Although only 1.63 meters tall, the architect, who was born in Horn and moved to Linz with his parents via Steyr, was one of the most conspicuous personalities in the state capital. Hardly any architect was as busy and as well connected as “Wutz”, as friends called him. “He was a visionary, but also someone who supported those around him and treated those who worked with him with great respect,” says his son Fabian, who, like his brother Philipp, has embarked on a career as an entrepreneur and just like him how his second wife Doris mourns him.
Kaufmann was already winning architectural competitions during his studies in Munich. Above all, however, he was successful because he combined his expertise with economic thinking and an extensive network. He found his ideological home with the Cartell and the middle school cartel association (CV and MKV), but in exciting discussions with him his openness to other approaches was also evident. He also maintained good contacts with representatives of the SP-led state capital.
Kaufmann met the then young manager of Raiffeisen, Ludwig Scharinger, early on, who later became a neighbor in a house he designed in St. Magdalena, as did VP politician Helmut Kukacka. He advanced to the house planner of Raiffeisen Oberösterreich, the Europaplatz bears his signature, as does the state’s service center at the train station. The last major structure was the Power Tower of Energie AG Oberösterreich. In Croatia, the country’s long-serving honorary consul developed shopping centers.
The passionate football fan Kaufmann developed the stadiums in Ried and Pasching. As a LASK fan, he also had a solution ready for the Linz stadium on the Gugl – namely to lower the pitch and thus bring the spectators up to the edge of the pitch. Ultimately, however, the project was not implemented.
“Wolfgang lived full throttle – and experienced a lot with it,” says a good friend about him. That was also meant literally. Kaufmann had a soft spot for fast cars and cigars. He knew how to combine the latter in such a way that there was also a humidor in the car. Before he became the man in the hat, he also attracted attention with unusual colors for his clothes. “When I took him a hat from my trip to Australia in 1995, he put it on and practically never took it off,” says son Fabian.
Source: Nachrichten
