Ursula Stenzel (born 22 September 1945 in

Leopoldstadt Leopoldstadt (; ; "Leopold-Town") is the 2nd municipal district of Vienna () in Austria. there are 103,233 inhabitants over . It is situated in the heart of the city and, together with Brigittenau (20th district), forms a large island surrou ...

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. ...

) is an Austrian politician who was a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) from 1996 to 2006. Until September 2015, she was 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 ...

. She was also a former member of the bureau of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

, and sat on the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

's Committee on Foreign Affairs. As MEP, she was also chair of the delegation for relations with the

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, a member of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence, and a substitute for the

Committee on Budgetary Control The Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) is a Committees of the European Parliament, committee of the European Parliament. with 30 permanent members. It can be seen as the European Union's internal "political watchdog", seeking to identify undesi ...

and the

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) is a Committees of the European Parliament, committee of the European Parliament. It is responsible for issues of employment and social policy, including labour rights, social security, inclusion ...

. Stenzel has been ''Bezirksvorsteherin'' (district mayor) of

Innere Stadt The Innere Stadt (; ; "Inner City") is the 1st municipal Districts of Vienna, district of Vienna () located in the center of the Austrian capital. The Innere Stadt is the old town of Vienna. Until the city boundaries were expanded in 1850, the I ...

, Vienna's 1st district and

old town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

, from 2005 until she stepped down in 2015. Her successor as district mayor is Markus Figl (

ÖVP 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 ...

Family

Stenzel was born in a Catholic family of Jewish descent. Her father was engineer of the North railway, Stenzels mother was the daughter of a

hazzan A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' (, plural ; ; ) is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who leads the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this prayer leader is often referred to as a cantor, a term al ...

and granddaughter of a rabbi, both from the synagogue in the Rotensterngasse in

, the second municipal district of Vienna.

Career

* Studied journalism, political science and modern history * Journalist and presenter at ORF (1972–1999) * Member of the European Parliament * Delegation member, EU-Poland Joint Parliamentary Committee (1997–2002) * Delegation Chair, EU-Czech Republic Joint Parliamentary Committee (2002–2004) * Schuman Prize

Controversies

Protests against about fixed closing hours

Stenzel has been criticised by local and national artists for her conservative positions, most notably for her outspoken support of the introduction of a closing time in Vienna's 1'st district ("Innere Stadt"). In answer to Stenzels proposal, a number of Viennese club owners and deejays created a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the Duck Sauce

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

"Barbra Streisand" which also included a satirical video titled ''Ursula stress ned'' (Ursula don't stress). The single became widely popular within days and the video quickly went viral on

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Switch to Austrian Freedom Party

Shortly before the Viennese municipal election of 2015, the Viennese regional administration of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) decided that it would not endorse Stenzel as district mayor for another term. In reaction, Stenzel left the Christian democratic and conservative ÖVP to join the right-wing populist and national-conservative Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). However, as the ÖVP managed to keep her relative majority in the first district (despite losing 12,27% of their voters from the elections in 2010) and the FPÖ only coming in third, Stenzel had to step down as district mayor and was succeeded by Markus Figl from the ÖVP.Official final result of the 2005 elections in Vienna's First District
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References

External links

European Parliament archive

Declaration
of financial interests (in German;

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file) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stenzel, Ursula 1945 births Living people Austrian People's Party MEPs MEPs for Austria 1996–1999 MEPs for Austria 1999–2004 MEPs for Austria 2004–2009 Austrian Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism Austrian people of Jewish descent People from Leopoldstadt ORF (broadcaster) people 20th-century women MEPs for Austria 21st-century women MEPs for Austria