Christian Kern

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Christian Kern

Chancellor of Austria

Incumbent

Assumed office
17 May 2016

President

Heinz Fischer
Doris Bures (Acting; Designate)

Deputy

Reinhold Mitterlehner

Preceded by

Reinhold Mitterlehner (Acting)

Chair of the Social Democratic Party

Incumbent

Assumed office
25 June 2016

Preceded by

Michael Hupl (Acting)

Personal details

Born

4 January 1966 (age 50)

Vienna, Austria

Political party

Social Democratic Party

Spouse(s)

Karin Wessely (19852001)

Eveline Steinberger

Children

3 sons (with Wessely)

1 daughter (with Steinberger)

Alma mater

University of Vienna
University of St. Gallen

Christian Kern (Austrian German pronunciation: [krstja:n krn]; born 4 January 1966 in Vienna) is the
incumbent Chancellor of Austria and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SP).
A business journalist by profession, the member of Austria's Social Democratic Party served as
spokesman of the SP's parliamentary group leader in the mid-1990s, before he became a senior
manager in Austria's leading electricity company Verbund AG. In 2010, Kern was appointed CEO of
the state-owned Austrian Federal Railways (BB), chairing the Community of European Railway
and Infrastructure Companies (CER) from 2014 onwards. Following the resignation of Werner
Faymann amidst the Austrian presidential election, the governing Social Democrats nominated Kern
for the country's highest executive office.
Kern was sworn in as Chancellor of Austria on 17 May 2016, vowing to continue the "Grand
coalition" with Austrian People's Party (VP), but promising a "New Deal" that would bring about
more jobs by cutting red tape while ensuring ordinary workers receive a share of economic
prosperity. Kern criticized the Austrian political elite as being power-obsessed and devoid of a
meaningful political agenda about the country's future.

Contents
[hide]

1Early life and education

2Career
o 2.1CEO of the Austrian Federal Railways
o 2.2Chancellor of Austria
3Personal life
4References
5External links

Early life and education[edit]

Kern was raised in Simmering, a working-class district of Vienna, as the son of an electrician and a
secretary.[1] He studied journalism andcommunication at the University of Vienna followed by
postgraduate studies at the Management Zentrum St. Gallen.

Career[edit]
Kern started his career in 1989 as a business journalist writing for the Wirtschaftspressedienst and
Austrian business magazine Option. In 1991, he became an assistant of the Federal Chancellery's
undersecretary of state for civil service, Peter Kostelka (de). When Kostelka became chairman of
the Social Democratic Party (SP) parliamentary group in 1994, Kern remained his chief of office
and spokesman.
In 1997, Kern moved to the largest Austrian electricity supplier, the Verbund AG, where from 1999
he oversaw marketing and sales. In 2007 he was appointed a senior manager overseeing
foreign mergers & acquisitions, investments, and the Austrian high-voltage transmission grid[2]

CEO of the Austrian Federal Railways[edit]

Kern 2011 at the opening of the modernized Bahnhofscity Wien West

Kern with Transport Minister Doris Bures at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Semmering-Basistunnel (de)

In 2010, Kern was selected to take over the post as CEO of the Austrian Federal
Railways (BB).[1] He was appointed chairman of theCommunity of European Railway and
Infrastructure Companies (CER) in 2014.[3] Kern has been a board member of FK Austria Wien since
2009.
In 2012, BB celebrated the 175th anniversary of the Nordbahn, the earliest predecessor company
marking the start of rail transport in Austria. Kern inaugurated an exhibition on the company's
complicity with the Third Reich, named "The Suppressed Years Railway and National Socialism in
Austria 19381945". He referred to that period as "the darkest part of our company's history," adding
that "We are obliged to commemorate and with this documentation we would like to further
contribute to coming to terms with the past. No matter how incredible these events may seem to us
today, we need to clearly accept these times as part of our BB history."[4] The exhibition later went
on tour and was presented at the European Parliament's parliamentary building in Brussels.[5] For his
extraordinary engagement accounting for the company's past, in June 2013 the Vienna Israelite
Community awarded Kern the Marietta and Friedrich Torberg Medal.[6]
In the course of the 2015 refugee crisis, Kern organized the transport of hundred thousands of
refugees coming from the "Balkan route" across the country. He is considered a supporter of
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policy.[7] Leading Austrian trade unionist Roman
Hebenstreit (de), who is also chairman of the BB's works council described Kern in 2016 as "the
first BB boss to really stand by his workers."[1]

Chancellor of Austria[edit]

Kern at his first press conference as designated Chancellor on 17 May 2016

Kern with outgoing President Heinz Fischer and Vice Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner at the swearing-in
ceremony of his new cabinet members

See also: Kern government

Since 2014, Kern was repeatedly named as one of the possible successors for Werner Faymann's
Chancellor post.[8] In 2015, Austrian news magazine profil referred to him as the "Chancellor of
hearts" and the Federal Railways he led as "the only state institution that flawlessly worked amidst
the refugee crisis."[9]

