Party of Labour of Austria honours Comrade Gerhard Bruny

On the passing of comrade Gerhard Bruny (1954–2025)

Image via the PdA

On the passing of comrade Gerhard Bruny (1954–2025)

Last Wednesday, our long-time comrade and PdA co-founder Gerhard Bruny passed away after a short serious illness – an obituary.

Comrade Gerhard Bruny was born on 19 December 1954 in Vienna. After completing his compulsory schooling, he studied printing technology at the Graphic Arts Teaching and Research Institute. This, however, was to become the professional basis for obtaining a position as a calculator at the KPÖ's own Globus publishing house.

Working in a communist publishing house was also in line with his political orientation. At a young age, he joined the Communist Youth of Austria (KJÖ), which was newly founded in 1970, and was involved in its positive development in Vienna. Consequently, Gerhard Bruny also became a member of the Communist Party (KPÖ) and the Trade Union Left Bloc (GLB). At Globus-Publishing, he was elected by his colleagues to the works council and finally to the Chair of the Employees' Works Council.

After the closure of Globus-Publishing in the wake of the counter-revolution in the USSR and Eastern Europe and the accompanying difficulties in the KPÖ, Gerhard Bruny initially became managing director of the Ring of Lower Austrian Weekly Newspapers. Later, he worked in the advertising departments of the daily newspapers Der Standard and OberösterreichischeNachrichten.

In the wake of the ideological decline and social democratisation of the KPÖ, Gerhard Bruny became increasingly politically active again at the beginning of the new millennium. He was one of the leading figures in the opposition initiative within the party to renew the KPÖ, which almost achieved a Marxist-Leninist turnaround at the 2003 party congress – only the unexpected betrayal of the KPÖ leadership in Styria saved the revisionist, liquidationist national party leadership from being completely voted out.

The leadership struck back even harder: using anti-democratic, legal and administrative means, expulsions and the dissolution of party structures, it destroyed the Marxist-Leninist opposition, which then found itself outside the KPÖ.

In January 2005, Gerhard Bruny, along with Otto Bruckner and others, was one of the founding members of the Communist Initiative (KI), whose executive committee he belonged to until 2013, including several years as organisational secretary. The KI brought together the Marxist-Leninist forces in Austria with the aim of creating a new party on this basis.

The immediate impetus for the founding of the Party of Labour of Austria (PdA) in October 2013 came once again from Gerhard Bruny and Tibor Zenker. The PdA not only replaced the KI, but also ensured that a Marxist-Leninist party of the working class finally again existed and continues to exist in Austria.

Although Gerhard Bruny was no longer part of the central leadership of the new party, he performed other important functions. He was repeatedly a delegate of the PdA at international and bilateral meetings, and his efforts contributed to the PdA being accepted into the Solidnet group (IMCWP). Gerhard Bruny remained involved in the activities of his basic organisation in Vienna until the end. Until his death, he was also acting chairman of the party arbitration tribunal.

Without a doubt, Gerhard Bruny played a decisive role in ensuring that Austria once again has an independent, internationally anchored Marxist-Leninist movement with a party and youth organisation. For decades, he helped shape the communist movement in Austria, through its ups and downs, successes and setbacks. We will miss him as a driving force and agitator, as an analyst and activist – as an advisor and critic.

Gerhard Bruny passed away in Vienna on 15 October 2025 after a short serious illness. He is survived by a son and a daughter, the latter of whom is a member of the PdA.

The Party of Labour of Austria extends its sincere condolences to all his loved ones. We will honour the memory of Gerhard Bruny and are grateful and proud that he was our comrade.