he was often in conflict with Theodor Habicht who feared that Reinthaller was preparing to break away and form a specifically Austrian Nazi movement that would reject union with Germany. However Habicht did not move against Reinthaller, who enjoyed good personal relations with Rudolf Hess and Richard Walther Darré, although ultimately he was removed after he spearheaded his own negotiations with Engelbert Dollfuß.
Although he had no real involvement in the failed Nazi putsch of July 1934 Reinthaller was nonetheless held for a while in Kaisersteinbruck concentration camp where he met and befriended Ernst Kaltenbrunner who, despite his own more radical views, became a supporter of Reinthaller. Reinthaller attempted to negotiate an agreement with Kurt Schuschnigg with a view to the Nazis entering the Vaterländische Front although when this failed he stepped aside from his role as the effective leader of Austria's Nazis in favour of Hermann Neubacher. Reinthaller stepped away from active politics after this, although he remained a voice of dissent on the sidelines, attacking nazi anti-Semitism on the basis of its negative impact on international opinion of the Nazis, whilst also resisting any move to complete Anschluss.
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