37 Facts About Walter Breisky

Walter Breisky was an Austrian jurist, civil servant, and politician.

Together with his Social Democratic deputy, Otto Glockel, Walter Breisky initiated sweeping reforms of Austria's education system.

In January 1922, Walter Breisky became the caretaker chancellor of Austria for a single day.

Walter Breisky was born on 8 July 1871 in Bern, Switzerland.

In Prague, Walter Breisky attended elementary school and received the first four years of his gymnasium education.

Walter Breisky thus completed his secondary education in the imperial capital, graduating from the high-profile Gymnasium Wasagasse in 1890.

Since Walter Breisky was not yet of age, his uncle, Rudolf Baron Walter Breisky, became his legal guardian and eventually adopted him.

Baron Walter Breisky was a senior official in the Ministry of the Interior; he had served as the head of the ministry's presidium for 25 years and was one of the closest collaborators of Interior Minister Eduard Taaffe.

Walter Breisky's grades appeared to suggest that his talents lay more in the humanities than in any technical fields.

Walter Breisky enrolled at the University of Vienna to study law and political science.

Walter Breisky was chosen for the position by Minister-President Erich Graf von Kielmannsegg, who intensely disliked Rudolf Baron Breisky for the latter's personality; in Kielmannsegg's autobiography, Baron Breisky would be described as a "supercilious fossil".

In spite of the enmity between guardian and superior, Walter Breisky rose through the ranks with ease and remarkable speed.

On 1 January 1900, Walter Breisky was reassigned to the Ministry of Education.

Employment in the ministerial bureaucracy was significantly more prestigious than employment in a state administration, and Walter Breisky was still only 28 years old, unusually young for advancement to the ministry.

The step up in rank was all the more remarkable as Walter Breisky was a Protestant, a serious handicap in the Habsburg bureaucracy in general and in the Ministry of Education in particular.

In 1909, Walter Breisky received the job title of departmental advisor.

The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I was a serious personal blow to Walter Breisky, who was 47 years old now and had spent his entire working life as a loyal servant of the Habsburg Monarchy.

In spite of his despondency, Walter Breisky remained at his post.

In May 1919, Walter Breisky was made a department director in the Chancellery, personal bureau of Chancellor Karl Renner and heart of the rump state's executive apparatus.

Once again, Walter Breisky became a close confidant and trusted lieutenant of the chief executive.

Walter Breisky was no ideologue and felt no instinctive allegiance to any of the republic's three dominant political camps.

Walter Breisky promoted access to education for girls, worked to improve teacher training, professionalized the textbook approbation process, overhauled the school physicians' service, and modernized curricula.

Walter Breisky worked to improve access to education, and to the arts and humanities in particular, for children in rural regions.

Walter Breisky took the initiative in organizing concerts and theatrical performances for the sons and daughters of the hinterland.

When Glanz resigned on 7 April 1921 Walter Breisky was promoted to acting minister.

The Walter Breisky government had been in office for just about twenty-four hours.

Walter Breisky resumed his roles as vice chancellor and state secretary of education.

Walter Breisky returned to his old position as the executive department director in the Chancellery, where he seems to have served Seipel as diligently as he used to serve Renner.

On 21 February 1923, Walter Breisky was made the president of the Austrian Statistics Office.

The agency Walter Breisky took over was massively understaffed and poorly organized.

Walter Breisky turned the Statistics Office around, then took the initiative in creating the Austrian Institute of Economic Research, thus making sure that the agency would be kept on its toes by competition from a think tank of independent scholars.

Walter Breisky spent his final years in Klosterneuburg, where he lived with his wife; he had married Rosa Kowarik, his long-time housekeeper, in 1927.

Walter Breisky was the honorary president of the Viennese Animal Welfare Association and an honorary member of the local numismatic society.

Walter Breisky spent most of his time in his sprawling library, reading with a magnifying glass.

Walter Breisky tried to prevent his eye problem from getting worse by self-medicating by consuming massive amounts of carrots and lemon juice.

Walter Breisky expressed no support either for the Austrofascist takeover in 1934 or for the Nazi takeover in 1938.

Walter Breisky withdrew further from public life after the Nazi Party came to power in Austria, resigning even his nominal membership in the International Statistical Institute.