1. In 2010, Kern was appointed CEO of the state-owned Austrian Federal Railways, chairing the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies from 2014 onwards.
20 Facts About Christian Kern
1. 2.
Christian Kern was sworn in as Chancellor of Austria on 17 May 2016, vowing to continue the grand coalition with the People's Party 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.
3.
Christian Kern criticized the Austrian political elite as being power-obsessed and devoid of a meaningful political agenda about the country's future.
4.
Christian Kern was raised in Simmering, a working-class district of Vienna, as the son of an electrician and a secretary.
5.
Christian Kern studied journalism and communication at the University of Vienna followed by postgraduate education at the Management Zentrum St Gallen.
6.
Christian Kern started his career in 1989 as a business journalist writing for the Wirtschaftspressedienst and Austrian business magazine Option.
7.
When Kostelka became chairman of the Social Democratic Party parliamentary group in 1994, Christian Kern remained his chief of office and spokesman.
8.
In 1997, Christian Kern moved to the largest Austrian electricity supplier, the Verbund AG, where from 1999 he oversaw marketing and sales.
9.
In 2010, Christian Kern was selected to take over the post as CEO of the Austrian Federal Railways.
10.
Christian Kern was appointed chairman of the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies in 2014.
11.
Christian Kern has been a board member of FK Austria Wien since 2009.
12.
Christian Kern is considered a supporter of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's migration policy.
13.
Since 2014, Christian Kern was repeatedly named as one of the possible successors for Werner Faymann's chancellor post.
14.
Half a year later, when on 9 May 2016 Chancellor Faymann resigned from all his posts, Christian Kern was again named one of the candidates alongside Time Warner manager Gerhard Zeiler and former Siemens manager Brigitte Ederer.
15.
At his first press conference, Christian Kern called for a change in the style of cooperation within the coalition government, warning the two parties risked otherwise "disappearing from the screen".
16.
Christian Kern 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.
17.
At the time, observers expected Christian Kern to follow the centrist examples of German chancellor Gerhard Schroder or Britain's Tony Blair, combining pro-business policies with a social conscience.
18.
Christian Kern appointed Muna Duzdar, 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.
19.
In September 2018, Christian Kern announced that he would resign as national party leader and instead run as top candidate for the Austrian Social Democrats in the European Parliament elections.
20.
In 1985, Christian Kern married Karin Wessely, with whom he has three sons.