Jakob Reumann

Jakob Reumann

Jakob Reumann (December 31, 1853, Vienna – July 29, 1925, Klagenfurt) was an Austrian Social Democratic politician and the first social democratic mayor of Vienna from 1919 to 1923.

Biography

On the Hainfeld Party Convention of 1888/1889, Jakob Reumann was designated first secretary of the newly founded Social Democratic Party, which then united social democrats of the whole multinational Austrian part of Austria-Hungary. From 1900, he has been elected member of Vienna's Gemeinderat (city parliament), from 1907 member of the Austrian Reichsrat (parliament). In 1917 city councillor, in 1918 vice-mayor, he was elected mayor on May 21, 1919, the first social democratic mayor in the history of Vienna. 1918/1919 he as well was member of the Provisional National Council of German Austria (Provisorische Nationalversammlung für Deutschösterreich).

In 1922, as mayor he became Landeshauptmann (governor) of the new State of Vienna. The same year saw the opening of the first crematorium of Vienna and Austria, a decision which Reumann had to defend at the Verfassungsgerichshof (Constitutional Court) since he had ordered to build it against the order of a federal minister of the Christian Socials.

In 1923, the Gemeinderat concluded on the first large housing programme to build 25,000 flats within five years. On November 13, 1923, Jakob Reumann stepped down as mayor and was made honorary citizen of Vienna. Few weeks after his death in 1925, in the tenth district, Favoriten, a workers' district where Reumann had his personal roots, a square was named Reumannplatz. This is today the southern terminal of underground line no. 1 and the site of attractive Amalienbad (Amalia Spa).