Alois Ritter

Alois Ritter (9 June 1897 – 31 January 1966) was a lawyer and politician from Liechtenstein who served as the President of the Landtag of Liechtenstein in 1954 and again in 1956. He also served in the Landtag of Liechtenstein from 1945 to 1958.

Early life Ritter was born on 9 June 1897 in Ruggell to the father of embroiderer and farmer Wilhelm Ritter and his mother Maria Biedermann as one of two children. He attended high school in Feldkirch and then studied law in Vienna, where he received a diploma in 1925.

Career

Ritter worked as a lawyer in Vaduz and in 1926 joined with fellow lawyer Wilhelm Beck in his law firm which became Ritter & Beck Rechtsanwälte. He entered politics as the editor of the Liechtensteiner Volkswirt between 1927 and 1928. He was nominated to be Deputy Prime Minister of Liechtenstein under Gustav Schädler but was defeated in the 1928 Liechtenstein general election by Ludwig Marxer and Josef Hoop.

Ritter became Vice President of the Liechtenstein Homeland Service and then the Vice President of the Patriotic Union under President Otto Schaedler after the Liechtenstein Homeland Service merged with the Christian-Social People's Party to form the party in 1936. He held this position until 1940. Ritter was a moderate figure within the Patriotic Union and often acted on realpolitik model. He also served as a judge in the Staatsgerichtshof from 1959 to 1966.

Personal life and family Ritter married Isabella Gassner on 29 November 1928 (22 November 1904 – 31 December 1996) and they had 3 children. Alois Ritter found his final resting place at the cemetery of Vaduz. His wife, their son Karlheinz and his wife Erika, née Kranz (1926-2014), were buried in the same grave.