The Federal Ministry of Defence (''Bundesministerium für Landesverteidigung'', sometimes shortened to ''BMLV'' or ''Verteidigungsministerium'') of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

is the

ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

in charge of all matters relating to military affairs, especially the

Austrian Armed Forces The Austrian Armed Forces (german: Bundesheer, lit=Federal Army) are the combined military forces of the Republic of Austria. The military consists of 22,050 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 0.74% of natio ...

. It is Austria's

ministry of defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. Its current minister is

Klaudia Tanner Klaudia Tanner ( Wallner, born 2 May 1970) is an Austrian politician of the People's Party (ÖVP) who has been serving as Minister of Defense in the government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz since January 2020. From 2011 to 2020, she worked as t ...

Authority

The minister is head of all the ministry's subordinate authorities and is the Supreme Military Commander of the Austrian Armed Forces. For certain acts, such as deployment of more than 5,000 men of the militia or reserve, the Minister for Defense's authorization is bound to the

President of Austria The president of Austria (german: Bundespräsident der Republik Österreich) is the head of state of the Republic of Austria. Though theoretically entrusted with great power by the Constitution, in practice the president is largely a ceremonial ...

, since in these cases the constitutional command of the army takes precedence.

Responsibilities

Specifically, the MinistryAppendix to § 2, Section H of the Federal Ministries Act 1986 as amended is responsible for matters regarding: * the armed forces' constitutionally-defined duties * the armed forces' operational and tactical leadership * military aviation * the provision of arms, equipment, materiel and personnel to the armed forces * weapons, ammunition and munitions * military technology, including weapons testing and military-technical research * military restricted areas * care of the armed forces' health, including military hospitals and supply of medicines * military attachés * the establishment, maintenance and management of all military buildings, facilities and properties owned by the state, the ministry building, the military administration or the army, including the Military History Museum, known as the Heeresgeschichtlichen Museum * shipping, road transport, telecommunications and mapping in the military field * the running of the Military History Museum, known as the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (Militärhistorisches Institut). * the armed forces' finances * the army forest at Allentsteig * management of Austria's shares in the SIVBEG (Strategische Immobilien Verwertungs-, Beratungs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft) as long as the federal government is a shareholder, and the regulation of that company. * the

European Defence Agency The European Defence Agency (EDA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) that promotes and facilitates integration between member states within the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The EDA is headed by the High Representative ...

Office holders

* Minister:

* Head of the Minister's Cabinet: Stefan Kammerhofer * Chief of Staff of the Minister's Cabinet: Brigadier (1 Star General) Jürgen Ortner * Chief of the General Staff (Head of the entire Austrian Bundesheer): General Othmar Commenda ** Deputy Chief of Staff: Generalleutnant / Lieutenant General (3 Star General) Bernhard Bair * Head of Section I (''Zentralsektion'' or Central Section): Sektionschef / Head of Section, Mr. Christian Kemperle * Head of Section II (''Planung'' or Planning): Generalleutnant / Lieutenant General (3 Star General) Franz Leitgeb * Head of Section III (''Bereitstellung'' or Supply): Generalleutnant / Lieutenant General (3 Star General) Norbert Gehart * Head of Section IV (''Einsatz'' or Mission): Generalleutnant / Lieutenant General (3 Star General) Karl Schmidseder * Head of Section V (Sport): Samo Kobenter

Subordinate departments

Subordinate to the ministry are the: * Streitkräfteführungskommando (Supreme Command): Generalleutnant / Lieutenant General (3 Star General) Franz Reißner ** Stellvertretender Kommandant (Deputy Commander): Generalmajor / Major General Dieter Heidecker * Kommando Einsatzunterstützung (Operations Support Command):

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

(1 Star General) Andreas Pernsteiner * Führungsunterstützungszentrum (Leadership Support Center):

(1 Star General) Andreas Wochner * Ämter (Offices) : ** Armed forces personnel office: Hofrätin / Councillor, Mrs. Brigitte Habermayer-Binder ** Armed forces' building and surveying office : Hofrat / Councillor Johannes Sailer ** Office for armaments and procurement: Brigadier (1 Star General) Christian Tauschitz ** Office for armaments and military technology: Brigadier (1 Star General) Michael Janisch **

Heeresnachrichtenamt Heeresnachrichtenamt (Army Intelligence Office) is an intelligence agency of the Austrian Armed Forces. Heeresnachrichtenamt researches information on military operations and projects abroad and conducts data analysis of gathered intelligence. The ...

