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 ...

, the Ministry of the Interior (, colloquially ''Innenministerium'', abbreviated: BMI) is a federal government agency serving as the

interior ministry An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

of the

Austrian government The Government of Austria () is the executive cabinet of the Republic of Austria. It consists of the chancellor, who is the head of government, the vice chancellor and the ministers. Appointment Since the 1929 reform of the Austrian Co ...

. 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 ensu ...

, but also deals with matters relating to

citizenship Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

plebiscite A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or adv ...

s and the

alternative civilian service Alternative civilian service, also called alternative services, civilian service, non-military service, and substitute service, is a form of national service performed in lieu of military conscription for various reasons, such as conscientious o ...

. 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 Directorate (BPD), the Criminal Intelligence Service Austria (BK), the

Directorate State Protection and Intelligence Service The Directorate State Protection and Intelligence Service (DSN) is an Austrian state security and intelligence organization. It reports to the Directorate General for Public Security in the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI). Since 1 Decem ...

(DSN), the Federal Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAK), the Directorate for Special Units/Special Intervention Unit Cobra (DSE), and the Special Observatory Unit for Surveillance (SEO). The

Directorate General for the Public Security The Directorate General for Public Security (, "GD" or "GDföS") is the governing body of general law enforcement in Austria and a division of the Ministry of the Interior. It oversees the # Directorate State Protection and Intelligence Service ...

(GD), 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. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...

, 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 eccentricity ...

of Austria's capital

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. ...

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, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. It was succeeded by the "state office of the Interior" (''Staatsamt des Innern'') of the First Republic in

1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...

, 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 (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position in her own right. She was the sovereig ...

.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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

it was renamed into its current title, Federal Ministry of the Interior.

Responsibilities

The federal agency is charged with the matters of

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 ...

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 an officia ...

s as well as

emergency management Emergency management (also Disaster management) is a science and a system charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actu ...

and the

. As superior of the

Directorate General for Public Security The Directorate General for Public Security (, "GD" or "GDföS") is the governing body of general law enforcement in Austria and a division of the Ministry of the Interior. It oversees the # Directorate State Protection and Intelligence Service ( ...

, the Minister for the Interior is in charge of the

Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

, the

EKO Cobra EKO Cobra (; "Special Intervention Unit Cobra") is a police tactical unit of the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior. EKO Cobra is not part of the Austrian Federal Police, but instead is part of the Directorate for Special Units/Special ...

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 and municipalities,

foundations Foundation(s) or The Foundation(s) may refer to: Common uses * Foundation (cosmetics), a skin-coloured makeup cream applied to the face * Foundation (engineering), the element of a structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads f ...

and

sovereign wealth fund A sovereign wealth fund (SWF), or sovereign investment fund, is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, Bond (finance), bonds, real estate, precious metals, or in alternative investments such as ...

Organization

The ministry consists of the Minister of the Interior, the State Secretary and the Secretary General, under whom there are five sections: # Central Administration #

# Law # Cybersecurity, Digital Matters and Service # Migration and International Matters 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) 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 People's Pa ...

. Next in rank is the State Secretary (Staatssekretär) responsible for the

(DSN), currently

Jörg Leichtfried Jörg Leichtfried (born 18 June 1967 in Bruck an der Mur, Styria) is an Politics of Austria, Austrian politician of the Social Democratic Party of Austria, Social Democratic Party who has been serving as a member of the National Council (Austria) ...

. The

Secretary General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

(''Generalsekretär''), currently Andreas Achatz, serves as the agency's head of operations and third-highest-ranking official.

References

External links

* (in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Federal Ministry of the Interior 1848 establishments in the Austrian Empire Austria, Interior

Interior Interior may refer to: Arts and media * ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas * ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck * ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See * Interior de ...

History

Responsibilities

Organization

See also

References

External links