Herwig van Staa (born 10 June 1942) was the governor of

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

from 2002 to 2008. Van Staa was born in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, an ...

. His father, who came from the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

area, worked as a technician in the steelworks in Linz and died in a sick bay in 1943 after military action on the Eastern Front. His mother came from an Austrian family and worked as a

midwife A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; ...

. Van Staa attended primary school in Bad Leonfelden (''Mühlviertel'') and completed his secondary school studies in

Wels Wels (; Central Bavarian: ''Wös'') is a city in Upper Austria, on the Traun River near Linz. It is the county seat of Wels-Land, and with a population of approximately 60,000, the eighth largest city in Austria. Geography Wels is in the ...

, where he passed his 'A' levels in 1960.

Academic life

Van Staa has been living in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a p ...

since 1960. He studied law, social and economic science, folklore, sociology and medicine. He completed his studies with the following titles: PhD, LLD., Mag.rer.soc.oec. During his studies, he was an active member in

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

organisations and held a mandate of the Austrian Students' Association. He also took an active part in social and environmental issues. He was co-founder and first chairman of the Association for Construction and Promotion of Health and Social Districts in Tyrol. From 1970 onwards, van Staa was managing director of the Institute for Rural Development, working especially in the field of social and regional research. In 1974, he became university assistant at the Institute for Alpine Agriculture and Forestry at the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (german: Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck; la, Universitas Leopoldino Franciscea) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. ...

and has been assistant professor and head of this institute since 1980. Assisted by Ing. Josef Willi, he established the internationally renowned Research Department for Agricultural Ecology at the Institute. Since 1976, he has also been a contract teacher for social science at the Academy of Social Work.

Political life

In 1989, van Staa was elected member of the town council of Innsbruck. In December 1993, together with other like-minded members of this council, he founded the political association ''For Innsbruck''. On 24 April 1994, the next elections of the municipal council of Innsbruck took place. Van Staa and his ''For Innsbruck'' movement came out as surprising winners and, as a result, he was elected mayor of Innsbruck by the town council with a majority of 35 out of 40 votes. In spring 1995, van Staa was elected vice president of the Austrian Towns Association. Since July 1995, he has been president of the Austrian Town Platform for the

Austrian People's Party The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is curre ...

and president of the European Local and Regional Government Association of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily ...

. In July 1996, van Staa was elected vice president of the Chamber of Local Authorities of the

Congress of the Council of Europe The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is the pan-European political assembly representing local and regional authorities from the forty-six member states of the Council of Europe. Its role is to promote local and regional democracy, imp ...

. In 1998, he became president of the Chamber of Local Authorities of the Congress, and in May, 2002, President of the Congress. Since May 2004 he has served as past president of the Congress. In October 2002, he was elected

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the

Region; in October 2003 he was re-elected governor. Since February 2004, he has been vice president of the

Committee of the Regions The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the European Union's (EU) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities (i.e. regions, counties, provinces, municipalities and cities) with a direct voice w ...

and leader of the Austrian delegation. In the 2008 state election, he was ousted as Governor of Tyrol by

Günther Platter Günther Platter is an Austrian politician (ÖVP) and is the current governor of Tyrol after his predecessor Herwig van Staa. Before becoming governor, Platter served as interior minister and as Minister of Defence A defence minister or minist ...

, but went on to be elected President of the regional parliament (Landtag). He is imperial Knight of Honor of the

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...

.Homepage of the St. Georgs Orden
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Staa, Herwig Van 1942 births Living people Congress of the Council of Europe European People's Party politicians University of Innsbruck alumni Governors of Tyrol Austrian People's Party politicians Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria