Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg

This article is about the 20th century conservative politician. For the 17th century Austrian Fieldmarshal, seeErnst Rüdiger von Starhemberg.

Prince Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg
Ernst Rüdiger Camillo von Starhemberg inHeimwehruniform
Vice-Chancellor of Austria
In office 1 May 1934 – 14 May 1936
Chancellor	Engelbert Dollfuß Kurt Schuschnigg
Preceded by	Emil Fey
Succeeded by	Eduard Baar-Baarenfels
Leader of theFatherland Front
In office 31 July 1934– 15 May 1936
Preceded by	Engelbert Dollfuß
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Minister of the Interior
In office 30 September 1930 – 4 December 1930
Chancellor	Carl Vaugoin
Preceded by	Vinzenz Schumy
Succeeded by	Franz Winkler
Personal details
Born	10 May 1899 Eferding,Austro-Hungary
Died	15 March 1956 (aged 56) Schruns,Vorarlberg,Austria
Political party	Heimatblock(1921–1933) Fatherland Front(1933–1938)
Spouses	Countess Marie Elisabeth von Salm-Reifferscheid-Raitz ​ ​ (m.1928;ann.1937)​ Nora Gregor ​ ​ (m.1937; died 1949)​
Children	1
Relatives	Starhemberg family

Memorial plaque inSchruns

PrinceErnst Rüdiger Camillo von Starhemberg,often known simply asPrince Starhemberg,(10 May 1899 – 15 March 1956) was an Austriannationalistand politician who helped introduceAustrofascismand install aclerical fascistdictatorship in Austria in theinterwar period.A fierce opponent ofAnschluss,he fled Austria when the Nazis invaded the country and briefly served with theFree Frenchand British forces inWorld War II.

Starhemberg was a leader of theHeimwehrand later of theFatherland Front.He served in theBundesratbetween 1920 and 1930, asMinister of Interiorin 1930, Vice-Chancellor in 1934 and subsequently Acting Chancellor and Leader of the Front after the murder ofEngelbert Dollfuß,relinquishing the former position after a few days. Disenchanted by the moderate ways of ChancellorKurt Schuschnigg,he was ousted from power in 1936, when the Heimwehr was dissolved, and fled the country after theAnschlussto avoid retaliation from vengefulNazis.

Starhemberg lived in exile in Switzerland and served with the western Allies in the British andFree French Air Forcesfor a short period at the beginning of World War II, but became disenchanted with them when they entered into an alliance withJoseph Stalin'sSoviet Union,which he viewed as equally evil as the Nazis. He left forArgentinawhere he spent the next thirteen years in exile. He died during an extended visit to Austria in 1956.

He was the 1,163rdKnightof theOrder of the Golden Fleece,Austrian Order.

Biography

Born inEferding,Upper Austria,in 1899, into the illustriousHouse of Starhembergwhich hailed from a long line of Austrian nobles and inherited the title ofprince.He was the oldest son ofPrince Ernst Rüdiger von Starhembergand PrincessFranziska von Starhemberg,born CountessLarisch von Moennich.He was a collateral relative to Field MarshalCount Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg.InWorld War Ihe served on the Italian Front and then in 1921 was a member ofFreikorps Oberland.

Seeking election to theBundesrat,the representation of Austrian states (Länder) at age 21, Starhemberg became a proponent ofCatholicandconservativepolitics and joined theHeimatschutz,quickly becoming a leader of one of its local branches. He also became an admirer ofBenito Mussoliniand hisFascistgovernment. In the early 1920s, Starhemberg traveled toGermanyand had contacts with the nascentNazimovement.Adolf Hitleractively used Starhemberg's status as an Austrian noble to try to improve the party's image and to attract wealthy and influential backers to its ranks. After seeing the failedBeer Hall Putschof 1923, Starhemberg became disenchanted with Nazism and returned to Austria. Rejoining the Heimatschutz, Starhemberg became its national leader in 1930 and actively campaigned to turn Austria into a more organized state. Eventually, Starhemberg's movement became powerful enough to influence the government, and as such the chancellor appointed himMinister of the Interiorin September 1930. Starhemberg resigned his position shortly thereafter, however, when theHeimatblock(the Heimwehr's political wing) only won eight seats in elections for theNationalrat.

