The chancellor of Austria is the head of government of Austria, appointed by the president and viewed as the country's de facto chief executive. The chancellor chairs and leads the Cabinet, which also includes the vice-chancellor and the ministers.

Following World War I, the office was established by the Provisional National Assembly on 30 October 1918 and named state chancellor of the Republic of German-Austria, and its first holder, Karl Renner, was appointed by the State Council. After the Allied powers forbade German-Austria to merge with the Weimar Republic, the country formed the federal First Austrian Republic and the office was renamed from state chancellor to federal chancellor. The first federal chancellor was Michael Mayr. Ten chancellors served under the First Republic until Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss created the authoritarian and dictatorial Federal State of Austria. Following Dollfuss's assassination by Austrian National Socialists, Kurt Schuschnigg succeeded him as chancellor and upheld the dictatorship. Schuschnigg was replaced by Arthur Seyss-Inquart, a Nazi caretaker who held the office for two days, until Austria was annexed into Nazi Germany.

Austria under National Socialism lost its original republican system of government and was administered by Reichsstatthalter Arthur Seyss-Inquart (1938–1939), Reichskommissar Josef Bürckel (1939–1940), and Reichsstatthalter Baldur von Schirach (1940–1945). In 1940, the country was renamed Ostmark, completely lost its autonomy, and became a sub-national division of Nazi Germany. After the liberation of Vienna and the capitulation of Nazi Germany in 1945, Austria restored its republican form of government. However, Austria remained under allied occupation until 1955 and thus the country's sovereignty was ultimately still held by the Allied Control Council.

Since the institution of the republic, the People's Party and the Social Democratic Party have largely dominated Austrian politics; the People's Party (and its predecessor, the Christian Social Party) have led nineteen cabinets and served as a junior partner in eight, while the Social Democratic Party (formerly the Social Democratic Workers' Party) has led eleven and served as a junior partner in five. There have been eight parties that never held the chancellorship but participated in coalition cabinets: the Greater German People's Party in five, the Freedom Party and the Landbund in four, the Fatherland Front in two, and the Greens, the Alliance for the Future, the Communist Party and the NEOS in one.

Following a legislative election or in the case of a vacancy, the president conventionally picks the leader of the largest party in Parliament to serve as chancellor, and appoints the remaining members of the Cabinet based on the chancellor's recommendation. If a sitting chancellor dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to exercise the powers and duties of the office, the vice-chancellor becomes acting chancellor. If the vice-chancellor is unavailable, the other members of the Cabinet take over in order of seniority.

Bruno Kreisky was the longest-serving chancellor, with more than thirteen years in office, while Arthur Seyss-Inquart was the shortest-serving chancellor, with two days in office, and Walter Breisky was the shortest-serving acting chancellor, with only one day in office.

