In
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 ...
, the Ministry of the Interior (german: Bundesministerium für Inneres, colloquially ''Innenministerium'', abbreviated: BMI) is a
federal government agency serving as the
interior ministry of the
Austrian government. It is chiefly responsible for the
public security
Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensur ...
, but also deals with matters relating to
citizenship
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
,
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
s,
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
s,
plebiscite
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of ...
s and the
alternative civilian service. The Ministry of the Interior is considered one of the most important
ministries in Austria
It operates and oversees the vast majority of the
country's law enforcement agencies, including the
Federal Police
A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.
Jurisdiction
LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction.
LEAs ...
, the
Criminal Police Office (BKA), the Directorate State Protection and Intelligence Service (DSN), the
Bureau for Anticorruption (BAK), the
Cobra Mission Command (EKO Cobra), the
Aerial Police Force, and the Special Observatory Unit (SEO). The
Directorate General for the Public Security
The Directorate General for Public Security (''Generaldirektion für die öffentliche Sicherheit'', "GDföS") is the governing body of general law enforcement in Austria and a division of the Ministry of the Interior. It oversees the Federal Polic ...
, which is primarily made up of career law enforcement officers, serves as the professional governing body of all these agencies, except for the BAK. Federal law enforcement agencies outside of the ministry's control include the
Military Police
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...
, the
Fiscal Police, and the
Judiciary Guard.
The
Palais Modena is the ministry's central headquarters, it is situated in the
centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
* Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...
of Austria's capital
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
.
History
The Ministry was originally created as "Imperial and Royal Ministry of the Interior", serving as the empire-wide interior ministry for
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 ...
. It was succeeded by the "state office of the Interior" (''Staatsamt des Innern'') of the
First Republic in
1918, and later renamed into "Federal Ministry of the Interior". After the
dissolution of Nazi Germany in 1945 the Ministry was reestablished into its current form.
Until 1848 internal affairs of the country was under the responsibility of the Austro-Bohemian Court Chancellery which was established by Empress
Maria Theresia
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position '' suo jure'' (in her own right) ...
.
[Mario Muigg (2009]
The Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior in the 20th century
''SIAK Journal'' (3) Retrieved 20 October 2013 In 1848 the ministry was established with the name of the Ministry of the Interior. Between 1918 and 1920 it was called State Office of the Interior. Then it was merged with the ministry of education and was renamed as State Office and Federal Ministry of the Interior and of Education.
[ The body was integrated into the federal government in 1923.][ Following ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
it was renamed into its current title, Federal Ministry of the Interior.[
]
Responsibilities
The federal agency is charged with the matters of public security
Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensur ...
, citizenship
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
and civil status
Vital records are records of life events kept under governmental authority, including birth certificates, marriage licenses (or marriage certificates), separation agreements, divorce certificates or divorce party and death certificates. In some ...
including legal name
A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of registration of the birth and which then ap ...
s, election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
s, referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
s and popular petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication.
In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offi ...
s as well as emergency management and the alternative civilian service.
As superior of the Directorate General for Public Security
The Directorate General for Public Security (''Generaldirektion für die öffentliche Sicherheit'', "GDföS") is the governing body of general law enforcement in Austria and a division of the Ministry of the Interior. It oversees the Federal Polic ...
, the Minister for the Interior is in charge of the Federal Police
A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.
Jurisdiction
LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction.
LEAs ...
, the Directorate State Protection and Intelligence Service, the EKO Cobra
EKO Cobra (german: Einsatzkommando Cobra; "Task Force Cobra") is the police tactical unit of the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior. EKO Cobra is not part of the Austrian Federal Police, but instead is directly under the control of the ...
tactical unit as well as of the Federal Criminal Police Office. Beyond the jurisdiction of the Federal Chancellery, the Ministry is also responsible for the matters of the Austrian states
Austria is a federal republic made up of nine States (German: ''Länder''). Since ''Land'' is also the German word for "country", the term (literally ''federal states'') is often used instead to avoid ambiguity. The Constitution of Austria uses ...
and municipalities, foundations
Foundation may refer to:
* Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization
** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S.
** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...
and sovereign wealth fund
A sovereign wealth fund (SWF), sovereign investment fund, or social wealth fund is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such as ...
s.
Organization
The ministry consists of the minister of the interior and the general secretary, under whom there are four sections: the Central Administration, the Directorate General for the Public Security
The Directorate General for Public Security (''Generaldirektion für die öffentliche Sicherheit'', "GDföS") is the governing body of general law enforcement in Austria and a division of the Ministry of the Interior. It oversees the Federal Polic ...
, Legal Affairs, IT and Services and Migration and International Affairs..
Its head and chief executive authority is the Minister of the Interior
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
(''Bundesminister''), currently Gerhard Karner
Gerhard Karner (born 13 November 1967 in Melk) is an Austrian politician currently serving as minister of the interior. From 2003, Karner was a member of the Lower Austrian state legislature. From 2003 to 2015, he was managing director of the Pe ...
. Next in rank is the General secretary (''Generalsekretär''), currently Helmut Tomac, who serves as the agency's head of operations and second-highest-ranking official.
See also
* List of Austrian Ministers of the Interior
* List of Austrian Ministers of Foreign Affairs
* Directorate General for the Public Security
The Directorate General for Public Security (''Generaldirektion für die öffentliche Sicherheit'', "GDföS") is the governing body of general law enforcement in Austria and a division of the Ministry of the Interior. It oversees the Federal Polic ...
* Federal Police
A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.
Jurisdiction
LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction.
LEAs ...
* Federal Criminal Office
* History of Austria
The history of Austria covers the history of Austria and its predecessor states. In the late Iron Age Austria was occupied by people of the Hallstatt Celtic culture (c. 800 BC), they first organized as a Celtic kingdom referred to by the Romans ...
* Minister of Defense (Austria)
The Minister of Defense of Austria heads the Ministry of Defense. First Austrian Republic
* Partly as Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor.
Second Austrian Republic
*Entrusted with continuation of the ministry
See also
* Supreme Commander o ...
* Ministry of Finance (Austria)
The Ministry of Finance (german: Bundesministerium für Finanzen) is the government ministry of Austria responsible for the collection of taxes and customs as well as the administration of fiscal and economic policy. It oversees the Revenue Ser ...
* Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Austria)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (german: Bundesministerium für europäische und internationale Angelegenheiten, abbreviated BMEIA, colloquially ''Außenministerium'') is the government ministry of Austria responsible for diplomatic missions an ...
* Politics of Austria
Politics in Austria reflects the dynamics of competition among multiple political parties, which led to the formation of a Conservative-Green coalition government for the first time in January 2020, following the snap elections of 29 Septembe ...
* Chancellor of Austria
The chancellor of the Republic of Austria () is the head of government of the Republic of Austria. The position corresponds to that of Prime Minister in several other parliamentary democracies.
Current officeholder is Karl Nehammer of the Aus ...
* President of Austria
References
External links
* (in German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Federal Ministry of the Interior
1848 establishments in the Austrian Empire
Austria, Interior
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 ...
Interior