Klagenfurt mourns: Kurt Peterle, cult figure of politics and sports, died!

Klagenfurt mourns: Kurt Peterle, cult figure of politics and sports, died!

Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Österreich - On April 9, 2025, Kurt Peterle, the former Vice Mayor of Klagenfurt and an influential personality of Carinthian politics, died. The spö Carärnten is deeply affected and regrets the loss of a committed politician who has campaigned for the interests of the citizens and the rowing has.

Peterle was born around 1946 and was a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ). From 1981 to 1991 he was Mayor Leopold Guggenberger Vice Mayor of Klagenfurt. During this time he was active as a civil engineering officer, propagated the Klagenfurt campaign and was committed to the attractiveness of the city center by reducing car traffic. However, these ideas met with resistance from different sides, including the economy and within his own party. In the 1991 mayor election, he handed over his functions to Michael Ausserwinkler and nevertheless remained active in terms of socio. His commitment to rowing was particularly formative, where he played a key role for decades and gave new impulses to sports in Carinthia.

The legacy of a sports promoter

Kurt Peterle was not only a politician, but also a passionate rudder sports official. He served as President of the Carinthian State Rudder Association and the Klagenfurt rowing club Nautilus. From 1972 to 2012 he organized the international rudder regatta on Lake Wörthersee, which attracted athletes from all over the world. wikipedia emphasizes that he has delighted generations in sport, which the SPÖ state party chairman and governor Peter Kaiser confirmed in his funeral speech. He praised Peterle as a formative personality who significantly influenced life in the city with backbone, heart and a special sense of people.

In his time as chairman of the Klagenfurt beautification association, Peterle also campaigned for the maintenance of the cityscape and the reintroduction of the Klagenfurt tram, which was abandoned in 1963. These efforts had long -lasting effects on the city, even if not all projects could be implemented successfully. The Golden Medal of the City of Klagenfurt was awarded for his merits in 2001.

a big loss

Kaiser expressed his deepest sympathy on behalf of the SPÖ Carinthia of the family of Kurt Peterle and emphasized that his death left a large gap in politics and in the heart of people. As the State Archive Carinthia documents together with a new publication on the MPs, Peterle was a constant component Political life in Klagenfurt, whose work will also improve in future political analyzes and biographies.