Theodor Körner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the German poet author and soldier see Carl Theodor Körner (1791 – 1813)
| Theodor Körner | |
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| In office 1951 – 1957 |
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| Preceded by | Karl Renner |
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| Succeeded by | Adolf Schärf |
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| Born | April 23, 1873 Újszőny |
| Died | January 4, 1957 |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party of Austria |
| Spouse | unmarried |
Theodor Körner (April 23, 1873 - January 4, 1957) served as President of Austria between 1951 and 1957.
He was born in Újszőny, a small suburb of Komorn (today Komárom in Hungary) as son of an officer of the Austro-Hungarian Army. Family legend has it that he was related to the poet of the same name, but that stories are not proven. Körner attended the military school in Mährisch-Weißkirchen (Hranice na Moravě) and then the military academy and became lieutenant in 1894. He served as an officer in Agram (today Zagreb in Croatia) and was promoted to major in 1904, in which year he became a member of the Austrian chief of staff. During World War I, he was an active commander on the Italian front and he resigned from his military career in 1924 as a General.
Always interested in politics, he joined the social democrats and become a member of parliament in 1924. He served as Chairman of the Federal Council of Austria between December 1933 and February 1934.
The so-called civil war in Austria and the installation of the so-called austro-fascist dictatorship under Engelbert Dollfuss ended Körner's career as a politician. He was arrested like his fellow partymen by the authoritarian government that banned all opposition parties and put their representatives into prison. During World War II, Körner was again imprisoned, this time by the Nazis.
After the war, in April 1945, Körner became Mayor of Vienna in the newly erected Second Republic. Körner was responsible for rebuilding and reconstructing Vienna, which was heavily destroyed due to the bombing during the war. After the death of Karl Renner, his party nominated Körner as candidate for the presidency, and Körner won the elections with slightly more than 51 percent of the votes. He therefore became the first President of Austria directly elected by the people. Körner died in office. Körner had a profound knowledge of military sciences and wrote many books about military theory. In Vienna there is a street named after him.
| Preceded by: Rudolf Prikryl |
Mayor of Vienna 1945 — 1951 |
Succeeded by: Franz Jonas |
| Presidents of Austria |  |
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| Karl Seitz • Michael Hainisch • Wilhelm Miklas • war period • Karl Renner • Theodor Körner • Adolf Schärf • Franz Jonas • Rudolf Kirchschläger • Kurt Waldheim • Thomas Klestil • Heinz Fischer |
