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 Wöginger • Rendi-Wagner • Kickl • Maurer • Meinl-Reisinger • Contents
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This is a list of presidents of Austria since the establishment of that office in 1919.
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Politics of Austria |
|---|
| |
| Wöginger • Rendi-Wagner • Kickl • Maurer • Meinl-Reisinger • Contents
|
|
|
This is a list of presidents of Austria since the establishment of that office in 1919.
| Portrait | Bundespräsident | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Party | Election | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karl Seitz (1869–1950) | 10 November 1920 (as head of state through being president of the National Council) | 9 December 1920 | 29 days | SDAPÖ | 1919 | ||
| Michael Hainisch [2] (1858–1940) | 9 December 1920 | 10 December 1928 | 8 years, 1 day | Independent | 1920 1924 | ||
| Wilhelm Miklas [4] (1872–1956) | 10 December 1928 | 13 March 1938 | 9 years, 93 days | CS VF | 1928 1934 | ||
Austria was part of Nazi Germany from 12 March 1938 to 13 April 1945. [5]
† denotes people who died in office.
| Portrait | Bundespräsident | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Party | Election | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karl Renner (1870–1950) | 20 December 1945 | 31 December 1950 † | 5 years, 11 days | SPÖ | 1945 | ||
| Leopold Figl (1902–1965) Acting [a] | 31 December 1950 | 21 June 1951 | 172 days | ÖVP | – | ||
| Theodor Körner (1873–1957) | 21 June 1951 | 4 January 1957 † | 5 years, 197 days | SPÖ | 1951 | ||
| Julius Raab (1891–1964) Acting [a] | 4 January 1957 | 22 May 1957 | 138 days | ÖVP | – | ||
| Adolf Schärf (1890–1965) | 22 May 1957 | 28 February 1965 † | 7 years, 282 days | SPÖ | 1957 1963 | ||
| Josef Klaus (1910–2001) Acting [a] | 28 February 1965 | 9 June 1965 | 101 days | ÖVP | – | ||
| Franz Jonas (1899–1974) | 9 June 1965 | 24 April 1974 † | 8 years, 319 days | SPÖ | 1965 1971 | ||
| Bruno Kreisky (1911–1990) Acting [a] | 24 April 1974 | 8 July 1974 | 75 days | SPÖ | – | ||
| Rudolf Kirchschläger (1915–2000) | 8 July 1974 | 8 July 1986 | 12 years | Independent | 1974 1980 | ||
| Kurt Waldheim (1918–2007) | 8 July 1986 | 8 July 1992 | 6 years | ÖVP | 1986 | ||
| Thomas Klestil (1932–2004) | 8 July 1992 | 6 July 2004 † | 11 years, 364 days | ÖVP | 1992 1998 | ||
| Andreas Khol (born 1941) Acting [b] | 6 July 2004 | 8 July 2004 | 2 days | ÖVP | – | ||
| Barbara Prammer (1954–2014) Acting [c] | 6 July 2004 | 8 July 2004 | 2 days | SPÖ | – | ||
| Thomas Prinzhorn (born 1943) Acting [d] | 6 July 2004 | 8 July 2004 | 2 days | FPÖ | – | ||
| Heinz Fischer (born 1938) | 8 July 2004 | 8 July 2016 | 12 years | SPÖ | 2004 2010 | ||
| Doris Bures (born 1962) Acting [b] | 8 July 2016 | 26 January 2017 | 202 days | SPÖ | – | ||
| Karlheinz Kopf (born 1957) Acting [c] | 8 July 2016 | 26 January 2017 | 202 days | ÖVP | – | ||
| Norbert Hofer (born 1971) Acting [d] | 8 July 2016 | 26 January 2017 | 202 days | FPÖ | – | ||
| Alexander Van der Bellen (born 1944) | 26 January 2017 | Incumbent | 7 years, 292 days | Independent Greens | 2016 2022 | ||
Karl Renner was an Austrian politician and jurist of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria. He is often referred to as the "Father of the Republics" because he led the first government of the Republic of German-Austria and the First Austrian Republic in 1919 and 1920, and was once again decisive in establishing the present Second Republic after the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945, becoming its first President after World War II.
Julius Raab was a conservative Austrian politician who served as Federal Chancellor of Austria from 1953 to 1961. Raab steered Allied-occupied Austria to independence, when he negotiated and signed the Austrian State Treaty in 1955. In internal politics Raab stood for a pragmatic "social partnership" and the "Grand coalition" of Austrian Conservatives and Social Democrats.
Bruno Kreisky was an Austrian social democratic politician who served as foreign minister from 1959 to 1966 and as chancellor from 1970 to 1983. Aged 72, he was the oldest chancellor after World War II.
