Dr. Willibald Liehr

Willibald Liehr graduated from the Piarist High School (Vienna-Josefstadt) in 1929 and subsequently began his studies at the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the University of Vienna (abs. iur. in 1933, Dr. iur. in 1934). After completing his studies, he entered the service of the City of Vienna.

After the Anschluss, he was relieved of his duties and, on March 19, 1938, retired with a severance payment. From April through July 1938, Willibald Liehr served as a court clerk at the Vienna Commercial Court and subsequently worked as a law clerk until January 1939. Since he was denied admission to the bar for political reasons, he joined the Vienna Army Construction Office in 1939. In January 1942, he was drafted into the German Wehrmacht and was taken prisoner by the British in April 1945. He was released from captivity in Styria and immediately entrusted with the provisional leadership of the Radkersburg District Administration (Styria).

In 1946, Willibald Liehr joined the Ministry of the Interior and was assigned to what was then Department 8 (which handled, among other things, population affairs, elections, and citizenship matters). In 1949, he became department head and later section chief.