Austrian Association of Municipalities

Austrian Association of Municipalities
purpose	Representation of the interests of the municipalities in Austria
Chair:	President: Alfred Riedl Secretary General: Walter Leiss
Establishment date:	1947
Number of members:	2,085 political communities
Seat :	1010 Vienna , Löwelstraße 6 ; Palais Montenuovo
Website:	www.gemeindebund.gv.at

The Austrian Association of Municipalities represents the interests of 2,084 of the 2,095 Austrian municipalities .

Together with the Association of Towns , it is the representation of the interests of the Austrian municipalities provided for in the Federal Constitution in 1988 ( Art. 115 Para. 3 B-VG ). 2,085 municipalities are voluntary members, 11 municipalities are exclusively represented by the Association of Cities, around 200 municipalities are organized as double members in both interest groups.

The association of municipalities is organized according to the federal principle and consists of ten regional associations. In Vienna there is no regional association of its own, in Lower Austria and Burgenland there are two for historical reasons, namely an ÖVP- dominated and an SPÖ- dominated association.

The focus of his work is therefore on representing the interests of the community vis-à-vis the legislative and executive bodies of the federal states, the federal government and the European Union.

history

As early as the First Republic, efforts were made to create joint representation for the small and medium-sized rural communities. They started out from Upper Austria; The engine was Florian Födermayr , mayor of Kronstorf (Linz-Land district) since 1928. On his initiative, the Upper Austrian Association of Rural Communities was founded in 1936 and Födermayer himself was elected chairman. Födermayer's intentions went well beyond the Upper Austrian provincial borders; he was already thinking of representing the rural and market communities throughout Austria. Corresponding contacts were made, but the political situation quickly put an end to these efforts: From March 1938 Austria no longer existed.

After the collapse of the Nazi regime and the end of the Second World War, Födermayer resumed his struggle to unite the rural communities. Last but not least, it was spurred on by the ongoing negotiations on the new financial equalization scheme, in which the Brecht's law was already being implemented in 1946 , i.e. the blatant disadvantage of small and medium-sized communities.

The hour of birth of the community federation struck on November 16, 1947 in the Palais Todesco on Vienna's Kärntner Strasse. The Österreichischer Landgemeindenbund was constituted - on an association basis with voluntary membership. The bulky title Österreichischer Landgemeindenbund did not last long, after much discussion the decision was made in January 1948 for the name Österreichischer Gemeindebund .

At the time the association of municipalities was founded, there were regional organizations in three federal states: in Upper Austria , Salzburg and Tyrol . In the other countries they were built up in the following months. From the beginning, the community federation was designed as a non-partisan interest group. The regional associations were also non-partisan - with two exceptions: Lower Austria , the federal state with the most municipalities, and Burgenland , where municipal representative associations of the two major parties were already being established. This process could no longer be reversed, especially due to the special conditions during the occupation: provisional mayors and councilors were appointed in the communities, and local council elections did not take place until 1949 and 1950. This meant that in the Soviet zone of occupation the communists made up a third of the community mandatars and would have had great influence even in a joint regional association. The result: to date, the Austrian Association of Municipalities has a total of ten regional associations in eight federal states.

On October 2nd and 3rd, 1948, the first Austrian community day took place in Salzburg. The community day takes place every year in a different federal state, the next time in June 2019 in Innsbruck. On average it is visited by around 2,100 local politicians from all over Austria.

The association of municipalities traditionally bundles the interests of the municipalities and passes them on to state and federal politics. On the occasion of the National Council election in Austria in 2019, a package of demands was created with the topics of care , education , digitization , climate protection and the financing of these tasks.

organization

The seat of the Austrian Association of Municipalities is Vienna. The general secretariat has around 13 employees, and the association of municipalities shares a small representation with the association of cities in Brussels . The official organ of the Association of Municipalities is the specialist journal Kommunal . The association of municipalities also operates the intranet of the Austrian municipalities.

The presidents

President of the Austrian Association of Municipalities has been the ÖVP politician and mayor of the Lower Austrian municipality of Grafenwörth, Alfred Riedl , since 2017, and Walter Leiss has been Secretary General since July 2011 .

The president is the political representative of the association of municipalities and is elected for five years by the federal board. The term of office was extended from four to five years in 2007.

Florian Födermay (e) r , October 1948 to December 1957, from Kronstorf (Upper Austria)
Ernst Grundemann-Falkenberg , December 1957 to January 1971, from Reichenthal (Upper Austria)
Ferdinand Reiter (Honorary President), January 1971 to February 1987, from Zistersdorf (Lower Austria) (†)
Franz Romeder , February 1987 to February 1999, Schweiggers (Lower Austria)
Helmut Mödlhammer from Hallwang (Salzburg) , February 1999 to March 2017
Alfred Riedl from Grafenwörth (Lower Austria), since March 2017

The General Secretaries

The general secretary is responsible for the operational business of the association. He also heads the office of the Association of Municipalities in Vienna and is appointed by the federal board.

