Viennese underworld great

The “Östreicher-Toni” died at the age of 82

Österreicher was still in the 2020 film "Records from the Underworld".(Bild: Götz Schrage)

The Viennese underworld has once again lost a true great. Anton Österreicher, nicknamed "Österreicher-Toni" and the subject of numerous legends of gunfights and spit bullets, died of kidney failure in a Viennese hospital at the age of 82. 

He was getting old. And this despite a lifestyle that had long since brought many of his comrades-in-arms, such as his partner, the "Red Heinzi", as well as rivals in the Viennese underworld and red light scene, to their graves. The "Austrian Toni" became known to the general public through a wild gunfight with rival gangs on New Year's Eve 1967 in front of the Meidling "Cafe Domingo", in which he was shot in the head but is said to have spat out a bullet in front of the police. 

Strizzis among themselves: Peter Konstantin Laskaris (right), Anton Österreicher (center).(Bild: ORF/Gasoline/Götz Schrage)

"Laufhaus king" Laskaris sends his condolences
The wild New Year's Eve shooting earned him ten years in prison. Even after that, things never calmed down for the bustling red-light boss. It was not until 2020 that Österreicher appeared in the documentary "Records from the Underworld", which was also shown in cinemas. Now 82 years old, he succumbed to kidney disease in a Viennese hospital. "He was the thrust and might of the Viennese underworld, simply a bon vivant," condoles "Laufhauskönig" Peter Laskaris.