When conservativeEngelbert DollfußbecameChancellor of Austriain 1932, Starhemberg once again gained governmental power. At Dollfuß's request, Starhemberg worked to combine a number of right-wing groups into a single political entity. He was successful, and the result was the powerfulFatherland Front,which saw its creation in late 1933, followed by theauthoritarianMay Constitution of 1934.For his efforts, Starhemberg became Dollfuß's Vice-Chancellor under the new rule. Upon Dollfuß' assassination two months later during a failed coup by the Nazis, Starhemberg briefly came to head the government and the Front. As PresidentWilhelm Miklasproclaimed Austria was not yet ready for a "Heimwehr Cabinet", called a cabinet meeting in Vienna's Ballhouse surrounded bybarbed wireand government troops to restrain suspicious members of the Heimwehr, who claimed the Nazi coup had been foiled only through their courage, and appointedKurt von SchuschniggChancellor instead on 29 July. Starhemberg officially supported the compromise and his office as Vice-Chancellor, being appointed Minister of Public Security as well.

With these positions, Starhemberg was in effect the second most powerful man in Austria. During this period, the regime fought to keep Austria an independent state bysupport from France, the United Kingdom and Fascist Italyand through crackdowns on Austrian Nazis and others favoring a union with Germany. The idea of union with Germany had been popular among Socialists as well as Conservatives, although theTreaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919)which Austria signed at the end of World War I forbade it.

In 1936, Starhemberg's disagreements with Schuschnigg, who, inspired by theappeasementpolicies of the western democracies, wanted to improve relations with Nazi Germany rather than risk invasion by a far strongerWehrmachtand face possible desertion by Hitler's new-found ally, Mussolini. In March 1936, Starhemberg was forced to relinquish his position as Federal leader of the Fatherland's Front, which was dissolved (as was the Heimwehr) and on 14 May that year he was ousted from the government.

After theAnschlussin March 1938, which saw much of the Front's leadership purged (Schuschnigg himself was detained and shipped toconcentration camp), Starhemberg escaped to Switzerland. In 1940, after the beginning ofWorld War II,Starhemberg joined theFrench Army.He later served in the British andFree Frenchair forces. However, he became disenchanted with the western Allies when they entered into an alliance withJoseph Stalin'sSoviet Union,that Starhemberg viewed as equally evil as the Nazis. In 1942, Starhemberg decided to leave the war and traveled toArgentinawhere he spent the next thirteen years. In 1955, the year ofJuan Perón's (also a fervent admirer of Fascism and Mussolini) ousting by a military coup, Starhemberg returned to Austria.

Starhemberg died inSchruns,Vorarlberg,during an extended visit to Austria in 1956. He was staying at a spa in Schruns. During a walk, he was photographed against his will by Georg Auer, a journalist who worked at a communist newspaper. In response, Starhemberg became enraged and attacked Auer with his walking stick.However, he suddenly suffered a cardiac arrest and died.

Marriages

Starhemberg married two times:

• Marie-ElisabethAltgräfinzuSalm-Reifferscheidt-Raitz(Donaueschingen,1 March 1908 –Gmunden,10 April 1984), married inViennaon 9 September 1928,annulledon 27 November 1937. She had no children but adopted, in 1973 as her heir, a cousin, Maria Elisabeth (Marielies) Leopoldine Hippolyta,Altgräfinzu Salm-Reiferscheidt-Raitz (born 1931).
• Nora Gregor(Görz,3 February 1901 –Santiago,20 January 1949),Austrian-Jewishstage and film actress, married in Vienna on 2 December 1937. They had one child, who was born prior to their marriage, Heinrich Rüdiger Gregor (1934-1997), known from 1937 as Heinrich Rüdiger Karl Georg Franciscus Graf von Starhemberg, later, upon the death of his father, became 8th Fürst von Starhemberg. He died unmarried and without issue so his title was inherited by his cousin Georg Adam (b. 1961) who is the current Prince and Head of the family.

External links

• Newspaper clippings about Ernst Rüdiger Starhembergin the20th Century Press Archivesof theZBW