Matzinger, Franz Freiherr von#

b. St. Poelten (Lower Austria), March 23, 1817, d. Weidling (Lower Austria), Aug. 22, 1896, civil servant. Entered into state service in 1839, from 1850 employed in the Ministry of the Interior. 1874 Director-General, 1883 to 1892 President of the Court Building Committee. M. was one of the most capable civil servants of Franz Joseph's central administration. From ca. 1856 devoted himself especially to the expansion of the city; he was the author of the Emperor's decree of 1857, which launched the City Expansion programme and did not confine himself to its bureaucratic aspects but brought his influence to bear on artistic and cultural issues, so that he may rightly be called one of the fathers of the Ringstrasse, the circular avenue around Vienna's first district.

Literature#