Hannes Androsch Passed Away at 86

The Androsch Private Foundation announced this to the APA. "Our thoughts are with his grieving relatives," the foundation said. Androsch was once SPÖ finance minister and was considered the "heir apparent" to SPÖ Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, before he fell from grace and began a second career as an industrialist.

Industrialist Hannes Androsch Dies Unexpectedly

His public life led him from finance minister to a long business career to a loud voice for more research and education in the country. In addition to his companies, he found time to contribute as chairman of the supervisory board of the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) and as head of the research council. Among other things, he was the initiator of the 2011 education referendum.

Androsch was considered a rising star in domestic politics when Bruno Kreisky made him the (until then) youngest finance minister in the Second Republic at the age of 32 in 1970. In 1976, Androsch became vice chancellor and was long considered the crown prince of the "Sun King" of Austrian politics.

However, the personal relationship between Kreisky and Androsch gradually deteriorated - which Androsch attributes to Kreisky's illness-related personality changes. The Federal Chancellor, on the other hand, saw his position threatened by the popular and much younger Androsch. Androsch denied ambitions for the Federal Chancellery. His only dream goal was the position at the head of the National Bank, he always emphasized.

Political Scandal 1981

In 1981, the final scandal occurred, and Androsch left the government after the SPÖ had adopted a "ten-point program" that included the incompatibility of a tax law firm Consultatio with the office of a finance minister.

Only after the end of the Kreisky era, in 1984, was there an indictment for private black money accounts, after more than ten years of trials, Androsch was finally convicted of tax evasion. Androsch has described the case against him from the very beginning as an example of "political justice".

Shortly after his departure from the government, Androsch became the general director of the Creditanstalt, which was attributed to the black half of the empire. In early 1988, he had to leave the bank following a final conviction for perjury. Only then did he start his career as an industrialist.

Androsch Took AT&S Public

In 1994, he and the management bought the ailing state-owned circuit board company AT&S and later took it public. The purchase price of 90 million Schilling (around 6.5 million Euro) was comparatively low even by the standards of the time, as the mobile phone boom had not yet started. Further corporate investments followed, such as his takeover of the salt mines, which he and his friend, RLB-OÖ CEO Ludwig Scharinger, bought from the state, earning Androsch the title "Salt Baron of Altaussee". Other acquisition attempts - such as DDSG passenger shipping, Semperit tires, and Lenzing - failed.

Androsch never minced his words and continued to express his displeasure with politics. During the coronavirus pandemic, for example, he said, "The corona aid measures have largely failed spectacularly", and the acting politicians in Austria were "heroes of announcement".

Born on April 18, 1938, Androsch was socialized in the "red" Floridsdorf, in 1953 he became chairman of the Socialist Middle School Students, nine years later of the VSStÖ. After a diploma study at the University of World Trade, Androsch began his "first career" as a tax consultant. From 1963 he started working for the SPÖ parliamentary group, and in 1967, not yet thirty, he entered the National Council.

Androsch was married and had three children.

Politics Mourns the Loss of Hannes Androsch

The mourning for Androsch therefore goes beyond party lines. "Androsch was successful as a manager and entrepreneur. In recent years, he was a tireless advocate for reforms in school and education policy. Hannes Androsch was present until his last breath. He was a personality that will be missed. His sudden death deeply affects me," said Federal President Alexander van der Bellen.

"Austria mourns the loss of Hannes Androsch. He was a long-serving finance minister and throughout his life a highly political person and also a highly successful entrepreneur. I will miss the conversations and the exchange of ideas with him! Rest in peace!" wrote Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) in the evening.

"Hannes Androsch, as Bruno Kreisky's Finance Minister, significantly shaped the social reform and economic policy program of the Social Democrats in the 1970s and contributed to making Austria a modern industrial state," says SPÖ Federal Party Chairman Andreas Babler.

"With Hannes Androsch, one of the last politicians of the 'old school' has left us. His worldview and his efforts for the domestic education system, as well as his unique economic sense, left many positive traces in Styria. In particular, his economic successes have secured and created many jobs in the Green Mark. His sharp and sometimes critical contributions to daily political events will undoubtedly be missed," writes FPÖ Styria Chief Mario Kunasek.

For the NEOS, Sepp Schellhorn commented on X jovially: "I appreciated and liked him very much! To a glass and a chicken soup then over there, dear Hannes".

The National Council Presidency expressed its condolences in a joint statement. "The death of Hannes Androsch is a great loss for Austria," said National Council President Walter Rosenkranz (FPÖ). Androsch always saw himself as an entrepreneur and never as a neglecter and was "for me a classic 'Homo politicus', who always had Austria's economic policy in focus," says Second National Council President Peter Haubner (ÖVP). "With Hannes Androsch, our country loses an innovative industrialist and a Social Democrat with foresight and depth," writes Third National Council President Doris Bures.

"With Hannes Androsch, Austria loses a great personality of the Second Republic - whether as a politician, significant industrialist or tireless champion for education, research and innovation. With his foresight, his energy and his passion, he not only positively shaped and designed the economy, but also society," say Harald Mahrer, President of the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKÖ) and Karlheinz Kopf, Secretary General of the WKÖ (both ÖVP).

"He was a man for whom the future of his homeland was a matter of the heart. Until the end, he dealt with the major future issues of our country - always passionately and critically, always reflective and with a lot of foresight. Hannes Androsch was a great man. He will be missed by this republic," writes Lower Austria's Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP).

"Austria loses with him one of the most outstanding personalities of its political and economic history. His commitment to social justice, education and equal opportunities will be remembered and will have an impact for generations to come," says Carinthia's Governor Peter Kaiser (SPÖ).

"Hannes Androsch was one of the most influential personalities in Austrian politics and economy, a great Social Democrat. As Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor, he contributed significantly to the modernization of the country. Especially his initiatives to promote science and research, as well as his commitment to a strong, future-oriented Austria will be remembered," writes Burgenland's Governor Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ).

(APA/Red)

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