Ein Doderer in der Tschechoslowakei : Richard Gottlieb Wilhelm von Doderers Zeit in Schlesien

Heimito von Doderer's uncle, Richard Gottlieb Wilhelm von Doderer, was a lifelong supporter of his nephew's literary ambitions. The paper concentrates on his life, especially his involvement in the Karlova huť steel works in the Silesian region from 1928 to 1932. After World War I the politically and economically important Silesian region was a great gain for the new Czechoslovak Republic and a great loss for the First Austrian Republic. When the Great Depression came about, the Czechoslovak Communist Party tried to exploit the crisis. Richard Gottlieb Wilhelm von Doderer, as top management, was a central figure of a labour dispute in 1931 and left a lasting impression when many workers lost their jobs. After the coup of the Czechoslovak Communist Party in 1948, the events in the Silesian region contributed to the creation of the legend of the heroic factory worker versus the workers' perfect enemy – Richard Gottlieb Wilhelm von Doderer.