Otto Ender - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Otto Ender, the first son of Herman and Victoria Ender, was born in Altach. The families of both parents were among the political elite of the village. The maternal great-grandfather, John Walser, was the first superintendent of the municipality created in 1801. The paternal grandfather, Johann Jakob final, had held the same position for 1835–1844 and 1850-1857. From 1861 to 1866 Johann Jacob was a member of the Conservative party in the Parliament of Vorarlberg.

Otto studied at the Jesuit College in Feldkirch Stella Matutina from 1888 to 1896. After matriculation in 1896 he studied in Innsbruck, Vienna, Prague and Fribourg. In 1901 he received his doctorate from the University of Innsbruck. In 1901-02, he completed a legal internship year at the district court Feldkirch. From 1902 to 1908 he was articled clerk in Feldkirch and Vienna. In 1908 he opened his own law firm in Bregenz. The same year he married Maria Rusch. Thery had four sons and three daughters.

In the following years Ender became more engaged in the public. He gave lectures on the introduction of the land register. In 1914 he was appointed executive director of the State Mortgage Bank. After the war began in the summer of 1914, he became head of the state purchasing agency and the Bregenzer branch of the War Grain transportation agency and member of the National Committee of Social Welfare. From 1915 to 1918, he was a member of the Nutrition Council in Vienna. In 1917/18, he was president of the building committee for the establishment of the sanatorium Gaisbühel. His professional qualifications were recognized in the War years by Media and lawyers. This professional experience was the foundation on which he could build up in the inter-wars period, his successful political career.