Dr. Franz Lorenzoni

Franz Lorenzoni attended elementary school in Schärding and then the Stiftsgymnasium in Kremsmünster. After graduating from high school in 1912, he served as a one-year volunteer with the Linz Rifle Regiment No. 2. He then enrolled in the Faculty of Law in Prague before transferring to Vienna. There, in 1913, he joined the Kürnberg fraternity.

During World War I, he served in the Graz Landwehr Infantry Regiment No. 3; his final rank was First Lieutenant (Reserve). At the end of the war, he was taken prisoner by the Italians. In 1919, he returned and resumed his studies in Graz. After earning his doctorate in 1920, he joined the Upper Austrian provincial civil service. From 1925 to 1934, he served as a member of the Provincial Parliament. In 1931, he became chairman of the Finance Committee and president of the Upper Austrian Agricultural Workers’ Insurance Institute. From 1934 to 1938, he served as Provincial Councilor for Finance.

After the Anschluss, Franz Lorenzoni initially remained in office for a short time in the transitional government of Gauleiter August Eigruber (1907–1947)—who had been Governor of Upper Austria since March 14, 1938—specifically within the Reich Viceroyalty of the Upper Danube. In 1941, he was then assigned a subordinate position as a clerk at the Upper Insurance Office in Linz. In the wake of the wave of arrests following the July 1944 assassination attempt, Franz Lorenzoni was also imprisoned from August 23 to September 5, 1944.

After the war, he returned to state politics and served as Deputy Governor of Upper Austria and Finance Commissioner from December 13, 1945, until his death