Alfred Sponner (1947 to 1952)
Albert Hammer (1952 to 1979)
Otto Maier (1979 to 1988)
Robert Hink (1988 to 2011)
Walter Leiss (since July 2011)

The regional associations

Surname	Board	founding	address	Website
Burgenland Association of Municipalities	President: Leo Radakovits , Mayor Güttenbach Vice-Presidents: Georg Rosner , Mayor Oberwart; Thomas Steiner , Mayor of Eisenstadt Managing Director: Stefan Bubich	1947	7000 Eisenstadt , Ing.Julius Raab-Str. 7	www.gemeindebund-burgenland.at
Association of social democratic community representatives in Burgenland	President: Erich Trummer , Mayor Neutal Vice-Presidents: Matthias Gelbmann , Mayor Andau; Erwin Kaipel , Mayor of Riedlingsdorf Managing Director: Herbert Marhold	1947	7000 Eisenstadt , Permayerstraße 2	www.gvvbgld.at
Carinthian Association of Municipalities	President: Ferdinand Vouk , Mayor Velden Vice-Presidents: Martin Gruber , Mayor Kappel am Krappfeld; Klaus Köchl , Mayor Liebenfels; Maximilian Linder , Mayor Afritz am See; Josef Müller, Mayor Griffen Managing Director: Stefan Primosch	1947	9020 Klagenfurt , Gabelsberger Strasse 5/1	www.kaerntner-gemeindebund.at
Association of Lower Austrian Municipalities	President Alfred Riedl , Mayor Grafenwörth Vice-Presidents: Karl Moser , Mayor Yspertal; Johannes Pressl, Mayor Ardagger; Brigitte Ribisch, Mayor of Laa an der Thaya Country Manager: Gerald Poyssl	1947	3109 St. Pölten , Ferstlergasse 4	www.noegemeindebund.at
Association of social democratic community representatives in Lower Austria	President: Rupert Dworak , Mayor Ternitz Vice-Presidents: Matthias Stadler , Mayor St. Pölten; Franz Gartner , 3rd President of the State Parliament; Alfredo Rosenmaier , Mayor Ebenfurth; Kerstin Suchan, Mayor of St. Valentin; Herbert Goldinger, Mayor Mailberg; Gerald Matzinger, Mayor Groß-Siegharts	1947		www.gvvnoe.at
Upper Austrian Association of Municipalities	President: Johann Hingsamer , Mayor Eggerding Vice President: Fritz Kaspar , Mayor Marchtrenk Managing Director: Hans Gargitter	1947	4020 Linz , Coulinstrasse 1	www.ooegemeindebund.at
Salzburg Association of Municipalities	President: Günther Mitterer , Mayor of St. Johann im Pongau Vice-President: Markus Kurcz , Mayor Elixhausen Managing Director: Martin Huber	1947	5020 Salzburg Alpenstrasse 47	www.gemeindeverband.salzburg.at
Styrian Association of Municipalities	President: Erwin Dirnberger , Mayor St. Johann-Köppling Vice-Presidents: Reinhard Reisinger , Mayor Spital am Semmering; Christoph Stark , Mayor of Gleisdorf Managing Director: Martin Ozimic	1947	8010 Graz , Burgring 18	www.gemeindebund.steiermark.at
Tyrolean community association	President: Ernst Schöpf , Mayor of Sölden Vice-Presidents: Rudolf Nagl , Mayor Axams; Günter Fankhauser , Mayrhofen District; Edgar Kopp , Mayor Rum Managing Director: Peter Stockhauser	1947	6020 Innsbruck , Adamgasse 7a	www.gemeindeverband.tirol.gv.at
Vorarlberg community association	President: vacant Vice-Presidents: Andrea Kaufmann , Mayor Dornbirn; Klaus Müller, Mayor Klaus Managing Director: Peter Jäger, Otmar Müller	1947	6850 Dornbirn , Marktstrasse 51	www.gemeindeverband.at

Web links

Individual evidence

Entry on Association of Municipalities, Austrian in the Austria Forum (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )

↑ Statistics Austria - as of 2018 , accessed on June 5, 2019

↑ 1. Realized community merger in Upper Austria in 2018, accessed on June 5, 2019

↑ 2. Realized community merger in Upper Austria 2018, accessed on June 5, 2019

↑ "The Austrian Association of Municipalities and the Austrian Association of Towns are called to represent the interests of the municipalities." Art. 115 (3) B-VG, Fifth Section, Self-Administration , A. Municipalities ( ris.bka )

↑ What the municipalities are demanding of the new government Nicolaus Drimmel: Kommunal on October 3, 2019

↑ ^a ^b ^c orf.at: Niederösterreicher Riedl new community association president . Article dated March 29, 2017, accessed March 29, 2017.

↑ Community Association of Burgenland - President Leo Radakovits confirmed with 100% in office ( memento of the original from March 19, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Article dated March 19, 2018, accessed March 19, 2018. @1@ 2

↑ Municipal: 100% for Leo Radaktovits . Article dated March 19, 2018, accessed March 19, 2018.

[1] Statistics Austria - as of 2018 , accessed on June 5, 2019

[2] 1. Realized community merger in Upper Austria in 2018, accessed on June 5, 2019

[3] 2. Realized community merger in Upper Austria 2018, accessed on June 5, 2019

[B-VG_115-4] "The Austrian Association of Municipalities and the Austrian Association of Towns are called to represent the interests of the municipalities." Art. 115 (3) B-VG, Fifth Section, Self-Administration , A. Municipalities ( ris.bka )

[5] What the municipalities are demanding of the new government Nicolaus Drimmel: Kommunal on October 3, 2019

[orf2385356-6] orf.at: Niederösterreicher Riedl new community association president . Article dated March 29, 2017, accessed March 29, 2017.