Heinz Kienzl
- Born on: 8.10.1922
- Birthplace: Vienna (Wien),
- Category: Diploma program
- Right of domicile: Wien (Wien),
The English version is based on a translation by Artificial Intelligence. The authentic version is considered to be the German version.
Heinz and his sister Ingrid (born April 30, 1926 in Vienna) were born to Elisabeth (born July 6, 1893 in Prague) and Hermann (March 24, 1893 to April 3, 1965) Kienzl. The family lived at Sandleitengasse 12/2/10 (16th district of Vienna), and the father worked as a druggist.
In the winter semester of 1941/42, he was enrolled at the University for World Trade. However, this semester was not credited to him: In April 1942, his admission to study was retroactively denied by the Reich Ministry for Science, Education, and Culture (Berlin). According to applicable university law, the ministry had the authority over all individuals who, due to Jewish ancestors, were considered 'mixed-race' according to Nazi ideology. Kienzl fell into this category and was officially expelled in October 1942 for "rejection of the mixed-race application" without reasons given. Subsequently, he was drafted into the so-called Technical Emergency Service rather than the Wehrmacht. In this organization, he worked as a power line electrician, involved in restoring war-important facilities like the Vöslau airport. He was also temporarily deployed in St. Georgen, a subcamp of the concentration camp Gusen II led by the Waffen-SS near Langenstein (Upper Austria); according to his own statements, he occasionally provided forced laborers with food here - despite explicit prohibitions and at great personal risk.
He was only able to continue and successfully complete his studies after the end of the Nazi regime and World War II: Between the summer semester of 1945 and the summer semester of 1948, he was enrolled at the 'Welthandel'. In July 1947, he received his diploma, and on December 17, 1949, he earned his doctorate in commercial sciences with the dissertation The Currency Measures of the Second Republic of Austria 1945-1948.
Subsequently, he worked for decades in the Austrian Trade Union Federation, among other roles as head of its department for economics. He was also an elected member of the workers' chamber council (1954-1969) and became chairman of the Social Science Study Society, which he co-founded, conducting surveys on current political, economic, and social issues since 1961 and publishing research results. In this way, Kienzl introduced the instrument of opinion research in Austria, which he had learned about in the USA. Between 1973 and 1988, Kienzl served as General Director and subsequently as the First Vice President of the Austrian National Bank (until 1993); he had already been active in it as a general councilor (1963-1969). His tenure at the central bank was marked, among other things, by his contributions to hard currency policy following the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1973. As an economist and trade unionist, Kienzl was also significantly involved in the establishment and design of social partnership in the Second Republic and welcomed Austria’s EU accession in 1995. Until his advanced age, he regularly published writings and was a member of several organizations. He was chairman of the Paul Lazarsfeld Society and belonged for many years to the board and advisory board of the Austrian Society for European Politics, founded in 1991. Not least, he repeatedly engaged scientifically and publicly with the phenomena of antisemitism, xenophobia, and racism, which he viewed less as aspects of personal concern than as societal problems (see his contributions from 1966 to 1992 in: Kienzl 1995).
Excluded from studying at the University for World Trade during the Nazi era, Heinz Kienzl was appointed honorary citizen of its successor, the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Vienna), in 1989. Furthermore, since 2002, WU Vienna has awarded a prize named after him: The Dr. Heinz Kienzl Prize primarily honors interdisciplinary works in the fields of social research, social policy, labor market policy, monetary and fiscal policy, as well as growth and environmental policy.
On January 29, 2020, Heinz Kienzl passed away at the age of 97. Over 200 people attended a memorial service held in his honor on February 25, 2020, at the crematorium Simmering, including former Federal President Heinz Fischer, the former president of the Austrian Trade Union Federation Erich Foglar, and the former governor of the Austrian National Bank Ewald Nowotny.
His name is inscribed on the memorial, which was unveiled on 8 May 2014 on the campus of the Vienna University of Economics and Business.
Author: Johannes Koll
Source material
Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Universitätsarchiv, Studierendenkarteikarte und Protokoll über die erste (allgemeine) Prüfung an der Hochschule für Welthandel, Bd. 4, Bl. 112.
Meldeauskunft des Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchivs, GZ MA 8 – B-MEW – 626303/2013.
Österreichisches Staatsarchiv, Archiv der Republik, 02 Unterricht, Kurator der wissenschaftlichen Hochschulen in Wien (Kart. 13), GZ 5201 ex 1941-1944.
Michaela Hudler/Susanne Kirchner/Claudia Palt: Einblicke in das Leben von Heinz Kienzl, Wien 1998.
dasrotewien.at – Weblexikon der Wiener Sozialdemokratie, http://www.dasrotewien.at/seite/kienzl-heinz [30. Januar 2020].
Kurzinterview auf http://www.club-carriere.com/phpscripts/inserat.php?name=Heinz%20Kienzl&K_ID=53048 [26. August 2013].
Interview mit Dr. Johannes Koll (Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien) am 31. Mai 2013 in Wien.
Interview mit Hans Rauscher im Standard vom 4. Oktober 2012, http://derstandard.at/1348284909517/Als-der-Austrosozialismus-eingefuehrt-wurde [26. August 2013].
Heinz Kienzl: „Ich wär`auch lieber Archäologe als Nationalökonom geworden.“ Ausgewählte Beiträge von Heinz Kienzl zu seinem 70. Geburtstag, Wien 1995, S. 167-178.
Eric Frey: Heinz Kienzl, Architekt von Österreichs Wirtschaftspolitik, gestorben, in: Der Standard vom 30. Januar 2020, S. 18, online unter http://www.derstandard.at/story/2000113925074/ [30. Januar 2020].
OeNB trauert um ihren langjährigen Generaldirektor Dr. Heinz Kienzl, in: APA-OTS vom 29. Januar 2020, http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20200129_OTS0135/oenb-trauert-um-ihren-langjaehrigen-generaldirektor-dr-heinz-kienzl [20. Oktober 2020].