Chancellors

Portrait Name Term of office Party Elected Cabinet Took office Left office Time in office 1 Karl Renner 30 October 1918 7 July 1920 SDAPÖ 1919 Renner I–II–III• SDAPÖ • CS • GDVP 2 Michael Mayr 7 July 1920 21 June 1921 CS 1920 Mayr I–II• CS • SDAPÖ 3 Johannes Schober 21 June 1921 26 January 1922 IND – Schober I• CS • GDVP • Technocrats – Walter Breisky 26 January 1922 27 January 1922 CS – Breisky• CS • GDVP (3) Johannes Schober 27 January 1922 31 May 1922 IND – Schober II• CS • GDVP • Technocrats 4 Ignaz Seipel 31 May 1922 20 November 1924 CS 1923 Seipel I–II–III• CS • GDVP • Technocrats 5 Rudolf Ramek 20 November 1924 20 October 1926 CS – Ramek I–II• CS • GDVP (4) Ignaz Seipel 20 October 1926 4 May 1929 CS 1927 Seipel IV–V• CS • GDVP • LBd 6 Ernst Streeruwitz 4 May 1929 26 September 1929 CS – Streeruwitz• CS • LBd (3) Johannes Schober 26 September 1929 30 September 1930 IND – Schober III• CS 7 Carl Vaugoin 30 September 1930 4 December 1930 CS – Vaugoin• CS 8 Otto Ender 4 December 1930 20 June 1931 CS 1930 Ender• CS 9 Karl Buresch 20 June 1931 20 May 1932 CS – Buresch I–II• CS • LBd 10 Engelbert Dollfuss 20 May 1932 25 July 1934 † CS – Dollfuss I• CS • LBd • HeimwehrDollfuss II• VF VF – PrinceErnst Rüdiger Starhemberg 25 July 1934 29 July 1934 VF – Dollfuss II• VF 11 Kurt Schuschnigg 29 July 1934 11 March 1938 VF – Schuschnigg I–II–III–IV–V• VF 12 Arthur Seyss-Inquart 11 March 1938 13 March 1938 NSDAP – Seyss-Inquart• NSDAP Austria was part of Nazi Germany from 13 March 1938 to 27 April 1945 (1) Karl Renner 27 April 1945 20 December 1945 SPÖ – Renner IV• SPÖ • ÖVP • KPÖ 13 Leopold Figl 20 December 1945 2 April 1953 ÖVP 1945 Figl I–II–III• ÖVP • SPÖ 1949 14 Julius Raab 2 April 1953 11 April 1961 ÖVP 1953 Raab I–II–III–IV• ÖVP • SPÖ 1956 1959 15 Alfons Gorbach 11 April 1961 2 April 1964 ÖVP 1962 Gorbach I–II• ÖVP • SPÖ 16 Josef Klaus 2 April 1964 21 April 1970 ÖVP – Klaus I• ÖVP • SPÖ 1966 Klaus II• ÖVP 17 Bruno Kreisky 21 April 1970 24 May 1983 SPÖ 1970 Kreisky I–II–III–IV• SPÖ 1971 1975 1979 18 Fred Sinowatz 24 May 1983 16 June 1986 SPÖ 1983 Sinowatz• SPÖ • FPÖ 19 Franz Vranitzky 16 June 1986 28 January 1997 SPÖ 1986 Vranitzky I–II• SPÖ • FPÖ 1990 Vranitzky III–IV–V• SPÖ • ÖVP 1994 1995 20 Viktor Klima 28 January 1997 4 February 2000 SPÖ – Klima• SPÖ • ÖVP 21 Wolfgang Schüssel 4 February 2000 11 January 2007 ÖVP 1999 Schüssel I• ÖVP • FPÖSchüssel II• ÖVP • BZÖ 2002 22 Alfred Gusenbauer 11 January 2007 2 December 2008 SPÖ 2006 Gusenbauer• SPÖ • ÖVP 23 Werner Faymann 2 December 2008 9 May 2016 SPÖ 2008 Faymann I–II• SPÖ • ÖVP 2013 – Reinhold Mitterlehner 9 May 2016 17 May 2016 ÖVP – Faymann II• SPÖ • ÖVP 24 Christian Kern 17 May 2016 18 December 2017 SPÖ – Kern• SPÖ • ÖVP 25 Sebastian Kurz 18 December 2017 28 May 2019 ÖVP 2017 Kurz I• ÖVP • FPÖ• ÖVP – Hartwig Löger 28 May 2019 3 June 2019 ÖVP – Kurz I• ÖVP 26 Brigitte Bierlein 3 June 2019 7 January 2020 IND – Bierlein• Technocrats (25) Sebastian Kurz 7 January 2020 11 October 2021 ÖVP 2019 Kurz II• ÖVP • Greens 27 Alexander Schallenberg 11 October 2021 6 December 2021 ÖVP – Schallenberg• ÖVP • Greens 28 Karl Nehammer 6 December 2021 10 January 2025 ÖVP – Nehammer• ÖVP • Greens – Alexander Schallenberg 10 January 2025 3 March 2025 ÖVP – Nehammer• ÖVP • Greens 29 Christian Stocker 3 March 2025 Incumbent ÖVP 2024 Stocker• ÖVP • SPÖ • NEOS

Timeline First Republic

Second Republic

Longest-serving chancellors

The following table lists all chancellors of the Second Republic (since 1945) ranked by their length of tenure, with the incumbent chancellor's tenure automatically updating daily.

