Franz Rudolf Hüttenberger (1884-1966)

Hüttenberger's biography illustrates the fate of a Social Democrat who was persecuted under both Austrofascism and National Socialism and who played a major role in rebuilding democracy in Tyrol after 1945.

Photo Franz Rudolf Hüttenberger. Photo in Parliament's Archive: https://www.parlament.gv.at/person/682 (Stand: September 5, 2025)

Political Mandates/Functions:

·       Member of the Austrian Federal Council (SPÖ): December 19, 1945 - June 25, 1946
·       Member of the Tyrolean State Parliament (Landtag): 1925-1934 and 1945-1961
·       Member of the Tyrolean Provincial Government (Landesrat) in the Provisional State Government: 1945
·       Deputy Governor (Landeshauptmann-Stellvertreter) of Tyrol: 1945-1961
·       State Chairman of the SPÖ (Social Democratic Party of Austria) in Tyrol
·       Chairman of the Tyrol State Trade Union Commission

Short Biography:

·       Born: November 23, 1884, Freinberg (Upper Austria)
·       Died: March 28, 1966, Innsbruck
·       Profession: Health Insurance Fund Official

Professional Career:

·       Apprenticeship: Baker
·       Worked as a baker in various businesses in Austria and abroad
·       Secretary of the State Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Party (SdP) in Tyrol
·       Secretary of the Innsbruck District Health Insurance Fund
·       Forcibly pensioned in 1934

Education:

·       Primary School
·       Vocational School

Additional Information:

·       Political Prison Sentences:
o   Imprisonment in 1934 under the Dollfuß regime
o   Incarcerated twice during the Nazi era
o   Three months in a concentration camp during the Nazi era
The Social Democratic resistance group from Solbad Hall was in contact with the Social Democratic resistance group around Franz Rudolf Hüttenberger (1884-1966) in Innsbruck. He was already the leader of the Social Democratic party in Tyrol before 1934 and was arrested by the Dollfuß government in February 1934 on the occasion of the February Revolt in Vienna. After the ban of the Social Democratic Workers' Party and during the Nazi rule, he was the leading figure for the resistance of the labor movement in Tyrol. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1938, he was imprisoned for the first time. On August 22, 1944, he was arrested for the third time and held in the Reichenau concentration camp until November 1944. Marked by torture and the inhumane conditions of his imprisonment, he was released seriously ill in November 1944. Nevertheless, he continued to work on the uprising against Nazi rule with Dr. Karl Gruber and officially assumed leadership of the Social Democratic Workers' Party in Tyrol on May 3, 1945.
From this point on, he served as Deputy Governor in the Tyrolean State Government of the Second Austrian Republic.