Half a year later, when on 9 May 2016 Chancellor Faymann resigned from all his posts, Kern was
again named one of the candidates alongside Time Warner manager Gerhard Zeiler and former
Siemens manager Brigitte Ederer (de).[10] On a 12 May party session, the Social Democrats agreed
on nominating Kern for the country's highest executive office. He was announced to be appointed
the new Chancellor by 17 May, and to be nominated as party chairman at the upcoming party
congress on 25 June.[11][12] Kern was sworn into office on 17 May by outgoing President Heinz
Fischer.
At his first press conference, Kern called for a change in the style of cooperation within the coalition
government, warning the two parties risked otherwise "disappearing from the screen". He reaffirmed
his position that in the refugee crisis, Austria was right not to "leave women and children standing in
the rain," while ensuring order and security.[7]
In spite of his credentials as a manager, Kern's nomination of members of the party's left wing, Sonja
Wehsely (de) and Jrg Leichtfried as new ministers was interpreted as a turn towards the party's
left.[13] The appointment of Wehsely, who is known for her staunch pro-asylum course during
the European migrant crisis, was however considered all too controversial, with political analyst
Thomas Hofer referring to it as a declaration of war ("kleine Kampfansage") against conservative
coalition partner VP.[14] Wehsely ultimately declined and decided she would stay city councillor in
Vienna.[15] Hofer however expects Kern to follow the centrist examples of German
chancellor Gerhard Schrder or Britain's Tony Blair, combining pro-business policies with a social
conscience.[1]
Kern appointed Muna Duzdar (de), a lawyer and chairwoman of the Palestininian-Austrian Society,
as state secretary in the Chancellery, where she will be the first Muslim to hold a government
post.[16] The fact that Duzdar, who has previously come out as a sharp critic of Israel, will now be in
charge of Jewish community affairs, irritated the Jewish community. According to Jerusalem
Post author Samuel Laster, Duzdar's appointment may however be considered a "signal of
openness" for Kern who is "widely regarded as a friend of Israel."[17]

Personal life[edit]
In 1985 he married Karin Wessely, with whom he has three sons. In 2001, his marriage with
Wessely, who is a local SP politician in Mdling, a district capital south of Vienna, ended in
divorce. Wessely however supported his nomination as successor to Faymann, and highly praised
him as a charismatic personality, who is able to unite the more left-aligned and the more rightaligned factions of their party.[18] With his second wife, Eveline Steinberger, he has a daughter.[2]

References[edit]
1.
2.
3.

4.

5.
6.

^ Jump up to:a b c d "Christian Kern: no more normal service". The

Local. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
^ Jump up to:a b Luise Ungerboeck (10 March 2010). "Kopf des Tages:
Christian Kern". Der Standard (in German). Retrieved11 May 2016.
Jump up^ "CER Chairman Christian Kern to become new Austrian
Chancellor | CER:Home". Community of European Railway and
Infrastructure Companies. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
Jump up^ ""Repressed Years the Austrian Railways and National
Socialism between 1938 and 1945"" (Press release). Agentur Milli
Segal. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015.
Jump up^ "The Suppressed Years Railway and National Socialism in
Austria 1938 1945" (PDF). BB. 2014. Retrieved 21 May2016.
Jump up^ "Torberg-Medaille fr Christian Kern" (in German). BB.
Retrieved 21 May 2016.

7.

8.

9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

14.
15.
16.

17.
18.

^ Jump up to:a b Ralph Atkins (17 May 2016). "New Austrian leader
warns mainstream parties may disappear". Financial Times.
Retrieved 21 May 2016.
Jump up^ Rosemarie Schwaiger (2 August 2014). "BB-Chef
Christian Kern hat Chancen, Nachfolger von Kanzler Faymann zu
werden". profil (in German). Retrieved 21 May 2016.
Jump up^ Eva Linsinger (16 September 2015). "Christian Kern:
Kanzler der Herzen". profil (in German). Retrieved 21 May2016.
Jump up^ Eric Frey (11 May 2016). "Kanzlernachfolge: Lieber Zeiler
als Kern". Der Standard (in German). Retrieved 21 May2016.
Jump up^ "SP legt sich offenbar fest" (in German). ORF. 12 May
2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
Jump up^ Cynthia Kroet (12 May 2016). "Christian Kern named as
new Austrian Chancellor". Politico. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
Jump up^ Oliver Pink (12 May 2016). "Christian Kern: Ein
Pragmatiker mit Linksdrall". Die Presse (in German). Retrieved 21
May 2016.
Jump up^ "Wehsely als Ministerin wre "Kampfansage"" (in
German). ORF. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
Jump up^ "Wehsely sagt Kern ab". sterreich (in German). 16 May
2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
Jump up^ "Muna Duzdar: Faymann-Kritikerin sitzt nun im
Kanzleramt". Die Presse (in German). 17 May 2016. Retrieved 27
May 2016.
Jump up^ Samuel Laster (24 May 2016). "Austrias election, Jews
and Israel". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
Jump up^ "Ex-Frau hofft auf Christian Kern". Niedersterreichische
Nachrichten (in German). 11 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May2016.

External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Christian
Kern.

Christian Kern at meineabgeordneten.at (German)

Business positions

Preceded by
Peter Klugar

Chief Executive Officer of Austrian

Federal Railways
20102016

Vacant

Political offices
Preceded by
Reinhold Mitterlehner
Acting

Chancellor of Austria
2016present

Party political offices

Incumbent

Preceded by
Michael Hupl

Leader of the Social Democratic Party

2016present

Acting

Incumbent

[show]

Chancellors of Austria

[show]

European Council

[show]

SP party chairs

Authority control

WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 313262530
GND: 1064274978

Categories:

Chancellors of Austria

1966 births

Austrian businesspeople

Austrian Federal Railways

Living people

Politicians from Vienna

Social Democratic Party of Austria politicians

University of Vienna alumni

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