Heinz Faßmann (born 13 August 1955 in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

) is an

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 ...

n politician and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

human geography Human geography or anthropogeography is the branch of geography which studies spatial relationships between human communities, cultures, economies, and their interactions with the environment, examples of which include urban sprawl and urban ...

and

land-use planning Land use planning or ''Land-use regulation'' is the process of regulating the use of land by a central authority. Usually, this is done to promote more desirable social and environmental outcomes as well as a more efficient use of resources. ...

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 ...

. He served as the

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

in the Second Kurz cabinet in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Sebastian Kurz Sebastian Kurz (; born 27 August 1986) is an Austrian former politician who served twice as Chancellor of Austria, first from 2017 to 2019 and then again from 2020 to 2021. Kurz was born and raised in Meidling, Vienna. He entered politics by ...

and the

Schallenberg government The Schallenberg government () was sworn in as the 34th Government of Austria on 11 October 2021. When Sebastian Kurz announced his resignation on 9 October 2021, the Austrian People's Party proposed to continue the coalition with The Greens – ...

of Chancellor

Alexander Schallenberg Alexander Georg Nicolas Schallenberg (; born 20 June 1969) is an Austrian diplomat, jurist, and politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Austria), minister of foreign affairs from 2019 until 2025, briefly interrupted by a period ...

. He previously served in the same capacity from December 2017 to June 2019: he was succeeded in the post by Martin Polaschek in December 2021. Faßmann is considered to be aligned with 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) but holds no formal party membership or affiliation. In 2022, he became the new president of the

Austrian Academy of Sciences The Austrian Academy of Sciences (; ÖAW) is a legal entity under the special protection of the Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every fi ...

Early life and education

Heinz Faßmann was born on 13 August 1955 in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He spent his childhood and adolescence in

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. ...

. Faßmann attended primary school from 1962 to 1966 and grammar school from 1966 to 1974. Faßmann studied

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

and social and economic history at the

, graduating with a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1980. From 1980 to 1981, he was engaged in postgraduate work in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

at the

Institute for Advanced Studies The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

Career

From 1981 to 1992, Faßmann was a researcher with the

. He spent his academy years on the academy's commission on land-use planning (). On the strength of his commission work, he was appointed director of the Institute of City and Regional Planning () in 1992. Four years later, in 1996, Faßmann left Vienna and the academy to become a C4 professor of human geography and geoinformatics at the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

. Another four years later, in 2000, Faßmann returned to Vienna to teach human geography and land-use planning at his alma mater. In 2011, he was made the university's vice rector, a post he held until his transition into politics in 2017. He also served as a member of the

senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

of the University of Vienna from 2000 to 2006 and as the

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

of the Faculty of Geosciences from 2006 to 2011. In addition to his academic work, Faßmann held positions on various committees and sat on the supervisory boards of a number of companies, including one

university spin-off University spin-offs (also known as university spin-outs) are companies that transform technological inventions developed from university research that are likely to remain unexploited otherwise. They are a subcategory of research spin-offs. Prom ...

incubator. Faßmann ran a spin-off of his own, the Heinz Faßmann Projektentwicklung KG, from 2013 to 2018. He was director of the Expert Commission of German Foundations on Integration and Migration () from 2009 to 2017. In 2006 he was, for the second time, appointed Director of the Institute of City and Regional Planning. Faßmann routinely acted as a political consultant and advisor to the Austrian government. He became chairman of the Ministry of Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs Expert Commission on Integration () in 2010. He has been sitting on the

Ministry of the Interior 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 ...

Migration Council for Austria (), later renamed Migration Commission (), since 2014.

Minister of Education, 2018–2021

Although Faßmann had never held elected office and never officially attached himself to any political party, he was invited to join the Kurz cabinet as the

minister of education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

. When the cabinet took office on 18 December 2017, Faßmann was appointed minister of education and science. Following a reshuffling of ministerial responsibilities − a move regularly made by new parliamentary majority leaders − he became minister of education, science and research on 8 January 2018. While in government Faßmann resigned his positions as a vice rector, as the chairman of the commission, and as a member of the council. For the duration of his term in cabinet office, he also suspended his position as the director of the Institute of City and Regional Planning. Faßmann was succeeded by another ÖVP-nominated academic, Martin Polaschek, in the

Nehammer Government The Nehammer government () was sworn in as the 35th Government of Austria on 6 December 2021. It was headed by Chancellor of Austria, Chancellor Karl Nehammer. On 5 January 2025, after the end of negotiations with the SPÖ and NEOS, Nehammer res ...

in December 2021.

President of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2022–present

In 2022, Faßmann became the new president of the

. Since 2023, Faßmann has been a member of an expert group entrusted to support the interim evaluation of the European Union's

Horizon Europe Horizon Europe is a seven-year European Union scientific research initiative to help develop a sustainable and livable society in Europe. It is the ninth of the Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development (FP9), and the succe ...

programme, chaired by

Manuel Heitor Manuel Frederico Tojal de Valsassina Heitor (born 1958) is a Portuguese politician who served as Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education in the government of Prime Minister António Costa until 30 March 2022 when he was succeeded b ...

Other activities

National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism The National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism () is a fund created by the Republic of Austria to seek to apply restitution for property confiscated by the Nazis during World War II. The fund was established in 19 ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2020)

Personal life

Born a German, Faßmann has been a naturalized Austrian citizen since 1994. He is married and has two children. Faßmann stands well over two meters tall. Correcting media reports that erroneously cited even greater numbers, Faßmann states his height at 203 cm.

Selected publications

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References

External links

Dr. Heinz Faßmann
− Parliament homepage
Der Bundesminister: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Heinz Faßmann
− Ministry homepage
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Heinz Faßmann
− Faßmann CV on Meine Abgeordneten {{DEFAULTSORT:Fassmann, Heinz 1955 births Living people Government ministers of Austria University of Vienna alumni Human geographers Austrian sociologists Austrian geographers Members of Academia Europaea Members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Academic staff of the University of Vienna Academic staff of the Technical University of Munich Ministers of education of Austria Science ministers of Austria 21st-century Austrian politicians