List of Austrian Defense Ministers

The list of defense ministers in Austria includes the officially different functional titles of defense ministers of the State of German Austria 1918/19, the Republic of Austria 1920–1934, the dictatorial state of Austria 1934–1938 and the Republic of Austria since 1945 .

Until 1918 see kuk war minister (for Austria-Hungary) and kk minister for national defense (for the Austrian states).

First republic

State Secretaries,
from November 10, 1920 Federal Minister for Army Affairs,
from 1936 Federal Minister for National Defense of the First Republic
No.	Head of Department	Taking office	Political party	Department designation
1	Josef Mayer	October 30, 1918	German National Party	State Office for Army Affairs
2	Julius German	March 15, 1919	SDAP
3	Walter Breisky	October 22, 1920	official
4th	Egon shine	November 22, 1920	official	Federal Ministry for the Army
5	Walter Breisky	April 7, 1921	official
6th	Carl Vaugoin	April 28, 1921	CS
7th	Josef Guardian	October 7, 1921	officer
8th	Carl Vaugoin ^*	May 31, 1922	CS
9	Engelbert Dollfuss ^**	September 21, 1933	CS
10	Alois Schönburg-Hartenstein	March 12, 1934	officer
11	Engelbert Dollfuss ^**	July 10, 1934	VF
12	Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg	July 26, 1934	Home Guard
13	Kurt Schuschnigg ^**	July 29, 1934	VF
13	Kurt Schuschnigg ^**	July 29, 1934	VF	Federal Ministry for National Defense
14th	Arthur Seyss-Inquart ^**	March 11, 1938	NSDAP	Federal Ministry for National Defense

^* In autumn 1930 he was also Vice Chancellor for a short time, then Federal Chancellor

^** also Federal Chancellor

Second republic

The occupied postwar Austria had until summer 1955, when the treaty came with the four occupying powers in place, no official in charge of defense department.

The B-Gendarmerie , forerunner of the Army of the Second Republic, was set up in the Federal Ministry of the Interior , where State Secretary Ferdinand Graf ( ÖVP ), 1956 first Minister of Defense after 1945, was responsible. On July 15, 1955, these agendas were transferred to the Office for National Defense, Section VI of the Federal Chancellery . Graf remained politically responsible for this, but formally remained subordinate to the Minister of the Interior. A year later the Ministry of Defense was established.

Federal Minister for National Defense of the Second Republic
No.	Federal Minister	Taking office	Political party	Department
1	Ferdinand Graf	July 15, 1956	ÖVP	Federal Ministry for National Defense
2	Karl Schleinzer	April 11, 1961	ÖVP
3	Georg Prader	April 2, 1964	ÖVP
4th	Brigadier Johann Freihsler	April 21, 1970	Non-party
	Bruno Kreisky	4th February 1971	SPÖ
5	Brigadier Karl Lütgendorf	February 8, 1971	Non-party
	Bruno Kreisky	May 31, 1977	SPÖ
6th	Otto Rösch	June 8, 1977	SPÖ
7th	Friedhelm Frischenschlager	May 21, 1983	FPÖ
8th	Helmut Krünes	May 12, 1986	FPÖ
9	Robert Lichal	January 21, 1987	ÖVP
	Alois Mock ¹	November 6, 1990	ÖVP
10	Werner Fasslabend	17th December 1990	ÖVP
11	Herbert Scheibner	February 4, 2000	FPÖ
12	Günther Platter	February 28, 2003	ÖVP
13	Norbert Darabos	January 11, 2007	SPÖ
13	Norbert Darabos	January 11, 2007	SPÖ	Federal Ministry of Defense and Sport (from February 1, 2009)
14th	Gerald Klug	11th March 2013	SPÖ
15th	Hans Peter Doskozil	January 26, 2016	SPÖ
16	Mario Kunasek	18th December 2017	FPÖ
16	Mario Kunasek	18th December 2017	FPÖ	Federal Ministry of Defense (from January 8, 2018)
17th	Lieutenant General Johann Luif	May 22, 2019	Non-party
18th	Major General Thomas Starlinger	3rd June 2019	Non-party
19th	Klaudia Tanner	7th January 2020	ÖVP

¹ As Foreign Minister entrusted with the continuation of business

Defense Minister Robert Lichal did not have to do military service as a so-called white age group , Defense Minister Werner Fasslabend due to unsuitability . Defense Minister Norbert Darabos completed civilian service as a substitute military service.

Overview: ministers and governments

Web links

Federal Ministry for National Defense Austria

Individual evidence

↑ Kleine Zeitung: Politicians in the Armed Forces - Unfit, unwilling, indispensable . Article from January 17, 2013, accessed October 25, 2015.
^ Diepresse.com - The military service careers of our politicians . Article dated October 9, 2010, accessed October 25, 2015.

[1] Kleine Zeitung: Politicians in the Armed Forces - Unfit, unwilling, indispensable . Article from January 17, 2013, accessed October 25, 2015.

[2] Diepresse.com - The military service careers of our politicians . Article dated October 9, 2010, accessed October 25, 2015.