Helmut Brandstätter (born 24 April 1955) is an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n politician and former journalist.

Early life and education

Helmut Brandstätter is the son of the agricultural politician Ernst Brandstätter (1920–1992), Secretary General of the Presidents' Conference of the Chambers of Agriculture of Austria. According to his own statements, Brandstätter grew up in the

Mariahilf Mariahilf (; ; "Mary's help") is the 6th municipal district of Vienna, Austria (). It is near the center of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850. Mariahilf is a heavily populated urban area with many residential buildings. Wien.gv.a ...

district of Vienna, but attended elementary school in the Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus district. In 1963, "at the age of eight," the family moved to

Perchtoldsdorf Perchtoldsdorf (; colloquially ''Petersdorf'') is a market town in the Mödling District, in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is known chiefly for its winemaking. Geography It is located immediately at the Vienna city limits, south of the ...

near Vienna. At the age of ten, he entered the boys' seminar in

Sachsenbrunn Sachsenbrunn is a village and a former municipality in the district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, Germany. It includes the community of Stelzen. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the town Eisfeld. Culture A notable cultural item in the vill ...

. Three years later, he transferred to the Federal Gymnasium XIII in Vienna-

Hietzing Hietzing () is the 13th Districts of Vienna, district of Vienna (). It is located west of the central districts, west of Meidling. Hietzing is a heavily populated urban area with many residential buildings, but also contains large areas of the Vi ...

, where he graduated in 1973. Helmut Brandstätter studied law at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, where he was also chairman of the Austrian Student Union, which is close to the

ÖVP The Austrian People's Party ( , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since January 2025, the party has been led by Christian Stocker (as an acting leader). It is currently the second-largest p ...

60 Jahre Österreichische HochschülerInnenschaft
', OEH Salzburg and was awarded a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in law in 1978.biography Helmut Brandstätter
Austrian Parliament

Career in journalism

In 1982 Brandstätter started his career in the foreign editorial department at ORF public broadcaster. In 1982 he became ORF correspondent in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

and was responsible for setting up the ORF studio in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in 1986. In 1991 Brandstätter became head of the main department for politics and current affairs under General Director Gerd Bacher. In 1995, under General Director

Gerhard Zeiler Gerhard Zeiler (born 20 July 1955) is an Austrian businessman who is the current president of Warner Bros. Discovery International, part of Warner Bros. Discovery. Before taking up the role at Turner/Warner, Mr Zeiler was chief executive offi ...

, he was responsible for and presented the ORF-Report. In 1997 Brandstätter moved to Berlin as managing director and editor-in-chief of the news channel

n-tv n-tv (styled ntv) is a German free-to-air television news channel owned by RTL Deutschland. n-tv broadcasts news and weather every hour and half-hour in the morning. It also broadcasts magazine shows and documentaries. History n-tv began a ...

. In 2003 he returned to Austria as managing director and presenter of the newly founded broadcaster

Puls 4 Puls 4 (''Puls vier'') is a terrestrial television channel in Austria. As its name implies, it is the fourth Austrian-wide full-service television channel, behind ORF 1, ORF 2, and ATV. History Puls 4 began as a local Vienna television station ...

. From 2005 to 2010 he worked as a freelance management consultant and moderator with his own company, Brandstätter Business Communications. In 2008, his book ''Hör.Mir.Zu'' was published. From 2010 to 2018 Brandstätter succeeded to

Christoph Kotanko Christoph is a male given name and surname. It is a German variant of Christopher. Notable people with the given name Christoph * Christoph Bach (1613–1661), German musician * Christoph Büchel (born 1966), Swiss artist * Christoph Dientzenho ...

as editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper

Kurier ''Kurier'' is a German-language daily newspaper based in Vienna, Austria. In 2023, it had an edition of approximately 103,000 copies. History and profile ''Kurier'' was founded as ''Wiener Kurier'' by the United States Forces in Austria (USFA) ...

Helmut Brandstätter: kurier.at and from 2013 to July 2019 also its publisher. In May 2019, Brandstätter received the Ari Rath Honorary Prize.

Political career

Brandstätter ran for NEOS at the September 2019 election, and was elected to the National Council. In 2023, Brandstätter became a member of the NEOS party. In January 2024, Brandstätter was selected as NEOS's top candidate for the

European elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until 2019, 751 ...

. He was elected to the European Parliament, where he sits with the

Renew Europe Renew Europe (or simply Renew) is a liberal, centrist to centre-right, pro-European political group of the European Parliament founded for the ninth European Parliament term. The group is the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Dem ...

parliamentary group. and is a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Other activities

National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism The National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism () is a fund created by the Republic of Austria to seek to apply restitution for property confiscated by the Nazis during World War II. The fund was established in 19 ...

, Member of the Board of TrusteesBoard of Trustees

Personal life

Brandstätter is married (second marriage) to

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the g ...

journalist Patricia Pawlicki and lives in Vienna. He has two children from his first marriage and one child from his second marriage.

Publications (selection)

* 2008: ''Hör. Mir. Zu. Drei Schritte ins Jahrtausend der Kommunikation'', ecowin Verlag, Salzburg 2008, . * 2014: ''So kann Europa gelingen: Gespräche mit

Werner Faymann Werner Faymann (; born 4 May 1960) is an Austrian former politician who was Chancellor of Austria and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) from 2008 to 2016. On 9 May 2016, he resigned from both positions amid widening critic ...

Sigmar Gabriel Sigmar Hartmut Gabriel (born 12 September 1959) is a German politician who was the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2018 and the vice-chancellor of Germany from 2013 to 2018. He was Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...

Federica Mogherini Federica Mogherini (; born 16 June 1973) is an Italian politician who served as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. A member of the Democratic ...

'', together with Margaretha Kopeinig, Kremayr & Scheriau, Wien 2014, . * 2019: ''Brandstätter vs. Brandstetter: Diskurs'', together with

Wolfgang Brandstetter Wolfgang Brandstetter is an independent Austrian politician and legal scholar who served as a member of the Constitutional Court of Austria from 2018 to 2021. He previously served as the Minister of Justice of Austria, as well as the country's Vic ...

, Kremayr & Scheriau, Wien 2019, . * 2019: ''

Kurz Kurz is a German-language surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Heinz D. Kurz (born 1946), Austrian economics professor * Hermann Kurz (1813–1873), German poet and novelist * Isolde Kurz (1853–1944), German poet and short story ...

& Kickl: Ihr Spiel mit Macht und Angst'', Kremayr & Scheriau, Wien 2019, . * 2020: ''Letzter Weckruf für Europa'', Kremayr & Scheriau, Wien 2020, .

References

Sources

*
Helmut Brandstätter
at www.meineabgeordneten.at {{DEFAULTSORT:Brandstätter, Helmut 1955 births Living people Austrian editors Austrian television presenters Journalists from Vienna Mass media people from Vienna Members of the 27th National Council (Austria) NEOS (Austria) politicians Print journalists University of Vienna alumni Kurier editors NEOS (Austria) MEPs MEPs for Austria 2024–2029