Franz Langoth was an Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n nationalist

Nationalism

Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...

 politician who later became a leading figure in the country's Nazi movement.

Nationalist politics

A native of Linz

Linz

Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...

, Langoth began his political career as a nationalist member of the Landtag of Upper Austria

Upper Austria

Upper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...

 in 1909.
He became leader of the Greater German People's Party

Greater German People's Party

The Greater German People's Party was a German nationalist and national liberal party during the First Republic of Austria.-Foundation:...

 after the First World War, leading the party on a strongly anti-Semitic and racist course. However whilst the party initially enjoyed a following it soon lost out to the Nazi Party and Langoth joined this group in 1933. Under the Ständestaat Langoth established the Hilfswerk Langoth which provided welfare payments to Nazi activists and played an important role in ensuring the continuation of the Nazi movement. Although the Nazi Party was banned in Austria after the attempted putsch of 1934 Kurt Schuschnigg

Kurt Schuschnigg

Kurt Alois Josef Johann Schuschnigg was Chancellor of the First Austrian Republic, following the assassination of his predecessor, Dr. Engelbert Dollfuss, in July 1934, until Germany’s invasion of Austria, , in March 1938...

 allowed Langoth's group to be active due to his high standing.

Under the Nazis

Langoth was a strong supporter of the Anschluss

Anschluss

The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....

 and he argued that "the election on 10 April 1938 in Austria had been an example of a true, democratic plebiscite and would be recorded as a pure and clean vote in future history". Following the Anschluss Langoth became head of the Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt for Austria and the Upper Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

. He also served as a judge in the Volksgerichtshof where he passed 41 death sentences and obtained the rank of Brigadeführer

Brigadeführer

SS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....

 in the Schutzstaffel

Schutzstaffel

The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...

. Towards the end of the Second World War he also served as Mayor of Linz and as the Allies

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 advanced Langoth sought out the Austrian resistance

Austrian resistance

The Austrian resistance to the Nazi rule that started with the Anschluss in 1938 had a prehistory of socialist and communist activism against the era of Austrofascism from 1934. These activists, limited primarily to adherents of the political far left, operated in isolation from the Austrian...

 and negotiated with them the transfer of Linz to their administration.

Post-war activities

Langoth was arrested by the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 forces and interned at Glasenbach until 1947, although he surprisingly faced no charges under the Denazification

Denazification

Denazification was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of the National Socialist ideology. It was carried out specifically by removing those involved from positions of influence and by disbanding or rendering...

 process and was amnestied in 1950. He became an advisor to the founders of the Federation of Independents

Federation of Independents

The Federation of Independents was a German national and national-liberal political party in Austria active from 1949 to 1955...

 and was an honourary member of the party. His 1951 autobiography

Autobiography

An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...

Kampf um Österreich was characterised by its continuing support for Nazism.

Street naming controversy

In the post-war era Langoth was for some time considered a 'good' Nazi who bore no responsibility for the excesses of the regime, to the extent that in 1972 a street in Linz was renamed Langothstraße. The name continued in use until 1986 when the street was restored to its original name of Kaisergasse.