Adolf Schärf

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Adolf Schärf

In office
May 22, 1957 – February 28, 1965
Preceded by Theodor Körner
Succeeded by Franz Jonas

Born April 20, 1890(1890-04-20)
Mikulov
Died February 28, 1965 (aged 74)
Vienna
Nationality Austrian
Political party Social Democratic Party of Austria
Spouse Hilda Schärf


Adolf Schärf (April 20, 1890, MikulovFebruary 28, 1965, Vienna) was from 1957 to his death the president of the Republic of Austria. As an educated lawyer, he had been the secretary of the social democratic president of the Nationalrat during the years of the first republic (1918-1934) and served on the Bundesrat 1933-1934. After the fall of the Republic in 1934 and twice during the Nazi occupation, he served time as a political prisoner. However in 1938 he aryanized the office of Arnold Eisler, a Jewish lawyer who had to leave Austria. He took over the lawfirm, and it was never restituted. Later on he also helped in the aryanization process of buildings in Vienna.

After World War II, he became the chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria and a member of the new Nationalrat. In 1955, he also took part in the Moscow negotiations for the Austrian Treaty. He became Vice Chancellor in 1956, before being elected president in 1957 and 1963.

[edit] Trivia

  • The neo-Nazi song "Adolf's Ehrentag" by Frank Rennicke attempts to bypass German anti-Nazi glorification laws by pretending to be about Adolf Schärf instead of Adolf Hitler; at the end of the song similarities are listed: both are born on April 20, both have been imprisoned, and both were leaders of Austria.
  • These similarities are also the theme of a poem by Wolf Martin, a columnist from the Kronen Zeitung[1], which caused an uproar at the time of its publication (20. April 1994).

[edit] Sources

  1. ^ Kronen Zeitung - Tag für Tag ein Boulevardstück by Nathalie Borgers, ARTE, 2005
Prohibited 1934-1945 SPÖ Party Chairman
1945–1957
Succeeded by:
Bruno Pittermann
Austria part of Nazi Germany
1938-1945
Vice Chancellor of Austria
1945–1957