The “profil” journalists Gernot Bauer and Robert Treichler have taken on the task of tracing the life of the once inconspicuous working-class boy and publishing it in book form. “Kickl and the Destruction of Europe” is a biography, psychogram, blue party chronology and warning at the same time.
You can’t have a childhood without it, especially with Kickl, who hardly reveals anything in his private life. And after meticulous research, Bauer and Treichler also confirm that Kickl was born on October 19, 1968 in Villach and grew up in modest circumstances in the Carinthian community of Radenthein. The authors also state: “The family is burdened by the Nazis.” The grandfather, an unskilled worker, had joined the NSDAP.
Kiss with Glawischnig
Kickl also has enough intellectual talent from his school days. And a fascination with military matters. The authors confirm snippets that have already been circulated in the media, such as Kickl’s dream of joining the Foreign Legion after an encounter, with contemporary witness reports, as well as the kiss while spinning the bottle with school colleague Eva Glawischnig, who later became leader of the Green Party. The current FPÖ leader himself was not available for discussions.
Chance encounter
According to the book, the fact that the “talented incompetent” Kickl, who neither completed a military career nor completed a degree, ended up in the FPÖ was thanks to a chance encounter: the then deputy managing director of the Freedom Academy is said to have scribbled his contact details on a beer mat. The rest is history: As is well known, the “socially uptight” Kickl ended up working for Jörg Haider, among other things, as a speechwriter. Alienation followed. Likewise, a long party career, for example as general secretary.
But no expose book without exposure: the change in party leadership is said to have been accompanied by “a wild, internal party intrigue.” However, large sections of the book deal with Kickl’s views on Corona, migration, Europe and everything else that is currently fueling the political discussion, which are well documented in the media. And his psyche. For example, you learn: “Kickl has big eyes and hardly blinks, which sometimes makes him seem fanatical.” And yet every now and then it’s human, because: “He likes to drink beer.”
