
Michael Häupl
'Michael Häupl' (born
14 September 1949 in
Altlengbach,
Lower Austria) is the
mayor of
Vienna. He is a member of the
SPÖ. He is married to Helga Häupl and has two children.
He studied
Biology and
Zoology at the
University of Vienna and was an academic assistant at the
Vienna Natural History Museum from
1975 to
1983. He was the State Chairman of the
VSStÖ, the student organisation of the
SPÖ from 1975 to
1978, a member of the Viennese Municipal Council from 1983 to
1988, and until
1994, the town councillor for the
environment and
sport. Häupl followed
Helmut Zilk in
1993 as a state party chairman of the SPÖ and on
7 November 1994, he became the mayor of Vienna.
Häupl has won three elections since his appointment as mayor; each of which leading to increased majorities for the SPÖ. In the 1996 City Council election, the SPÖ lost its overall control of the 100-seat chamber with 43 seats on 39.15% of the vote. 1996 also saw a strong
FPÖ, which won 29 seats (up from 21 in 1991), beating the
ÖVP into third place for the second time running. For the period 1996-2001 the SPÖ governed Vienna in a coalition with the ÖVP.
In 2001 the SPÖ regained overall control with 52 seats on 46.91% of the vote; it improved on this in October 2005 with 55 seats on 49.09%. However, Häupl has also presided over a period of increased voter apathy, with turnout dropping from 68.46% in 1996 to 60.81% in 2005.
Häupl is the Deputy Federal Party chairman of the SPÖ and is considered to be one of the most important internal supporters of the current chairman,
Alfred Gusenbauer.
On 14 December 2004 Häupl was elected unopposed to succeed
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing as President of the
Council of European Municipalities and Regions.
External links
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CityMayors profile
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| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
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Helmut Zilk'
| width="40%" align="center" | '
Mayor of Vienna'
1994 —
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
'Current incumbent'
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| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
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Valéry Giscard d'Estaing'
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President of CEMR'
2004 —
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
'Current incumbent'
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