Ignaz Seipel was an Austrian Catholic priest and conservative politician, who served as the Chancellor of the First Austrian Republic twice during the 1920s and leader of the Christian Social Party. He is considered the most prominent statesman of the Austrian right in the interwar period.
Leopold Figl was an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party and the first Federal Chancellor after World War II. He was also the youngest Federal Chancellor of Austria after the war before Sebastian Kurz.
Alfred Sinowatz was an Austrian historian and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), who served as Chancellor of Austria from 1983 to 1986. Prior to becoming Chancellor, he had served as Minister of Education from 1971 to 1983 and Vice-Chancellor from 1981 to 1983.
Otto Bauer was one of the founders and leading thinkers of the left-socialist Austromarxists who sought a middle ground between social democracy and revolutionary socialism. He was a member of the Austrian Parliament from 1907 to 1934, deputy party leader of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) from 1918 to 1934, and Foreign Minister of the Republic of German-Austria in 1918 and 1919. In the latter position he worked unsuccessfully to bring about the unification of Austria and the Weimar Republic. His opposition to the SDAP joining coalition governments after it lost its leading position in Parliament in 1920 and his practice of advising the party to wait for the proper historical circumstances before taking action were criticized by some for facilitating Austria's move from democracy to fascism in the 1930s. When the SDAP was outlawed by Austrofascist Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg in 1934, Bauer went into exile where he continued to work for Austrian socialism until his death.
Josef Klaus was an Austrian politician of the conservative People's Party (ÖVP). He served as State Governor (Landeshauptmann) of Salzburg from 1949 to 1961, as Minister of Finance from 1961 to 1963 and as Chancellor of Austria from 1964 to 1970.
Adolf Schärf was an Austrian politician of the Socialist Party of Austria (SPÖ). He served as Vice-Chancellor from 1945 to 1957 and as President of Austria from 1957 until his death.
Wilhelm Miklas was an Austrian politician who served as President of Austria from 1928 until the Anschluss to Nazi Germany in 1938.
Friedrich Peter was an Austrian politician who served as chairman of the Freedom Party of Austria from 1958 to 1978. He was an active Nazi between 1938 and 1945 and an SS-Obersturmführer of the Waffen-SS.
Bruno Pittermann was an Austrian social democrat politician.
The Kreisky–Peter–Wiesenthal affair was a political and personal feud in the 1970s, fought between the then Austrian chancellor Bruno Kreisky and the Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal, arising from Kreisky's ministerial appointments and the SS past of Freedom Party leader Friedrich Peter, which had been revealed by Wiesenthal.
Bilateral foreign relations exist between Austria and Israel. The fact that Adolf Hitler and other perpetrators of The Holocaust came from Austria gives the relationship between the two countries a special relevance. At the same time, the founder of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, also lived in Austria-Hungary and many Israelis are descendants of Austrian Jews. After the founding of Israel, the Second Austrian Republic recognized the Jewish state of Israel shortly after its founding in 1949, before official diplomatic relations were established in 1956. In the 1970s, Bruno Kreisky sought a role as mediator in the Middle East conflict and called for a Palestinian state, which caused disputes with the Israelis. Relations were later strained by the Waldheim affair in the 1980s and the first FPÖ government participation in 2000. After that, the two countries became close allies and established friendly relations. In 2023, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg announced “we have entered into a strategic, extremely close relationship with Israel that can no longer be undone”. Within the EU, Austria is considered one of the most pro-Israeli countries.
The Federal Chancellery of Austria is the ministry led by the chancellor of Austria. Since the establishment of the First Austrian Republic in 1918, the Chancellery building has served as the venue for the sessions of the Austrian cabinet. It is located on the Ballhausplatz in the centre of Vienna, vis-à-vis the Hofburg Imperial Palace. Like Downing Street, Quai d'Orsay or – formerly – Wilhelmstrasse, the address has become a synecdoche for governmental power.
The Social Democratic Party of Austria is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria from 1945 until 1991, the party is the oldest extant political party in Austria. Along with the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), it is one of the country's two traditional major parties. It is positioned on the centre-left on the political spectrum.
Since its foundation in 1889, the Social Democratic Party has often been one of the main political forces in Austria. At the start of the First World War it was the strongest party in parliament, and on the ending of that war in 1918 the party leader Karl Renner became chancellor of the First Republic. The party lost power in 1920, but retained a strong base of support in the capital Vienna. A period of rising political violence culminated in the banning of the Social Democratic Party under the Austrofascist dictatorship (1934–38).
Austria–Palestine relations are the bilateral relations between Austria and the State of Palestine. Austria does not fully recognize the Palestinian state declared in 1988. Yet, around the same time, Austria raised the position of the head of the Palestinian mission to the level of ambassador.
Events from the year 1973 in Austria.
