Ministry of Transport (Austria)
Infrastrukturministerium | |
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Ministry overview | |
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Formed | 1896 |
Jurisdiction | Austria |
Headquarters |
Stubenring 1 Vienna 48°12′38″N 16°23′9″E / 48.21056°N 16.38583°E |
Minister responsible | |
Website |
bmnt |
In Austrian politics, the Ministry of Transport (German: Verkehrsministerium) in the ministry in charge of railways, transport policy, and the postal system.
The current Minister of Transport is Norbert Hofer.[1][2]
First established in 1896, its exact name and portfolio have undergone changes numerous times throughout the years. As of 2018, the ministry is officially called the Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie or BMVIT) and is tasked, in addition to its core regulatory and infrastructure responsibilities, with the promotion of scientific research and technological progress. The ministry regulates motor vehicles, railways, waterways, aviation safety, air traffic control, air weather services, public transport, the postal system, and the telecommunications sector. It maintains the autobahns and other national highways. The Ministry also owns and supervises the via donau, a corporation charged with the maintenance of the Danube as a commercial shipping route and wildlife reserve.[3]
History
The Ministry was first established as the Cisleithanian Ministry of Railways in 1896; previously, railways had been the responsibility of the Ministry of Commerce (Handelsministerium). In 1923, the Ministry of Railways was merged back into the Ministry of Commerce.
In its current form and under its modern common name, the Ministry of Transport appeared in 1945. Its areas of responsibility were railways, the postal system, shipping, and public transport. In 1950, it gained responsibility for aviation affairs. In 1973, it was put in charge of a number of additional areas, including but not limited to motor vehicles, traffic police matters, and mineral oil pipelines. On and off, the Ministry also supervised Austria's nationalized heavy industry, exercising direct control over some of the country's largest employers and a sizable percentage of the nation's GDP. From 1950 to 1973 it also controlled the electricity sector.
The Ministry was merged with the Ministry of Economic Affairs in 1996. When it was reestablished yet again in 2000, it had acquired responsibility for national road construction and maintenance.
Responsibilities
As of January 2018, the Ministry is charged with regulating, supervising, or managing, respectively:[4]
- traffic policy;
- transportation by railway, navigation and aviation;
- motor vehicle traffic and matters of traffic police; accident research;
- national roads;
- companies responsible for construction and maintenance of national roads by national law;
- hydraulic engineering waterways regarding the navigable rivers Danube and March as well as Thaya river along the international border between Bernhardsthal until ending in the March river and of other waterways, as well as of water supply and sewerage systems, to the extent they are not within the powers of some other ministry; administration of the Marchfeld Canal;
- commercial transportation of passengers and goods including commercial transportation of goods in pipelines with the exception of the management of water supply systems;
- transportation of persons and goods with company-owned vehicles;
- railways, including the construction and administration of buildings and state-owned real estate assigned to railway use; exercise of shareholders’ rights due to stakes the government owns in other railway companies;
- postal and telecommunications services;
- the Council of Research and Technological Development (Rat für Forschung und Technologieentwicklung);
- scientific and technological research, except for those areas within the purview of the Ministry of Digital and Economic Affairs;
- industrial property rights, in particular patents and utility model protection, patent law attorneys and their professional representation; protection of designs, brand names and other product designations;
- outer space affairs.
Structure
As of May 2018, the ministry consists of the Minister and his personal staff (Kabinett), the office of the general secretary, and four departments (Sektionen):[5]
- Presidium and international affairs (Präsidium und internationale Angelegenheiten)
- Infrastructure planning and financing; coordination (Infrastrukturplanung und -finanzierung, Koordination)
- Innovation and telecommunications (Innovation und Telekommunikation)
- Transport (Verkehr)
The Minister and his staff are political appointees; the general secretary and the section heads are career civil servants.
Ministers
First Republic
State Secretariat of Transport Staatsamt für Verkehrswesen | ||||
Cabinet: | Secretary: | Party: | Date appointed: | |
Renner I | Carl Jukel | CS | October 30, 1918 | |
Renner II | Ludwig Paul | none | March 15, 1919 | |
Renner III | October 17, 1919 | |||
Ferdinand Hanusch (interim) | SPÖ | July 1, 1920 | ||
Mayr I | Karl Pesta | none | July 7, 1920 | |
Ministry of Transport Bundesministerium für Verkehrswesen | ||||
Cabinet: | Minister: | Party: | Date appointed: | |
