Franz Künstler

Infobox Military Person
name= Franz Künstler
born= birth date|1900|7|24
died= death date|2008|5|27


caption=
nickname=
placeofbirth= Sóstó, Austria-Hungary
placeofdeath=
allegiance= flagicon|Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary
flagicon|Hungary|1940 Hungary
branch=
serviceyears= February 1918 – 1942
rank=
unit= Mounted Artillery Regiment
commands=
battles= World War I
World War II
awards=
relations=
laterwork= Museum guide

Franz Künstler (July 24, 1900 – May 27, 2008) was, at age 107, the last known surviving veteran of the First World War who fought for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Following the death of 110-year-old Ottoman veteran Yakup Satar on April 2, 2008, he was also the last Central Powers veteran of any nationality. He was born in Sóstó, then Kingdom of Hungary, now Romania. A German Hungarian, he joined the Austro-Hungarian army in February 1918 for training a field artillery regiment ("HFKR 5. k.u. Feldkanonen-Regiment/ - 5. honvéd tábori ágyúsezred") in Szeged, and served at the Italian front at Piave until November 1918. [ [http://dersdesders.free.fr/allemagne.html 13 millions de soldats allemands furent engagés dans la guerre de 14-18. 1,6 millions y trouvèrent la mort, 4 millions furent blessés.] fr icon] After the war, he fought against the communists, and was a soldier until 1921. In the Second World War, Künstler served six months in 1942 as a mobile courier in Ukraine.

Künstler lived in Niederstetten, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and worked as a guide in a museum. After the Second World War, he was expelled from Hungary like many other ethnic Germans. [ [http://www.niederstetten.de/aktuell/archiv/archiv01.html Stadt Niederstetten aktuell] de icon] [ [http://www.fnweb.de/archiv/2006/m09/11/me/region/20060911_f0b1154001_24406.html Ein Ausflug in die Vielfalt der Tierwelt] de icon]

Asked about his nationality, Franz Künstler said that he felt connected to the German nation and saw himself as a German. He was a Hungarian citizen until 1946, at which time he obtained German citizenship. In an interview given to an Austrian magazine in 2008 at the age of 107, he was asked about "the most important thing in life". He answered: "I was a handsome man and had many women. But more important is to have a good wife, with whom one can share one's life." [ [http://www.networld.at/index.html?/articles/0802/10/194078.shtml Erinnerungen an ein langes Leben: Der letzte noch lebende k.u.k. Soldat im Porträt] de icon]

After the death of fellow 107-year-old Georg Thalhofer in February 2008, Künstler became the oldest living man in Germany. [ [http://www.cicero.de/97.php?ress_id=4&item=2461 Der letzte Soldat des Kaisers] de icon] Künstler died of complications from intestinal surgery in Bad Mergentheim after having fallen while visiting his native Hungary.

ee also

* Last surviving World War I veteran by country
* Veterans of the First World War who died in 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=27132230 His memorial at Find-a-Grave]