Markus Wallner (born 20 July 1967) is an Austrian politician ( ÖVP). Since 2011, he has been the

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

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 ...

Life and work

Markus Wallner was born on 20 July 1967, the son of Herwig and Theresia Wallner in the district capital of Bludenz. He graduated from his gymnasium in 1985. After graduation he began to study political science and history at the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (; ) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. It is the largest education facility in the Austrian States of Austria, ...

, where he was the chairman of the Student Union. In the Association of Industrialists Vorarlberg, he was then in charge of public relations in 1993. On 18 August 1995, he married his wife Sonja, and has three children.

Political beginnings

In 1994, Wallner was first went into politics in contact when he formally became a member of 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 ...

and was employed in the provincial office of the Vorarlberg People's Party in

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 ...

. On 19 April 1995 he also had his first political office as a member of the municipal council of his home town of Frastanz. In April 1997, he became the personal assistant of Governor Herbert Sausgruber on 1 November 1999 until his appointment as country manager of the ÖVP Vorarlberg.

National politics

On 11 October 2000, Wallner followed his party colleague Greti Schmid as Regional Minister in the Government of Vorarlberg. From 29 January 2003, he served in the State Parliament of Vorarlberg as the post of club chairman of the ÖVP parliamentary group. On 13 December 2006, a mandate announced Wallner as a replacement of the resigning Hans-Peter Bischof from the provincial government as state governor, therefore Wallner took over as Governor Deputy.Press Release
for the affirmation of Markus Wallner as state governor. As such, his area of responsibility covered in the Vorarlberg state government on the areas of health law and social security, medical matters, disability assistance and, since 2009, building construction, building industry, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering as well as cable cars and lift technology. Until 2009 he was also responsible for culture, education, archives and libraries, and music schools, but the responsibility went to Andrea Kaufmann.

As head of state in politics

On 7 October 2011, Markus Wallner was nominated by former Vorarlberg governor Herbert Sausgruber as his successor.ORF Vorarlberg:
Sausgruber tritt zurück - Wallner wohl Nachfolger
'. Article from 7 October 2011. Subsequently Wallner took over on October 18, initially a caretaker and since 17 March 2012, he officially became the chairman of the provincial party of the Vorarlberg People's Party.Andreas Dünser:
ÖVP nominiert einstimmig Landeshauptmann Wallner
'. Article of Vorarlberg Online (VOL.at) from 18 October 2011. On 7 December 2011, Wallner was elected by the deputies to be the provincial governor.ORF Vorarlberg:
Markus Wallner zum Landeshauptmann gewählt
'. Article from 7 December 2011. He formed the Black-Green Coalition with the people of the Vorarlberg countryside. The Office shall exercise his deputy as state governor in the current state government Wallner with his party colleague Karlheinz Rüdisser.

Honours

* Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein (20 December 2022).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallner, Markus 1967 births People from Bludenz Austrian People's Party politicians Living people Governors of Vorarlberg Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein