Christian Benger

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Christian Benger (born August 6, 1962 in Bregenz , Vorarlberg ) is an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), forest director and entrepreneur . From May 8, 2014 to April 12, 2018, he was a member of the Carinthian provincial government under Governor Peter Kaiser . On April 4, 2018, he announced his resignation as ÖVP state party chairman and state councilor, but he wanted to accept his state parliament mandate.

education

Benger attended the Stella Matutina Jesuit high school in Feldkirch from 1973 to 1977 and, due to the school being closed, from 1977 to 1981 the Bundesgymnasium Blumenstraße in Bregenz, where he successfully passed his Matura in 1981 .

Between 1981 and 1989 he studied forestry at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna . He completed his diploma thesis on computer-aided forest management at the Institute for Business Administration at the University of Vienna , completing his studies with the title of graduate engineer .

In 2000 he obtained the professional title of forester by passing the state examination for the higher forest service .

During his studies, Benger was the IT delegate of the Austrian Students' Union and the university organization from 1985 to 1988, and from 1988 to 1989 he was a consultant for database development at the Apple Business School in Vienna.

Professional background

Benger started his professional career in 1990 as an Account Director at the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising in Vienna, where he rose to New Business Director in 1993. In 1995 he switched to corporate communications at OMV AG in Vienna.

In 1998 he became assistant to the forest director of Heiligenkreuz Abbey at the Wasserberg forest administration in Gaal . A year later he moved to the Prince Liechtenstein Foundation , Forst Kalwang, in Kalwang, in the same position .

Benger has been the sole responsible business manager and owner of the Wallersberg forest in Griffen since 2000. In 2004 he founded the technical office for forestry and wood management in Griffen, which is currently on hold.

Public and political career

In 2000, Benger became a board member and later a member of the supervisory board of Raiffeisenbank Völkermarkt .

Between 2002 and 2007 he was a parish council and member of the parish finance committee in the parish of Griffen .

Since 2002, Benger has been a member of the chamber council and forestry committee chairman of the Chamber of Agriculture of Carinthia and deputy chairman of the Association of Agricultural and Forestry Companies in Carinthia. Since 2005 he has been a functionary of the Carinthian Chamber of Commerce in the specialist group engineering offices, a member of the Carinthian State Hunting Advisory Board and a member of the executive committee of the Austrian forest-wood-paper cooperation. From 2002 to 2004 he was project manager for wood logistics on the forest paper board .

Although Benger had not previously held a political position and was considered a career changer, Benger was presented to the public as the new chairman at the board meeting of the People's Party of Carinthia on March 7, 2014. He thus succeeded Gabriel Obernosterer . The change was preceded by an internal power struggle initiated by the President of the Carinthian Chamber of Commerce Franz Pacher. As Obernosterer emphasized, with the knowledge of Regional Councilor Wolfgang Waldner, he had already contacted Christian Benger a few weeks ago and asked him whether he was interested. This brought together the previously separate functions of the party chairman and the regional council. At the same time, Wolfgang Waldner, who moved to the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs , was disempowered as state councilor, whereupon he announced his resignation on May 6, 2014.

On May 8, 2014, Benger was sworn in as a regional councilor in the Carinthian regional government. There he was responsible for the economics, agriculture and forestry, tourism, subdivisions Art & Culture and Folk Culture & Customs as well as communities (together with Deputy Governor Gabriele Schaunig-Kandut ).

At the state party conference of the Carinthian People's Party on June 28, 2014 in Feldkirchen , Benger was confirmed in his position by 513 of the 530 delegates (96.8 percent). As his new deputies, the member of the European Parliament Elisabeth Köstinger , the member of the Federal Council Christian Poglitsch , the employee representative Christian Waldmann and the teacher Maria Schallehn were elected.

For the draft of a new Carinthian state constitution, Benger himself wrote in 2015 the passage The welfare of the state and the municipalities applies equally to German and Slovenian-speaking compatriots. suggested. In February 2017, he refused to give his consent, on the grounds that the naming is Slovenian but not understood by the population .

After Christian Benger's resignation on April 4, 2018, Martin Gruber was elected by the state party executive as ÖVP state party chairman.

Private

Christian Benger has been married to Christiane, née Thun-Hohenstein , since 1991 . She is also the managing director of the Wallersberg forest estate. The two have three sons (born in 1993, 1994 and 1997).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ derStandard.at: Carinthia's ÖVP boss Benger angered the SPÖ with his resignation . Article dated April 4, 2018, accessed April 4, 2018.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Province of Carinthia: Landesrat DI Christian Benger (accessed on February 16, 2015)
  3. ↑ Forstgut Wallersberg: Engineering Office for Forestry and Wood Management (accessed on February 16, 2015)
  4. ^ Holy Confirmation in Markt Griffen. Retrieved April 15, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Kleine Zeitung of March 10, 2014: Christian Benger: Political career changer should stabilize ÖVP (accessed on February 16, 2015)
  6. ↑ Kleine Zeitung of March 10, 2014: New boss for the Carinthian ÖVP (accessed on February 16, 2015)
  7. ↑ The standard of March 10, 2014: Carinthian ÖVP falls top: Christian Benger new chief and state council (accessed on February 16, 2015)
  8. ↑ Province of Carinthia: Government meeting 2 - Wolfgang Waldner resigns from his position as regional councilor (accessed on February 16, 2015)
  9. ↑ State of Carinthia: New Provincial Council sworn in in the Landtag (accessed on February 16, 2015)
  10. ↑ https://www.ktn.gv.at/152367_DE-Organisation-Kunst_und_Kultur
  11. ↑ https://www.ktn.gv.at/152314_DE-Organisation-Volkskultur_und_Brauchumwesen
  12. ^ Province of Carinthia: Christian Benger - Papers (accessed on February 16, 2015)
  13. ↑ ORF Carinthia from June 28, 2014: 96.8 percent for party chairman Benger (accessed on February 16, 2015)
  14. ^ Carinthian ÖVP wants to negotiate constitutional reform derstandard.at, February 6, 2017
  15. ↑ orf.at: Martin Gruber new ÖVP chairman . Article dated April 4, 2018, accessed April 4, 2018.
  16. ↑ About us / Team (accessed on February 16, 2015)
personal data
SURNAME Benger, Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian politician (ÖVP), Provincial Councilor in Carinthia
DATE OF BIRTH August 6, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH Bregenz , Vorarlberg