(Army Intelligence Office): Generalmajor / Major General Edwin Potocnik ** Abwehramt (Defense Agency): Generalmajor / Major General Anton Oschep * Academies: ** Landesverteidigungsakademie (National Defense Academy): Generalleutnant / Lieutenant General Erich Csitkovits ** Theresianische Militärakademie (Theresa Military Academy): Generalmajor / Major General Norbert Sinn ** Heeresunteroffiziersakademie (Army Non-Commissioned Officers' Academy): Brigadier (1 Star General) Nikolaus Egger * Weapons training and technical schools: ** ABC-Abwehrschule (ABC - Defense School): Oberst / Colonel Michael Schuster ** Heerestruppenschule (Army Soldiers / Troops School): Oberst dG / Colonel of the General Staff, Jürgen Baranyai ** Flieger- und Fliegerabwehrschule (Flight and Air Defense School): Brigadier (1 Star General) Günther Schiefert ** Heereslogistikschule (Army Logistics School): Brigadier (1 Star General) Dieter Jocham ** Führungsunterstützungsschule (Leadership Support School): Oberst / Colonel Christian Wally * Militärmedizinisches Zentrum (Military Medical Centre): Brigadier (1 Star General) Eugen Gallent * Entminungsdienst / Demining Service Department * Heeresgeschichtliches Museum / Museum of Military History, Vienna: Christian Ortner

Historical development

Defense and sport were combined in the same ministry from 2009 till 2018.

Defense Ministry

Previous to 1918, there was a

Ministry of War Ministry of War may refer to: * Ministry of War (imperial China) (c.600–1912) * Chinese Republic Ministry of War (1912–1946) * Ministry of War (Kingdom of Bavaria) (1808–1919) * Ministry of War (Brazil) (1815–1999) * Ministry of War (Estoni ...

for the whole of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

and a

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

solely for the Austrian half of the empire. The defence ministry took on various names during the

First Austrian Republic The First Austrian Republic (german: Erste Österreichische Republik), officially the Republic of Austria, was created after the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 10 September 1919—the settlement after the end of World War I w ...

of 1918 to 1938, and was abolished during

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's annexation of Austria from 1938 to 1945. During the

Allied occupation of Austria The Allied occupation of Austria started on 8 May 1945 with the fall of Nazi Germany and ended with the Austrian State Treaty on 27 July 1955. After the in 1938, Austria had generally been recognized as part of Nazi Germany. In 1943, however, ...

from 1945 to 1956, the defence agenda was in the remit of the "Office for National Defense", a section in the Federal Chancellery.

Sports Ministry

Sport first became a government portfolio in Austria in 1966, as part of the remit of the Federal Ministry of Education, which in 1984 was renamed the Federal Ministry of Education, Arts and Sports. In 1991 sport was moved to the Federal Ministry of Health, Sport and Consumer Protection, then in 1995 to the Federal Chancellery, in 2000 to the Federal Ministry of the Civil Service and Sports, in 2003 back to the Federal Chancellery and in 2009 joined the Federal Ministry of Defense and Sports. In 2018, the sports agenda was moved to the Ministry of Civil Service and Sport.

References

External links

*
Official site of the Ministry
*
Business division of the Ministry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry of Defense (Austria)

Defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

Military of Austria Government agencies established in 1956 1956 establishments in Austria 2009 establishments in Austria