Dr. Josef Krainer sen.

Josef Krainer sen. originates from a Styrian farmer family and works first as a farmer and then as a forestry worker. He's working politically very early. At the age of 18 he enters the Christian Social Party. In 1927 he relocated from Kobenz to Graz and became head of the Association of Employees and Workers Organisation in the Agriculture and Forestry of Styria in 1927–1936.

From 1934, he takes over a mandate as a member of the Styrian State Congress and in 1936 the office of the President of the Styrian Chamber of Labour. He also becomes Deputy Mayor of Graz.

He was arrested on 12.3.1938 in the morning in the presence of the Gauleiter Sigfried Uiberreither of the Gestapo in Mariengasse 14 and taken to the Graz police prison in Paulustorgasse. After three weeks, Josef Krainer was released again. Because of his contacts with resistance fighters, the police will be punished again later. He can stay hidden by farmers until the end of the war.

After the war, he became Mayor of Gassetsdorf in 1945–1950 and became a member of the Styrian state government in 1945–1948. In 1948, Josef Krainer sen. was elected to the state captain of Styria and remains until his death.