Emil Batliner (19 April 1869 – 11 June 1947) was an entrepreneur and political figure from Liechtenstein who served in the Landtag of Liechtenstein.

Emil Batliner
Batliner in 1920
Personal details
Born19 April 1869
Mauren, Liechtenstein
Died11 June 1947 (aged 78)
Mauren, Liechtenstein
Political partyProgressive Citizens' Party
Spouse
Emilie Walser
(m. 1893)
Children12
Parent(s)Bartholomäus Batliner
Maria Ursula Meier

Early life edit

Batliner was born on 19 April 1869 in Mauren as the son of Bartholomäus Batliner and his mother Maria Ursula Meier as one of ten children.[1] His father was a successful entrepreneur who earned his money by selling peat logs and running his own schnapps distillery.[2] He worked as a farmer.[1]

Due to the poor economic situation in Liechtenstein in the late 19th century Batliner moved to Dubuque, Iowa in 1890, but returned in 1893. He took over his father's distillery upon his death in 1912.[1]

Career edit

From 1909 to 1918 and again from 1924 to 1930 he was a community leader in Mauren. During this time, he built an orphanage in 1912 and a teacher's house in 1913 within the municipality. He was a member of the state emergency commission, formed at the beginning of World War I.[1]

 
Batliner (top-right) as part of the Liechtenstein delegation for custom union negotiations with Switzerland, 1920.

From 1910 to 1918 Batliner was a member of the Landtag of Liechtenstein.[3] After Leopold Freiherr von Imhof was unconstitutionally removed as Governor of Liechtenstein in November 1918 by opposition members Wilhelm Beck, Martin Ritter and Fritz Walser they set up a provisional executive committee in his place.[4] Batliner refused to be a member of the committee and promptly resigned from the Landtag.[1]

In 1918 Batliner was a founding member of the Progressive Citizens' Party and was a deputy district administrator from 1919 to 1921. He was a member of the Liechtenstein delegation of negotiations with Switzerland for forming closer economic ties, which cultivated in a customs union being formed between the two countries in 1924.[5][6]

From 1926 to 1939 he was once again was a member of the Landtag of Liechtenstein.[3] He was Vice President of the Landtag four times – from 1926 to 1928, 1932 to 1933, 1934 to 1935 and finally from 1937 to 1938. He was a member of the state aid commission after the Rhine collapse in 1927.[1] Since the rise of Nazi Germany in 1933 and the introduction of anti-Jewish laws in the country Liechtenstein experienced a large rise of Jewish emigrants to the country in which Batliner supported the government led by Josef Hoop in the naturalization of the refugees under a new citizenship law.[1][7]

Personal life edit

Batliner married Emilie Walser (26 October 1872 – 18 January 1955) on 27 September 1893 and they had twelve children together, four of whom emigrated to the United States and Brazil.[1]

Batliner died on 11 June 1947, aged 78 years old.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Büchel, Donat (31 December 2011). "Batliner, Emil". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  2. ^ Büchel, Donat (31 December 2011). "Batliner, Bartholomäus". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  3. ^ a b Vogt, Paul (1987). 125 Jahre Landtag. Vaduz: Landtag of the Principality of Liechtenstein.
  4. ^ Quaderer, Rupert (31 December 2011). "Novemberputsch 1918". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  5. ^ Marxer, Roland (31 December 2011). "Zollanschlussvertrag". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Switzerland and Liechtenstein: December 2000". World Trade Organization. 2000-12-06. Retrieved 2012-09-16.
  7. ^ "Regierungschef Josef Hoop orientiert den Landtag über einen Entwurf für ein Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz". Staatsarchiv des Fürstentum Liechtenstein (in German). 29 May 1933. Retrieved 28 July 2023.