A Dictator with a Human Face?
Résumé
The autocratic regime initiated by the Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in 1933 relied heavily on portraiture to pursue his cult of personality. Abroad, his effigy was much employed for disparaging purposes: Dollfuss became a favorite target of political cartoonists, who lampooned his short stature and his pretensions as a right-wing leader of international standing. The Chancellor’s postwar depictions on various types of artefacts (schoolbooks, cartoons, etc.) provide a vivid illustration of the evolution of the memory discourse on his regime. There have been recurring debates in Austria on whether busts and paintings of Dollfuss should be removed from public space. The controversy over the oil portrait which hung in the office of the parliamentary group of the conservative Österreichische Volkspartei until 2017 is a case in point. Relying on a wide range of visual documents, this essay aims to show how Dollfuss’ portraits have contributed, during his term of office and subsequently, to create and sustain the myth of a humble and harmless dictator.
