The Austrian Bridge Federation (german: Österreichischer Bridgesportverband) is the national organization charged with regulating and promoting the card game of

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Its headquarters are in Vienna, and there are four regional federations (''Landesverbände'') and 43 clubs. In 2020, it had about 2,600 members.Meisterpunkteliste nach Meisterpunkte gesamt
(PDF; 445 KB) The current president is Helmuth Ölsinger. During the years preceding

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Austria was one of the strongest bridge nations, winning the European Open Team Championship in 1932, 1933 and 1936 and the European Women's Team Championship in 1935 and 1936. Achievements after World War II includes Winning of the World Pairs Championship 1970, European Junior Team Championship 1976, European Women's Team Championship 1991, European Junior Pairs Championship 1999 and 2001. It is one of the oldest bridge federations in the world.

Executive board

Presidents

* President: Helmuth Ölsinger * Vice-president: Doris Fischer

Members

* Michael Kalchbauer * Klaus Köpplinger * Klaus Schilhan * Margit Schwarz * Angelika Stalzer * Michael Strafner

History

The federation was founded in 1929 by

Paul Stern Paul Stern (4 April 1892 – 12 June 1948) was an Austrian international bridge player and lawyer, who fled to London in 1938. He was a bidding theorist and administrator who contributed to the early growth of the game. He founded the Austrian Br ...

(1892–1948), who was also its first president.

References

External links

* Organisations based in Vienna Contract bridge governing bodies

Bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

Contract bridge in Austria 1929 establishments in Austria Sports organizations established in 1929 {{bridge-game-stub