Dr. Gottfried Kunwald
Personalia
Born:
Died:
Profession:
Persecution:
Driven to death on 14.03.1938
Memberships
Curriculum Vitae
Gottfried Kunwald was born in Baden near Vienna as one of six legitimate children of the Jewish k.u.k. and court lawyer Ludwig Kunwald and Emma, née Pollak. He is the second of six children. His older brother Ernst later made a name for himself in the music world as conductor of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and other major orchestras. His younger brother Lothar becomes a general practitioner. Ella, one of his three sisters, became a concert singer, while her twin sister Meta spent her life in the Steinhof mental asylum. The youngest, Hedwig, married Max Stadlen, who took over his father-in-law's law firm in 1909.
He was born with a birth defect. His legs did not fully develop in the womb. Gottfried Kunwald had to bear the brunt of this physical defect for the rest of his life.
After elementary school, Gottfried Kunwald attended the Schottengymnasium in Vienna's 1st district, where he graduated in 1887. In the same year, he enrolled in law at the University of Vienna, graduating in 1891, but only obtaining his doctorate in 1895. Even as a student, he showed a keen interest in economic and national economic issues. After setting up his law firm, he made a name for himself as a legal advisor and financial consultant to various banks, companies and firms, preparing expert opinions, making proposals for the financing and crediting of (construction) projects, such as the electrification of various railroad lines, the purchase and sale of shares, preparing profitability studies, proposing commercial transactions and publishing articles on economic and political topics. He is also editor of the music and theater magazine 'Der Merker'.
Gottfried Kunwald is involved in Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi's 'Paneuropean Union' and joins the masonic lodge Schiller of the Grand Lodge of Vienna [today: Grand Lodge of Austria of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons]. He is also co-founder and Vice President of the Biedermann Bank in 1921. From 1919, he became financial policy advisor to Ignaz Seipel, chairman of the Christian Social Party and twice Federal Chancellor of the First Republic of Austria. He played a decisive role in the restructuring of the state finances between 1922 and 1924. Even after Ignaz Seipel's death in 1932, he remained an influential financial advisor who worked behind the scenes.
On March 14, 1938 at 10:45 a.m., I was asked by SA leader Heribert Raya, Standarte 81, to come to the apartment of the legal consultant Dr. Gottfried Kunwald, 69 years old, I Schulerstraße No. 1/II/49, as he had apparently committed suicide. I immediately informed the rescue company by telephone and went to the apartment. There I was able to establish the following: On Sunday, March 13, at 12:30 p.m., an SA detachment appeared at Dr. Kunwald's apartment to monitor him. According to the servant Seel, Dr. Kunwald went to bed at midnight. The SA took over further surveillance of the apartment. Seel also stated that the last time he was called by Dr. Kunwald was at 4 o'clock. He demanded to be led to the toilet by his servant and gave him the order to wake him up at 10 o'clock. At 10.30 a.m. Seel went into the bedroom and found Dr. Kunwald apparently dead. The doctor from the ambulance company that arrived was unable to determine the cause of death, but suspected that he had been poisoned by a narcotic. At 12.45 p.m., the police commission headed by police councillor Dr. Mottl appeared and arranged for the body to be taken to the forensic institute. The body was collected by the ambulance service at 1.50 pm. The apartment was completely locked and the keys were sent in with the report. The will found in the apartment is enclosed.
Gottfried Kunwald did not want to be sent to the torture dungeons of the Third Reich and committed suicide to avoid arrest by the SA.
He was laid to rest in the Jewish section of Vienna's Central Cemetery.
Places
Residence:
Citations
Weissensteiner, Friedrich: Bundeskanzler Seipels Grauen Eminenz in: DAVID - Jüdische Kulturzeitschrift unter david.juden.at/kulturzeitschrift/57-60/59-Weissensteiner.htm
Kodek, Günter K. (2009): Unsere Bausteine sind die Menschen.Die Mitglieder der Wiener Freimaurer-Logen 1869-1938 (Wien). S. 202.
