However, more words are hardly needed to remember the “pioneer of social policy”. Hermann Reichl has made a name for himself in politics thanks to his great commitment to social issues.
Born in 1937, Hermann Reichl lived through the Second World War as a child, which shaped the boy at a young age. In the post-war period, he was active in the social-democratic movement, without forgetting his education: after graduating from HTL in 1957, he devoted his first years to mechanical engineering and worked as a technician at voestalpine before he ended up in the city of Steyr, where he also held a managerial position. But that was not to be the last stage of his career: from 1973 he took over the position of chairman of the supervisory board of Dachstein-Tourism AG, and from 1976 he was appointed chairman of the supervisory board of Ennskraftwerke AG.
As a social politician, he was a member of the state government of Upper Austria for 17 years. He was particularly involved in social affairs, energy and water law and the transport industry. “Regardless of whether it was for young people or for pensioners, Hermann always stood up for his fellow human beings. You could always rely on him – a virtue that is particularly important in politics,” remembers Otmar Stellnberger, former district secretary of the SPÖ in Steyr, to his friend and companion of many years.
He will be remembered by many Upper Austrians through numerous projects to improve the quality of life of children and young people with disabilities, for which the committed politician campaigned. For his commitment, which knew no bounds, Hermann Reichl was honored in 1998 with the highest award of social democracy, the Victor Adler badge.
“In these hours, our sympathy belongs to the relatives. With Hermann Reichl, our state loses a committed co-architect of modern and social Upper Austria,” says Governor Thomas Stelzer.
Source: Nachrichten
