Elisabeth Gehrer (' Pokorny, born 11 May 1942) is an Austrian politician for the

Austrian People's Party 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 ...

(ÖVP). From May 1995 until January 2007, Gehrer was Federal Minister for Education, Science and Culture, at first in

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...

governments headed by

Franz Vranitzky Franz Vranitzky (; born 4 October 1937) is an Austrian politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), he was Chancellor of Austria from 1986 to 1997. Early life and career As the son of a foundryman, Vranitzky was born in ...

and Viktor Klima (both

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 ...

), and from 2000 onwards in

Wolfgang Schüssel Wolfgang Schüssel (; born 7 June 1945) is a retired Austrian politician. He was Chancellor of Austria for two consecutive terms from February 2000 to January 2007. While being recognised as a rare example of an active reformer in contemporary A ...

's coalition government. From 1999 to 2007, she also served as vice party chairperson of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP).

Biography

The daughter of a self-employed businessman and a kindergarten teacher, she was brought up and educated in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

. She became a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

in 1961 and continued teaching in small country schools, until 1966. In 1964, she married Fritz Gehrer, moved to

Bregenz Bregenz (; ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost states of Austria, state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switzerland in the wes ...

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...

and became a homemaker. The couple has three adult sons, one of whom, Stefan, is a journalist for the ORF. Gehrer started her political career in 1980 as a regional politician in Bregenz. She remained in Vorarlberg in various political positions until her appointment as federal minister in 1995. Gehrer announced her decision to step down in the wake of the

Austrian legislative election, 2006 Legislative elections were held in Austria on 1 October 2006 to elect the 23rd National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament. The governing Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) suffered substantial losses and was unexpectedly o ...

, and was succeeded on 11 January 2007 by Claudia Schmied and

Johannes Hahn Johannes Hahn (born 2 December 1957) is an Austrian politician who has served as European Commissioner for Budget and Administration under Ursula von der Leyen since 1 December 2019. He previously served as European Commissioner for Neighbourho ...

. Gehrer was a scout leader, National Commissioner for

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs The Scout movement in Germany consists of a multitude of associations and federations with about 260,000 Scouts and Guides. History Scouting in Germany started in 1909. After World War I, German Scouting became involved with the German Youth ...

and teamed Woodbadge trainings (i.e. 1976 in Wassergspreng).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gehrer, Elisabeth 1942 births Living people People associated with Scouting 20th-century Austrian women politicians 20th-century Austrian politicians 21st-century Austrian women politicians 21st-century Austrian politicians Government ministers of Austria Ministers of education of Austria Women government ministers of Austria

Biography

See also

References