Gernot Rumpold (born September 11, 1957) is an

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 ...

n politician, best known for his association with

Jörg Haider Jörg Haider (; 26 January 1950 – 11 October 2008) was an Austrian politician. He was Governor of Carinthia on two occasions, the long-time leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and later Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of ...

. Rumpold was born in

Villach Villach (; sl, Beljak; it, Villaco; fur, Vilac) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the p ...

, Carinthia, and attended schools in

Pinkafeld Pinkafeld ( hu, Pinkafő, hr, Pinkafelj, sl, Pinkafel, Romani: ''Pinkafa'') is a city in Burgenland in Austria and the second largest settlement (after Oberwart) in the district Oberwart. Geography Parts of the commune are Hochart, Gfa ...

, apprenticing as an electrician. From the 1970s, he became known as Jörg Haider's ''Mann fürs Grobe'' (roughly, hatchet man), and became the only constant fixture in Haider's retinue during the next quarter century, even though his working-class background came across as suspect to some in Haider's upper-class-dominated

FPÖ The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"A ...

. After working as an HVAC technician from 1980 to 1982, he served in a number of capacities in the FPÖ during the 1980s: organizational advisor to the FPÖ from 1982 to 1984, managing director of the FPÖ in Carinthia from 1984 to 1986, and personal advisor to the FPÖ chairman (Haider) in 1986. Although generally content to operate behind the scenes, he was a member of the

Federal Council of Austria The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat, ) is the upper house of the Austrian Parliament, representing the nine States of Austria at the federal level. As part of a bicameral legislature alongside of the National Council, it can be compared wi ...

for a short time, serving from October 30, 1989 to June 6, 1990. He subsequently served as business manager of the FPÖ from 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rumpold, Gernot 1957 births Living people People from Villach Members of the National Council (Austria) Freedom Party of Austria politicians