21 Facts About Karl Nehammer

Karl Nehammer announced his resignation as chancellor and OVP leader after unsuccessful coalition talks following the 2024 legislative election.

Karl Nehammer stepped down as chancellor on 10 January 2025.

Karl Nehammer grew up in Vienna, where he attended Kalksburg Grammar School and subsequently Amerlingstrasse Grammar School, graduating in 1992.

Karl Nehammer completed his military service as a one-year volunteer with further service until 1996.

Karl Nehammer then worked as an instructional trainer for information officers for the Federal Ministry of Defence and as a trainer for strategic communication for various institutions, such as the Vocational Promotion Institute and the Political Academy of the Austrian People's Party.

From 2012, Karl Nehammer completed a two-year university course in political communication at the University for Continuing Education Krems and graduated with a master's degree.

Karl Nehammer is a member of the Catholic Austrian Students' Corporations Sonnberg Perchtoldsdorf within the Mittelschuler-Kartellverband.

Karl Nehammer became active within the OVP party organisation after leaving the military, initially working with the party academy.

Karl Nehammer was then head of the service and mobilisation department at the party headquarters from 2007 to 2008 and the training and networking department from 2008 to 2009.

Karl Nehammer then became director of the party academy's Lower Austria association and was considered close to then-deputy governor Wolfgang Sobotka.

In October 2015, Karl Nehammer was appointed deputy general-secretary and federal organizational speaker of the Austrian Workers' Union, the trade union association of the OVP.

Karl Nehammer succeeded August Woginger as general-secretary of the OAAB in 2016 and held this position until January 2018.

Karl Nehammer ran in the 2019 federal election in fifth place in the OVP Vienna state list, and eleventh place on the OVP federal list.

Karl Nehammer was one of the OVP's five assessors at the electoral authority during the election.

Karl Nehammer was one of three public crisis managers during the COVID-19 pandemic, with responsibility for the enforcement of lockdowns and restrictions.

Karl Nehammer is considered a strong supporter of Sebastian Kurz's refugee policy.

Karl Nehammer led the government response following the 2020 Vienna attack.

Karl Nehammer described the attacker as an "Islamist terrorist" and a sympathiser of the Islamic State, and admitted that intelligence services under his jurisdiction had failed to communicate information that could have prevented the attack.

On 8 December 2022 Karl Nehammer was the architect of the sole veto against Bulgaria's and Romania's admission in the Schengen Area on 1 January the following year.

On 4 January 2025, Karl Nehammer said that he would step down as party leader and as chancellor, following the failure of the government coalition talks between his party, SPO, and NEOS after the 2024 legislative election.

Karl Nehammer began working in the private sector in public relations in July 2020.