Gerhard Karner

Gerhard Karner spent his childhood and youth in St. Gotthard (municipality of Texingtal) and graduated from Melk Abbey High School, which he graduated with the Matura. Karner later studied business administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. He then worked in the private sector and worked from November 1996 to February 2000 as a press officer for the Lower Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). From February 2000 to April 2003 he was press spokesman for Interior Minister Ernst Strasser. In April 2003 he took over the position of regional manager of the ÖVP Lower Austria.

Karner was politically active as a local councilor in Texingtal from 1995, and from April 24, 2003 also as an ÖVP member in the Lower Austrian state parliament. Karner was security spokesman for the ÖVP state parliament club.[1] On October 22, 2015, he became second president of the state parliament.[2] In the same year he was also mayor of Texingtal. On December 3, 2021, he was nominated as Minister of the Interior in the designated federal government of Nehammer and sworn in by the Federal President on December 6, 2021.[3] he lay with his swearing in as Minister down all communal and national political offices.[4]

His state parliament mandate went to Marlene Zeidler-Beck,[5] as second state parliament president Karl Moser should succeed him.[6]

Even before he became Minister of the Interior, he was criticized by left-wing historians as mayor. The Texingtal community, of which he was mayor, has been running the Dollfuss Museum in the original birthplace of Engelbert Dollfuss since 1998. In 2018 Karner wanted to deal with the "controversial person Dollfuss". However, Karner saw nothing worth questioning about the uncritical museum.[7]

• 2014: Great Silver Medal of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria[8]
• 2019: Golden Commander's Cross of Honor for Services to the State of Lower Austria[9]