adolf schärf (german: [ˈaːdɔlf ˈʃɛʁf] (listen); 20 april 1890 – 28 february 1965) was an austrian politician of the socialist party of austria (spö).he served as vice-chancellor from 1945 to 1957 and as president of austria from 1957 until his death.living in the austro-hungarian capital vienna from 1899, he attended the gymnasium in hernals and went on to study at the university of vienna.the talented young man put himself through law school working part-time and with a scholarship granted for academic excellence.he received a doctorate in summer 1914 and, upon the outbreak of world war i four weeks later, volunteered for service in the austro-hungarian army.having witnessed the defeat and dissolution of the austro-hungarian monarchy, he entered politics and, through the mediation of the deputy otto glöckel, found employment as the secretary of the social democratic president of the national council parliament karl seitz.he held the post as a secretary throughout the years of the first austrian republic until the resignation of parliament president karl renner in march 1933.schärf, as well as karl seitz and the austromarxist party official otto bauer, had urged renner to step down from office, which proved to be fatal as it gave the government of chancellor engelbert dollfuss the opportunity to overthrow the parliamentary system.schärf became a deputy of the federal council in 1933, and though he kept aside from the social democratic republikanischer schutzbund paramilitaries, he was arrested after the 1934 february uprising and lost his public offices in the course of the establishment of the austrofascist dictatorship.unemployed after the dissolution of the social democratic party, he passed the austrian bar exam in 1934 and worked as an associate with a law firm.upon the austrian anschluss to nazi germany in march 1938, schärf was arrested and served time as a political prisoner of the gestapo.however, three months later, he 'aryanized' the office of arnold eisler, a jewish lawyer and party colleague who had to leave austria.he took over eisler's law firm and it was never restituted.later on, he also helped in the aryanization process of buildings in vienna.on the other hand, schärf avoided membership in the national socialist association of legal professionals and was in contact with resistance circles.there were contacts with the important resistance group (maier-mesner group, cassia) around the later executed priest heinrich maier, who was in contact with the american secret service oss.upon the outbreak of world war ii, his only son reinhold was conscripted in the wehrmacht armed forces and was killed in action in 1941.after the 20 july plot in 1944 schärf spent another five weeks in prison.immediately after the soviet vienna offensive and the occupation of the city in april 1945, schärf became acting chairman of the refounded social democratic party of austria and joined the austrian national unity government of chancellor karl renner.together with renner, the conservative politician leopold figl and the communist johann koplenig he formed the first provisional cabinet of the second republic.after the 1945 legislative election schärf became a member of the re-established national council parliament.he served as vice-chancellor in the grand coalition governments between the conservative people's party and social democrats (the communists were pushed out in 1947) under chancellor leopold figl and his successor julius raab until 1957.schärf had reservations about the restitution of jewish property and also about the return of emigrants like bruno kreisky in austrian politics.he opposed any collaboration of social democrats with the communist party and instead approached to the right-wing federation of independents, which, however, did not prevent the decline in votes for the social democratic party in the 1949 legislative election.
adolf schärf | birthplace | mikulov <tsp> alfons gorbach | inofficewhilepresident | adolf schärf
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