Hofrat Alfred Claisen

Alfred Claisen was born in Tyrnau in Hungary [today: Trnava in Slovakia] as the legitimate son of k.u.k. First Lieutenant Franz Claisen and Adelheid, née Kirchmayer. After his father became a professional soldier, he was stationed in Tyrnau. After elementary school, Alfred Claisen attended the lower secondary school in Fischau and then the cadet school in Vienna, from which he graduated in 1913.

In the same year, Alfred Claisen joined the Imperial and Royal Army. Army and worked at the Vienna Military Command as an accounting officer in the bookkeeping department. In 1914, he was promoted to lieutenant.

In November 1918, Alfred Claisen witnessed the defeat of Austria-Hungary, the collapse of the Dual Monarchy and the expulsion of the Habsburgs. In 1919, he moved to the Federal Ministry of Finance. In the same year, he married Virginie Petronella Howorka and became the father of a daughter. His son was born in 1923. He joins the Gewerkschaft öffentlich Bediensteter.

From 1933, the devout Catholic and patriotic Austrian becomes involved in the Vaterländische Front in his home district of Vienna-Hietzing. After his district leader Richard Alexander was appointed leader of the Storm Corps of the Vaterländische Front in 1937, Alfred Claisen succeeded him as district leader of the Vaterländische Front in Vienna-Hietzing. In this role, he campaigned vehemently for Austria's independence and against National Socialism.

On March 12, 1938, Alfred Claisen witnessed the demise of a free and independent Austria with the invasion of the German Wehrmacht. Just one day after the occupation of Austria, he was arrested by the Gestapo on March 13, 1938 and deported to the Dachau concentration camp on April 2, 1938 on the so-called 'Prominent Transport'. He was deported from there to Vienna on September 23, 1938. At the same time, he was dismissed from the civil service.

During World War II, Alfred Claisen stayed in Vienna with Bertelsmann. During the Second World War, Alfred Claisen kept his head above water with jobs in the private sector. In April and May 1945, he witnessed the liberation of Austria and the re-establishment of the Republic. Alfred Claisen reports for duty again of his own accord. He became deputy head of accounting at the State Office for Finance and, from 1949, head of the board. He joins the newly founded Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and the ÖVP-Kameradschaft der politisch Verfolgten und Bekenner für Österreich. 1948 His wife Virginie Petronella Claisen dies. In 1949, he married Marie Karasek.