Julius Meinl II. (1869-1944), Austrian businessman.
© Article written by Gabriel Godeffroy for the Central Europe Foundation
Photo: “Julius Meinl”, 1921, Österreichisches Nationalbibliothek.
After his studies at the Vienna Business School and a brief stay in London, Julius Meinl started to work for his father’s food company. In 1913, following his father’s retirement, Meinl took over the company, which continued to expand under his leadership, despite the many economic and political difficulties of his time.
During the First World War, Meinl founded the Austrian Political Society with the Austrian Industrialist Max Friedmann. The Austrian Political Society gathered businessmen, professors and politicians to discuss political and economic issues. With the two Austrian jurists and politicians Heinrich Lammasch and Josef Redlich, he participated in peace talks with representants of the United States of America in 1917-1918.
After the First World War, Julius Meinl’s company suffered from the consequences of the disintegration of the economic area of Austria-Hungary. That is why, Meinl advocated the reestablishment of free trade within the Successor states. In 1924, Meinl founded the Austrian Free Trade League to fight against the new increased customs tariff planned by the Austrian government. In the capacity, Meinl invited other free trade advocates, such as Václav Schuster, Elemér Hantos and Rudolf Hotowetz, to give conferences. Together, they initiated the first Central European Economic Congress in Vienna in September 1925, with the intention of working towards an economic rapprochement between the Successor states of Austria-Hungary.
-"Julius II“ (House of Julius Meinl)
-Ines Rebhan-Glück, “Einzelinitiativen für den Frieden – das Beispiel Julius Meinl und Heinrich Lammasch“ (Die Welt der Habsburger)
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