Edlinger was finance minister from 1997 until the turning point in 2000. The quote comes from the weeks of the ultimately failed red-black coalition negotiations.
Before joining the federal government, Edlinger, born on February 20, 1940, had a long career in Viennese city politics. She began as SP District Secretary in Währing in 1964, led him to the Vienna City Council from 1969 and finally to the Vienna City Government, where he was first City Councilor for Housing and Urban Renewal from 1986 to 1994 and then until 1997 for Economics and Finance.
A heart for red and rapid
The second great passion of the staunch Social Democrat was football, and especially SK Rapid. Edlinger was President of the Green-Whites for twelve years, from 2001 to 2013 – in his era, Rapid was able to celebrate an Austrian championship title for the last time in 2008.
Edlinger was also President of the Documentation Archive of the Austrian Resistance (DÖW) and until 2019 President of the Vienna Pensioners’ Association of the SPÖ. Edlinger’s appreciation yesterday was not only from his SPÖ, but also from the political competition. Probably also because, despite all the enthusiasm for debate, he never forgot to abuse. “It was a pleasure to discuss with him,” said Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen.
