{{Short description|Austrian nationalist politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Franz Langoth | image = Franz Langoth.jpg | image_size = 200px | alt = | caption = Langoth, {{circa|1938}} | birth_name = Franz Langoth | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1877|8|20}} | birth_place = Linz, Austria-Hungary | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1953|4|17|1877|8|20}} | death_place = Linz, Austria | body_discovered = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | nationality = | citizenship = Austrian, German (1938–1945) | other_names = | known_for = Politician and administrator | education = | alma_mater = | employer = | notable_works = ''Kampf um Österreich'' (1951) | occupation = | years_active = | height = | title = Mayor of Linz | term = 1944-1945 | predecessor = {{ill|Leopold Sturma|de}} | successor = Ernst Koref | political_party = Greater German People's Party<br />Nazi Party | opponents = | boards = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | callsign = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Franz Langoth''' (20 August 1877 – 17 April 1953) was an Austrian nationalist politician who later became a leading figure in the country's Nazi movement. He was a judge on the People's Court, an SS-''Brigadeführer'' and the mayor of Linz. Though interned by the Allies at the end of the Second World War, he faced no charges in denazification proceedings.
==Nationalist politics== A native of Linz, Langoth was the son of a miller and a flour merchant and qualified as a teacher in 1896.<ref name="Rees">Philip Rees, ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'', Simon & Schuster, 1990, p. 221</ref> He began his political career as a nationalist member of the ''Landtag'' of Upper Austria in 1909.<ref name="nat">[http://www.linz.gv.at/archiv/langoth/index_e.html The German nationalist politician]</ref> He served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during the First World War and subsequently with the Landsturm as a ''Leutnant''.<ref name="Rees"/>
In the immediate aftermath of the war, Langoth became head of the provincial security committee in Linz and, although he became noted for his hard-line völkisch beliefs and his strong support for ''Anschluss'', he also worked closely with Johann Nepomuk Hauser, the governor of Upper Austria who was noted for his Christian socialist beliefs.<ref name="Rees"/> As deputy ''Landeshauptmann'' Langoth gained a reputation as a strong, albeit even-handed, upholder of law and order in the province.<ref name="Rees"/> In particular, Langoth clashed regularly with Emil Fey, particularly as he had banned marches by the ''Heimwehr'' in Upper Austria.<ref name="Rees"/> Langoth's reputation as law enforcer even saw Engelbert Dollfuss offer him the post of Federal Minister of Public Security in May 1932 but the offer was rejected.<ref name="Rees"/>
Langoth became leader of the Greater German People's Party after the First World War, leading the party on a strongly antisemitic and racist course.<ref name="nat"/> However, whilst the party initially enjoyed a following it soon lost out to the Nazi Party and Langoth joined this group in 1933.<ref name="nat"/> He also joined the ''Schutzstaffel'' at the same time.<ref name="Rees"/> Under the Ständestaat Langoth established the ''Hilfswerk Langoth'' which provided welfare payments to Nazi activists and played an important role in ensuring the continuation of the Nazi movement.<ref>[http://www.linz.gv.at/archiv/langoth/index_e.html Shift to National Socialism]</ref> Although the Nazi Party was banned in Austria after the attempted July Putsch of 1934, Kurt Schuschnigg allowed Langoth's group to be active due to his high standing.<ref>[http://www.safran-arts.com/42day/history/h4feb/h4feb12.html On a 12 February]</ref> Langoth, along with Ernst Kaltenbrunner and Anton Reinthaller, even met with Schuschnigg in 1935 in an attempt to get the ban on the Nazis lifted in return for a guarantee of co-operation with the regime.<ref name="Rees"/>
==Under the Nazis== Langoth was a strong supporter of the ''Anschluss'' and he argued that "the election on 10 April 1938 in Austria had been an example of a true, democratic plebiscite and would be recorded as a pure and clean vote in future history".<ref>[http://www.safran-arts.com/42day/history/h4mar/h4mar11.html On an 11 March]</ref> At the 10 April 1938 parliamentary election, he was elected to the ''Reichstag'' as a deputy from Ostmark and retained this seat until the fall of the Nazi regime.<ref>[https://www.reichstag-abgeordnetendatenbank.de/selectmaske.html?pnd=11937000X&recherche=ja Franz Langoth entry] in the [https://www.reichstag-abgeordnetendatenbank.de/ ''Reichstag'' Members Database]</ref> Langoth became head of the Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt for Austria and the upper Danube area. He also served as a judge in the ''Volksgerichtshof'' where he passed 41 death sentences. He also obtained the rank of SS-''Brigadeführer''.<ref>[http://www.linz.gv.at/archiv/langoth/index_e.html Career in the "Großdeutsches Reich" (Greater German Reich)]</ref> Towards the end of the Second World War he also served as Mayor of Linz and, as the Allies advanced, Langoth sought out the Austrian resistance and negotiated with them the transfer of Linz to their administration.<ref>Radomír Luža, ''The Resistance in Austria'', 1984, p. 262</ref>
==Post-war activities== Langoth was arrested by the United States forces and interned at Glasenbach until 1947, although he surprisingly faced no charges under the denazification process and was amnestied by the Austrian government in 1950.<ref>[http://www.linz.gv.at/archiv/langoth/index_e.html Denazification]</ref> He became an advisor to the founders of the Federation of Independents and was an honorary member of the party.<ref name="act">[http://www.linz.gv.at/archiv/langoth/index_e.html Political activities 1945-1953]</ref> His 1951 autobiography ''Kampf um Österreich'' was characterised by its continuing support for Nazism.<ref name="act"/>
===Street naming controversy=== In the post-war era Langoth was for some time considered a 'good' Nazi who bore no responsibility for the excesses of the regime, to the extent that in 1972 a street in Linz was renamed ''Langothstraße''. The name continued in use until 1986 when the street was restored to its original name of ''Kaisergasse''.<ref>[http://www.linz.gv.at/archiv/langoth/index_e.html Myth Langoth]</ref>
== Literature == * ''Die Gemeindevertretung der Stadt Linz vom Jahre 1848 bis zur Gegenwart. Geschichte – Biographien.'' Druck- und Verlags-Anstalt Gutenberg, Linz 1968, p. 189 f. * Graf, Wolfgang: ''Österreichische SS-Generäle. Himmlers verlässliche Vasallen.'' Hermagoras-Verlag, Klagenfurt u. a. 2012, {{ISBN|978-3-7086-0578-4}}. * Georg Grüll: ''Das Linzer Bürgermeisterbuch.'' Städtische Sammlungen der Stadt Linz, Linz 1953. * Schuster, Walter: ''Deutschnational, nationalsozialistisch, entnazifiziert. Franz Langoth, eine NS-Laufbahn.'' Archiv der Stadt Linz, Linz 1999, {{ISBN|3-900388-79-2}}.
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Langoth, Franz}} Category:1877 births Category:1953 deaths Category:20th-century mayors of places in Austria Category:Austrian jurists Category:Austrian Nazis Category:Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Category:Greater German People's Party politicians Category:Judges in the Nazi Party Category:Members of the Reichstag 1938–1945 Category:Politicians from Linz Category:Officials of Nazi Germany Category:Politicide perpetrators Category:SS-Brigadeführer Category:World War II prisoners of war held by the United States