Michael Häupl (born 14 September 1949) is an Austrian politician. A member of the

Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria ( , SPÖ) is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (, SDAPÖ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria () from 1945 unt ...

, he served as mayor and governor of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

from 7 November 1994 until 24 May 2018.

Early life and education

Häupl was born in Altlengbach,

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

. He studied

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

and

Zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

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 ...

and was an academic assistant at the Vienna Natural History Museum from 1975 to 1983.

Political career

He was the State Chairman of the Socialist Students of Austria, the student organisation of the

SPÖ The Social Democratic Party of Austria ( , SPÖ) is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (, SDAPÖ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria () from 1945 unt ...

from 1975 to 1978, a member of the Viennese Municipal Council from 1983 to 1988, and from 1988 until 1994, Executive City Councillor for Environment and

Sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

. Häupl followed Helmut Zilk in 1993 as a state party chairman of the SPÖ in Vienna and on 7 November 1994, he became the mayor of Vienna. Häupl has won three elections since his appointment as mayor; each of them has led to increased majorities for the SPÖ. In the 1996 City Council election, the SPÖ lost its overall control of the 100-seat chamber with 43 seats on 39.15% of the vote. 1996 also saw a strong

FPÖ The Freedom Party of Austria (, FPÖ) is a political party in Austria, variously described as far-right, right-wing populist, national-conservative, and Eurosceptic. It has been led by Herbert Kickl since 2021. It is the largest of five par ...

, which won 29 seats (up from 21 in 1991), beating 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 ...

into third place for the second time running. For the period 1996-2001 the SPÖ governed Vienna in a coalition with the ÖVP. In 2001 the SPÖ regained overall control with 52 seats on 46.91% of the vote; it improved on this in October 2005 with 55 seats on 49.09%. However, Häupl has also presided over a period of increased voter apathy, with turnout dropping from 68.46% in 1996 to 60.81% in 2005. Häupl is the Deputy Federal Party chairman of the SPÖ and was considered to be one of the most important internal supporters of the former chairman, Werner Faymann. On 14 December 2004 Häupl was elected unopposed to succeed

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, ; ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as simply Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Ministry of the Economy ...

as President of the

Council of European Municipalities and Regions The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) is the largest organisation of local and regional governments in Europe. Its members are 60 national associations of towns, municipalities and regions from 41 countries that are part of th ...

. Häupl was awarded the Czech Order of the White Lion in October 2017 along with

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German former politician and Lobbying, lobbyist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (S ...

and

Borut Pahor Borut Pahor (; born 2 November 1963) is a Slovenian politician who served as President of Slovenia from 2012 to 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Slovenia from 2008 to 2012. A longtime member and former president of the Social D ...

References

External links

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CityMayors profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haupl, Michael 1949 births 20th-century mayors of places in Austria 21st-century mayors of places in Austria Living people Mayors of Vienna People from Sankt Pölten-Land District Social Democratic Party of Austria politicians University of Vienna alumni Recipients of the Order of the White Lion