Mayr II | Karl Pesta | none | November 20, 1920 | |
Schober I | Walter Rodler | CS | June 21, 1921 | |
Breisky | January 26, 1922 | |||
Schober II | January 27, 1922 | |||
Seipel I | Franz Odehnal | CS | May 31, 1922 | |
Ministry of Transport Bundesministerium für Handel und Verkehr | ||||
Cabinet: | Minister: | Party: | Date appointed: | |
Seipel II | Hans Schürff | GDVP | April 17, 1923 | |
Seipel III | November 20, 1923 | |||
Ramek I | November 20, 1924 | |||
Ramek II | January 15, 1926 | |||
Seipel IV | October 20, 1926 | |||
Seipel V | May 19, 1927 | |||
Streeruwitz | May 4, 1929 | |||
Schober III | Michael Hainisch | none | September 26, 1929 | |
Johann Schober (interim) | none | June 17, 1930 | ||
Friedrich Schuster | none | June 20, 1930 | ||
Vaugoin | Eduard Heinl | CS | September 30, 1930 | |
Ender | December 4, 1930 | |||
Buresch I | June 20, 1931 | |||
Buresch II | January 29, 1932 | |||
Dollfuß I | Guido Jaconcig | HB | May 20, 1932 | |
Dollfuß II | September 21, 1932 | |||
Friedrich Stockinger | VF | May 10, 1933 | ||
Schuschnigg I | July 29, 1934 | |||
Schuschnigg II | May 14, 1936 | |||
Schuschnigg III | Wilhelm Taucher | VF | November 3, 1936 | |
Schuschnigg IV | Julius Raab | VF | February 16, 1938 | |
Seyß-Inquart | March 11, 1938 |
Second Republic
Ministry of Transport Bundesministerium für Verkehr | ||||
Cabinet: | Minister: | Party: | Date appointed: | |
Figl I | Vinzenz Übeleis | SPÖ | December 20, 1945 | |
Ministry of Transport and Nationalized Industry Bundesministerium für Verkehr und verstaatlichte Betriebe | ||||
Cabinet: | Minister: | Party: | Date appointed: | |
Figl II | Karl Waldbrunner | SPÖ | November 8, 1949 | |
Figl III | October 28, 1952 | |||
Raab I | April 2, 1953 | |||
Ministry of Transport and Electricity Bundesministerium für Verkehr und Elektrizitätswirtschaft | ||||
Cabinet: | Minister: | Party: | Date appointed: | |
Raab II | Karl Waldbrunner | SPÖ | June 29, 1956 | |
Raab III | July 16, 1959 | |||
Raab IV | November 3, 1960 | |||
Gorbach I | April 11, 1961 | |||
Bruno Pittermann (interim) | SPÖ | December 14, 1962 | ||
Gorbach II | Otto Probst | SPÖ | March 27, 1963 | |
Klaus I | April 2, 1964 | |||
Ministry of Transport and Nationalized Enterprise Bundesministerium für Verkehr und verstaatlichte Unternehmungen | ||||
Cabinet: | Minister: | Party: | Date appointed: | |
Klaus II | Ludwig Weiß | ÖVP | April 19, 1966 | |
Kreisky I | Erwin Frühbauer | SPÖ | April 21, 1970 | |
Ministry of Transport Bundesministerium für Verkehr | ||||
Cabinet: | Minister: | Party: | Date appointed: | |
Kreisky I | Erwin Frühbauer | SPÖ | July 24, 1970 | |
Kreisky II | November 4, 1971 | |||
Erwin Lanc | SPÖ | December 17, 1973 | ||
Kreisky III | October 28, 1975 | |||
Karl Lausecker | SPÖ | June 8, 1977 | ||
Kreisky IV | June 5, 1979 | |||
Sinowatz | May 24, 1983 | |||
Ferdinand Lacina | SPÖ | September 10, 1984 | ||
Ministry of Public Economy and Transport Bundesministerium für öffentliche Wirtschaft und Verkehr | ||||
Cabinet: | Minister: | Party: | Date appointed: | |
Sinowatz | Ferdinand Lacina | SPÖ | January 1, 1985 | |
Vranitzky I | Rudolf Streicher | SPÖ | June 16, 1986 | |
Vranitzky II | January 21, 1987 | |||
Vranitzky III | December 17, 1990 | |||
Viktor Klima | SPÖ | April 3, 1992 | ||
Vranitzky IV | November 29, 1994 | |||
Vranitzky V | Rudolf Scholten (interim) | SPÖ | March 12, 1996 | |
Ministry of Science, Transport and the Arts Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft, Verkehr und Kunst | ||||
Cabinet: | Minister: | Party: | Date appointed: | |
Vranitzky V | Rudolf Scholten | SPÖ | May 1, 1996 | |
Klima | Caspar Einem | SPÖ | January 28, 1997 | |
Ministry of Science and Transport Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft und Verkehr | ||||
Cabinet: | Minister: | Party: | Date appointed: | |
Klima | Caspar Einem | SPÖ | February 15, 1997 | |
Schüssel I | Michael Schmid | FPÖ | February 4, 2000 | |
Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie | ||||
Cabinet: | Minister: | Party: | Date appointed: | |
Schüssel I | Michael Schmid | FPÖ | April 1, 2000 | |
Monika Forstinger | FPÖ | November 14, 2000 | ||
Matthias Reichhold | FPÖ | February 19, 2002 | ||
Schüssel II | Hubert Gorbach | FPÖ | February 28, 2003 | |
Gusenbauer | Werner Faymann | SPÖ | January 11, 2007 | |
Faymann I | Doris Bures | SPÖ | December 2, 2008 | |
Faymann II | December 16, 2013 | |||
Alois Stöger | SPÖ | September 1, 2014 | ||
Gerald Klug | SPÖ | January 26, 2016 | ||
Kern | Jörg Leichtfried | SPÖ | May 18, 2016 | |
Kurz | Norbert Hofer | FPÖ | December 18, 2017 |
References
- ↑ "Türkis-Blau: Das sind die neuen Minister". Kurier. December 16, 2017. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
- ↑ "16-köpfiges ÖVP-FPÖ-Team vereidigt". ORF. December 16, 2017. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
- ↑ "Bundesministeriengesetz-Novelle 2017; BGBl. I Nr. 164/2017" (in German). December 28, 2017. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
- ↑ "Bundesministeriengesetz 1986 in der Fassung vom 28. Dezember 2017" (in German). BKA. December 28, 2017. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
- ↑ "Organisation des Ministeriums" (in German). BMVIT. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
External links
- Official web site (in German)
- English version