Rank Chancellor Length of tenure(s) Timespan(s) Party 1 Bruno Kreisky 1970–1983 SPÖ 2 Franz Vranitzky 1986–1997 SPÖ 3 Julius Raab 1953–1961 ÖVP 4 Werner Faymann 2008–2016 SPÖ 5 Leopold Figl 1945–1953 ÖVP 6 Wolfgang Schüssel 2000–2007 ÖVP 7 Josef Klaus 1964–1970 ÖVP 8 Sebastian Kurz 3 years, 75 days ÖVP 9 Karl Nehammer 2021–2025 ÖVP 10 Fred Sinowatz 1983–1986 SPÖ 11 Viktor Klima 1997–2000 SPÖ 12 Alfons Gorbach 1961–1964 ÖVP 13 Alfred Gusenbauer 2007–2008 SPÖ 14 Christian Kern 2016–2017 SPÖ 15 Christian Stocker 2025–present ÖVP 16 Karl Renner 1945 SPÖ 17 Brigitte Bierlein 2019–2020 IND 18 Alexander Schallenberg 2021 ÖVP

Chancellors by party The following table summarizes chancellors of the Second Republic grouped by political party.

Party Total time in office Number ofchancellors Chancellors SPÖSocial Democratic Party 41 years, 130 days 8 Karl Renner, Bruno Kreisky, Fred Sinowatz, Franz Vranitzky, Viktor Klima, Alfred Gusenbauer, Werner Faymann, Christian Kern ÖVPAustrian People's Party (+ ongoing, incl. Stocker) 9 Leopold Figl, Julius Raab, Alfons Gorbach, Josef Klaus, Wolfgang Schüssel, Sebastian Kurz, Alexander Schallenberg, Karl Nehammer, Christian Stocker INDIndependent 218 days 1 Brigitte Bierlein

Notes: Green indicates the party of the current incumbent chancellor Bold name indicates the current incumbent chancellor ÖVP total time includes the ongoing tenure of Christian Stocker If Stocker remains chancellor until October 2028, the ÖVP will surpass the SPÖ in total time in office

Age-related statistics The following table shows age-related data for all chancellors of the Second Republic, with living chancellors' ages automatically updating.

Chancellor Born Age at startof chancellorship Age at endof chancellorship Post-chancellorshiptimespan Died Lifespan Karl Renner 14 December 1870 31 December 1950 Leopold Figl 2 October 1902 9 May 1965 Julius Raab 29 November 1891 8 January 1964 Alfons Gorbach 2 September 1898 31 July 1972 Josef Klaus 15 August 1910 25 July 2001 Bruno Kreisky 22 January 1911 29 July 1990 Fred Sinowatz 5 February 1929 11 August 2008 Franz Vranitzky 4 October 1937 — Viktor Klima 4 June 1947 — Wolfgang Schüssel 7 June 1945 — Alfred Gusenbauer 8 February 1960 — Werner Faymann 4 May 1960 — Christian Kern 4 January 1966 — Sebastian Kurz 27 August 1986 — Brigitte Bierlein 25 June 1949 3 June 2024 Sebastian Kurz 27 August 1986 — Alexander Schallenberg 20 June 1969 — Karl Nehammer 18 October 1972 — Christian Stocker 20 March 1960 Incumbent

Notes: Light green indicates living former chancellors Green indicates the current incumbent chancellor Sebastian Kurz served two non-consecutive terms; both are shown separately Living chancellors' post-chancellorship timespan and lifespan automatically update daily

Graphical representation This is a graphical lifespan timeline of the Chancellors of Austria since 1945. They are listed in order of first assuming office.

The following chart shows chancellors by their age (living chancellors in green), with the years of their time in office in color.

See also History of Austria Politics of Austria Elections in Austria President of Austria List of presidents of Austria Vice-Chancellor of Austria List of political parties in Austria

Notes

References

External links Official website of the Austrian Chancellery List of Chancellors since 1945 on the Chancellery website