Otto Schaedler

Otto Schaedler (9 June 1898–25 December 1965) was a political figure from Liechtenstein who served in the Landtag of Liechtenstein and was one of the founders of the Patriotic Union party.

Otto Schaedler
Personal details
Born9 June 1898
Balzers, Liechtenstein
Died25 December 1965 (aged 67)
Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Political partyPatriotic Union
Other political
affiliations		Liechtenstein Homeland Service

Early life

Schaedler was born on 9 June 1898 in Balzers. Between 1910 and 1917 he studied in Maria-Hilf college. Between 1918 and 1923 he studied medicine in Munich and Innsbruck. He opened a medical practice in Eschen and moved to Vaduz in 1930.[1]

Career
Schaedler giving a speech in Schaan, 1939.

Schaedler was a co-founder of the Liechtenstein Homeland Service in 1933.[2] This party and the Christian-Social People's Party merged to form the Patriotic Union in 1936[3] and Schaedler was placed as the party's president, a position in which he held until June 1965.[4] From 1936 to 1945 and again from 1962 to 1965 Schaedler served in the Landtag of Liechtenstein.[1]

Schaedler and Patriotic Union participated in the coalition government formed in the wake of World War II to prevent government deadlock and help retain Liechtenstein's neutrality overseen by Franz Joseph II[4][5] along with Prime Minister of Liechtenstein Josef Hoop and the Progressive Citizens' Party.

Despite being a member of the coalition, Schaedler retained contacts within Nazi Germany throughout the 1930s, particularly with the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle and the Volksbund für das Deutschtum im Ausland. Josef Hoop rejected the fascist tendencies of the Liechtenstein Homeland Service.[6] He was offered to be the leader of the German National Movement in Liechtenstein (VDBL) but refused and distanced himself from the party.[1] His party faced suspicion after the VDBL attempted a coup in 1939.[4] Schaedler along with Franz Joseph II and Josef Hoop paid an official visit to Berlin where they met Adolf Hitler and Joachim von Ribbentrop in March 1939.[1][7]

Later life and death

Schaedler died in Vaduz on 25 December 1965, at the age of 67 years old.[1]

References
  1. Schremser, Jurgen (14 May 2023). "Schaedler (Schaedler), Otto". Historisches Lexikon (in German). Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  2. "The presidents of the VU". Klar für Liechtenstein. 14 May 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  3. "Parties in Liechtenstein 1921-1943". Prince and People: Liechtenstein Civics (in German). 2007. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  4. Marxer, Wilfried (31 December 2011). "Patriotic Union (VU)". Historisches Lexikon (in German). Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  5. Tikkanen, Amy (21 April 2023). "Francis Joseph II, prince of Liechtenstein". Britannica. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  6. Geiger, Peter (31 December 2011). "Hoop,_Josef_(1895–1959)". Historisches Lexikon (in German). Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  7. "Prince Franz Josef II visits Adolf Hitler in Berlin". Liechtenstein-Institut (in German). 27 March 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
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