Hans Dichand

[4] If Jarosch states in her book that "Austria's most powerful man is a mystery," this is true to the extent that little or no independently verified information has been published on the youth of Hans Dichand, or on the early stages of his career.

According to the aforementioned sources Dichand's father Johann had been a leather cutter and later a master craftsman who supplied semi-finished leatherware for the Humanic shoe factory in Graz.

His mother Leopoldine worked as a society entertainer in the household of Count Carl Attems, and it appears that young Hans Dichand has lived there for some time.

When World War II began 18-year-old Hans Dichand volunteered for the Kriegsmarine and was initially stationed at Naples, for service in an anti-aircraft detachment tasked with protecting the naval supply routes for the North African theatre.

Dichand fractured a leg when he jumped ship, narrowly avoided being sucked down with the sinking hull, was rescued by an Italian destroyer, and brought to a navy hospital near Tripoli.

In 1946, at age 25, Dichand became editor-in-chief of the Judenburg newspaper Murtaler Zeitung which at that time was jointly owned by the conservative, socialist, and communist parties of Austria.

These journalists formed the initial core team for a new newspaper, conceived by Dichand and his partner Friedrich Dragon, with the intent of reviving the time-honored name Kronen-Zeitung.

Franz Olah, then president of the powerful Austrian Trade Union Federation, provided a contact with the businessman Kurt Falk and also facilitated substantial funding for the project, from sources that ultimately remained untraced.

The newspaper which Dichand created and shaped allowed him to attain a position of public opinion-moving power which most politicians feel they could oppose only at the peril of their careers.

In June 2009 a commentary in the Wiener Zeitung summarized: "In this country he exercises power comparable only to that of the Roman imperators; merely by lifting or lowering his thumb he can point a two-digit percentage of the electorate this way or that.

"[7] Helmut Kukacka, a former Secretary of State and media contact of the conservative Austrian People's Party, was cited by the major German newspaper Die Zeit as saying with (careful but unusually direct) reference to Dichand, "One has his fears.

"[10] The support which the Kronen Zeitung has always given to controversial politicians such as Kurt Waldheim, Jörg Haider and Barbara Rosenkranz, as well as to various populist calls for increased surveillance and strict punishment, has made Hans Dichand a habitual and unfailing target of criticism by libertarians, leftists, and privacy advocates.

[11] The Kronen Zeitung had supported the Austrian government's successful referendum campaign for EU accession in 1994, but after that time Dichand (and his newspaper) turned highly critical of the European Union and its expansion, frequently citing the most bizarre myths and making unverifiable allegations.