Biography

When did Bruno Kreisky say, “Ein paar Milliarden Schulden mehr bereiten mir weniger schlaflose Nächte als ein paar hundert Arbeitslose”? (“A few billion of Schillings more debt causes me less sleeplessness than a few hundred more unemployed”)

Over the course of the years, Bruno Kreisky repeated several variations of this quote. Legendary, however, was the utterance of the quote at a speech on 18 March 1979 during the national election campaign.

On which occasion did Bruno Kreisky describe Austria as an “Island of the blessed” (“Insel der Seligen”)?

This quote does not come from Bruno Kreisky, but rather from Pope Paul VI, who described Austria as an “island of the blessed” during his visit in 1967.

From which year comes Kreisky’s quote “Lernen S’ a bisserl Geschichte, Herr Redakteur!” (“Learn a little history, Mr. Editor!”)?

With the order, “Learn a little history, Mr. Editor!” Bruno Kreisky reprimanded ORF journalist Ulrich Brunner on-camera on 24 February 1981. The press conference after the weekly Council of Ministers’ meeting on the theme AKH fact-finding committee was broadcast that same evening on the news program “Zeit im Bild.”

When were free schoolbooks introduced?

In order to give the children of families from rural areas or with several children an equal opportunity for education, the Parliament introduced on 1 September 1971 free transportation for students and, one year later, free textbooks. Free access to the university was established with the repeal of the university tax in February of 1972.

When was the marriage subsidy introduced?

During the 1971 election campaign, Bruno Kreisky announced that the previous tax deduction should be abolished and replaced with a direct marriage subsidy in the amount of 15,000 Schillings. Immediately the number of marriages sank significantly. When the election promise came into force on 12 February 1972, engaged couples stormed the marriage license bureau. If one of the bridal pair was divorced (or a foreigner), the couple got only half of the “marriage subsidy”. In August 1987, SPOe Finance Minister Ferdinand Lacina declared that due to economizing, the marriage subsidy would be done away with in the upcoming year. With this statement he unleashed a push towards marriage in 1987 that broke the post-war record for marriages.