The Landeshauptmann (if male) or Landeshauptfrau (if female) (, "state captain", plural ''Landeshauptleute,'' ) is the chairman of a

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

and the supreme official of an Austrian state and the Italian autonomous provinces of South Tyrol and Trentino. His or her function is equivalent to that of a minister-president or premier. Until 1933 the term was also used in Prussia for the

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

of a province, Duden; Definition of Landeshauptmann, in German

/ref> in the modern-day states of Germany (with the exceptions of the city-states) the counterpart to ''Landeshauptmann'' is the ''Ministerpräsident'' (minister-president).

Origins

Since the

early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

, a ''Landeshauptmann'' originally served as governor under either a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire or the

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

himself, mainly in the territories of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

(as for the Lands of the Bohemian Crown), later also in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. In the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, according to the 1861 February Patent, the title referred to the president of the '' Landtag'' assembly of a Habsburg crown land (called ' in

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

, Bohemia, and Galicia), who also served as head of the provincial administration. The Imperial-Royal government 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. ...

was represented by a '' Statthalter'' or ''Landespräsident'' (governor). With the dissolution of

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 ...

and the proclamation of the Republic of German-Austria in 1918, provisional state assemblies and state governments were established, headed by a ''Landeshauptmann''. The 1920 constitution of the First Austrian Republic (''Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz'') unified the office of a Federal Government representative and head of the state government. The title is today used in modern Austria as well as in South Tyrol and Trentino, autonomous provinces in Italy with strong linguistic and cultural ties to the neighbouring Austrian state of Tyrol. In the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, a ''hejtman'' (German: ''Hauptmann'') represents each of the 13 self-governing regions (Czech ''kraj'', pl. ''kraje''). The title was also used by the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

for governors during the early stages of its colonial rule over German South-West Africa (1893–1898), Togoland (1893–1898) and German New Guinea (1886–1889, 1892–1899).

Austria

In modern Austria, the title is used for the head of the executive of the nine Austrian states, equivalent to the position of a ''Ministerpräsident'' in German states. In English speaking countries, the title is usually translated as " governor," though as mentioned above the function corresponds more to that of minister-president or premier. The ''Landeshauptmann'' is elected by the '' Landtag'' (state parliament) of the respective state and sworn in by the President of Austria. In practice, the ''landeshauptmann'' is almost always the leader of the majority party in the Landtag, or the leader of the senior partner in the governing coalition. As representative of the federal government on state level, the ''landeshauptmann'' is also responsible for the enforcement of federal laws. Unlike in the federal government, there is no distinction between the

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

and

and the ''landeshauptmann'' serves both roles. As

is both a city and a state, its mayor is also the ''Landeshauptmann'' of the state, elected by the municipal and state assembly (''Wiener Gemeinderat und Landtag''). When Waltraud Klasnic ( ÖVP) became governor of

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

in 1996, she preferred to be addressed as ''Frau Landeshauptmann'', whereas Gabi Burgstaller ( SPÖ), governor of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

from 2004 to 2013, preferred ''Frau Landeshauptfrau''. Since 1 July 1988, the Constitution of Austria allows for, but does not prescribe, office designations to be gender-specific.

List of governors

South Tyrol and Trentino

According to the 1946 Gruber–De Gasperi Agreement and the Second Autonomy Statute of 1972, the chief executives of the provincial governments () of South Tyrol and Trentino are called ''Landeshauptleute'' in German. The head of government of South Tyrol is elected by the provincial '' Landtag'' legislature. The ''Landeshauptmann'' represents the province to the outside and in meetings of the regions with the Italian government. He is also entitled to attend the sessions of the Council of Ministers as far as South Tyrolean issues are discussed. Their two deputies have to represent the Italian and German language group. Despite the German terms ''Landeshauptmann'' and ''Landtag'', South Tyrol and Trentino according to Italian conception are no

federated state A federated state (also State (polity), state, province, region, Canton (administrative division), canton, Länder, land, governorate, oblast, emirate, or country) is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federation ...

s (''Länder'') but merely subnational

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

s (''enti territoriali''), though with considerable self-government responsibilities and legislative powers.

Prussia

From 1875 the territorial authority of the estates in the twelve administrative provinces of Prussia were re-organised as ''Provinzialverbände''. Each of these self-governing bodies were represented in a ''Provinziallandtag'' assembly, whose members were delegated by the rural and urban districts within the province. The districts organised through their elected deputies their utilities, such as construction and maintenance of provincial roads, hospitals, schools, public savings banks, waste disposal etc., in self-rule. The provincial administration was initially headed by a ''Landesdirektor'', who was elected by the assembly for six-year terms (in

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

: five years) and maximally two terms. The holder of the office presided over the ''Provinzialausschuss'', i.e. provincial government of self-rule, whereas the ''Oberpräsident'' was the

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

-appointed representative for the province, busy with implementing and supervising central prerogatives of the Prussian government. In the following decades, ''Landeshauptmann'' gradually replaced the earlier expression ''Landesdirektor'' in all but one of Prussia's provinces. When the kingdom turned into a free state in 1920, only the ''Landtag'' of Brandenburg had decided to keep the traditional expression.Cf. article: "Landesdirektor", in: ''Der Große Brockhaus: Handbuch des Wissens in zwanzig Bänden'': 21 vols.; Leipzig: Brockhaus, ¹⁵1928–1935; vol. 11 (1932), p. 71. With the abolition of democratic self-rule on all government levels in the course of the '' Gleichschaltung'' process after the Nazi takeover in 1933, the office-holders were furloughed or retired and the offices remained vacant.

Klaipėda Region

The Klaipėda Region (), which was dissected from

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and annexed by

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

in the Klaipėda Revolt of 1923, continued the usage of the terms ''Landesdirektor'' (i.e. government member) and Landesdirektorium (; i.e. government). The head of government was given the title Landespräsident (state president).

References

{{Authority control Gubernatorial titles Politics of Austria Politics of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Government of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Federalism in Austria