Clockwise from top left:

• Renner was the first chancellor of German-Austria, the First Republic, and the Second Republic.
• Dollfuss turned the First Republic into a dictatorship.
• For most of his incumbency, Kurz was the world's youngest head of government.
• Kreisky is considered perhaps Austria's most successful Socialist leader.^[1]

The chancellor of Austria is the head of government of Austria, appointed by the president and viewed as the country's de facto chief executive. The chancellor chairs and leads the Cabinet, which also includes the vice-chancellor and the ministers.^[2]

Following World War I, the office was established by the Provisional National Assembly on 30 October 1918 and named state chancellor of the Republic of German-Austria, and its first holder, Karl Renner, was appointed by the State Council. After the Allied powers denied German-Austria to merge with the Weimar Republic,^[3] the country formed the federal First Austrian Republic and the office was renamed from state chancellor to federal chancellor. The first federal chancellor was Michael Mayr. There have been ten chancellors who served under the First Republic until Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss created the authoritarian and dictatorial Federal State of Austria.^[4] Following Dollfuss's assassination by Austrian National Socialists,^[5] Kurt Schuschnigg succeeded him as chancellor and upheld the dictatorship.^[6] Schuschnigg was replaced by Arthur Seyss-Inquart, a Nazi caretaker who held the office for two days, until Austria was annexed into Nazi Germany.^[7]

Austria under National Socialism lost its original republican system of government and was administered by Reichsstatthalter Arthur Seyss-Inquart (1938–1939), Reich Commissioner Josef Bürckel^[8] (1939–1940) and Reichsstatthalter Baldur von Schirach^[9] (1940–1945). In 1940, the country was renamed Ostmark, completely lost its autonomy, and became a sub-national division of Nazi Germany.^[10][11] After the liberation of Vienna and the capitulation of Nazi Germany in 1945, Austria restored its republican form of government.^[12] However, Austria remained under allied occupation until 1955^[13] and thus the country's sovereignty was ultimately still held by the Allied Control Council.

Since the institution of the republic, the People's Party and the Social Democratic Party have largely dominated Austrian politics; the People's Party (and its predecessor, the Christian Social Party) have led nineteen cabinets and served as a junior partner in eight, while the Social Democratic Party (formerly the Social Democratic Workers' Party) has led eleven and served as a junior partner in five. There have been seven parties that never held the chancellorship but participated in coalition cabinets: the Greater German People's Party in five, the Freedom Party and the Landbund in four, the Fatherland Front in two, and the Greens, the Alliance for the Future and the Communist Party in one.

Following a legislative election or in the case of a vacancy, the president conventionally picks the leader of the largest party in Parliament to serve as chancellor, and appoints the remaining members of the Cabinet based on the chancellor's recommendation. If a sitting chancellor dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to exercise the powers and duties of the office, the vice-chancellor becomes acting chancellor. If the vice-chancellor is unavailable, the other members of the Cabinet take over in order of seniority.^[14]

Bruno Kreisky was the longest-serving chancellor, with more than thirteen years in office, while Arthur Seyss-Inquart was the shortest-serving chancellor, with two days in office, and Walter Breisky was the shortest-serving acting chancellor, with only one day in office.

Chancellors

First Republic (1918–1938)

Chancellor			Took office	Left office	Time in office	Election	Party	Cabinet coalition	Ref. and notes
		Karl Renner (1870–1950)	30 October 1918	7 July 1920	1 year, 251 days	1919	SDAPÖ	Renner I–II–III • SDAPÖ • CS • GDVP	[15][16][17] [a][b]
		Michael Mayr (1864–1922)	7 July 1920	21 June 1921	349 days	1920	CS	Mayr I–II • CS • SDAPÖ	[18] [c]
		Johannes Schober (1874–1932)	21 June 1921	26 January 1922	344 days	–	IND	Schober I • CS • GDVP • Technocrats	[19]
		Walter Breisky (1871–1944)	26 January 1922	27 January 1922	1 day	–	CS	Breisky • CS • GDVP	[20]
		Johannes Schober (1874–1932)	27 January 1922	31 May 1922	124 days	–	IND	Schober II • CS • GDVP • Technocrats	[21]
		Ignaz Seipel (1876–1932)	31 May 1922	20 November 1924	2 years, 173 days	1923	CS	Seipel I–II–III • CS • GDVP • Technocrats	[22]
		Rudolf Ramek (1881–1941)	20 November 1924	20 October 1926	1 year, 334 days	–	CS	Ramek I–II • CS • GDVP	[23]
		Ignaz Seipel (1876–1932)	20 October 1926	4 May 1929	2 years, 196 days	1927	CS	Seipel IV–V • CS • GDVP • LBd	[citation needed]
		Ernst Streeruwitz (1874–1952)	4 May 1929	26 September 1929	145 days	–	CS	Streeruwitz • CS • LBd	[24]
		Johannes Schober (1874–1932)	26 September 1929	30 September 1930	1 year, 4 days	–	IND	Schober III • CS	[citation needed]
		Carl Vaugoin (1873–1949)	30 September 1930	4 December 1930	65 days	–	CS	Vaugoin • CS	[25]
		Otto Ender (1875–1960)	4 December 1930	20 June 1931	198 days	1930	CS	Ender • CS	[26]
		Karl Buresch (1878–1936)	20 June 1931	20 May 1932	335 days	–	CS	Buresch I–II • CS • LBd	[27]
		Engelbert Dollfuss (1892–1934)	20 May 1932	25 July 1934 †	2 years, 66 days	–	CS	Dollfuss I • CS • LBd • Heimwehr 20 May 1932 – 1 May 1934 Dollfuss II • VF 1 May 1934 – 25 July 1934	[28]
							VF
		Kurt Schuschnigg (1897–1977)	29 July 1934	11 March 1938	3 years, 225 days	–	VF	Schuschnigg I–II–III–IV–V • VF	[29]
		Arthur Seyss-Inquart (1892–1946)	11 March 1938	13 March 1938	2 days	–	NSDAP	Seyss-Inquart • NSDAP	[30][31]
		Karl Renner (1870–1950)	27 April 1945	20 December 1945	237 days	–	SPÖ	Renner IV • SPÖ • ÖVP • KPÖ	[32][33][34] [d]
		Leopold Figl (1902–1965)	20 December 1945	2 April 1953	7 years, 103 days	1945	ÖVP	Figl I–II–III • ÖVP • SPÖ	[35]
						1949
		Julius Raab (1891–1964)	2 April 1953	11 April 1961	8 years, 9 days	1953	ÖVP	Raab I–II–III–IV • ÖVP • SPÖ	[36]
						1956
						1959
		Alfons Gorbach (1898–1972)	11 April 1961	2 April 1964	2 years, 357 days	1962	ÖVP	Gorbach I–II • ÖVP • SPÖ	[37]
		Josef Klaus (1910–2001)	2 April 1964	21 April 1970	6 years, 19 days	–	ÖVP	Klaus I • ÖVP • SPÖ	[38]
						1966		Klaus II • ÖVP
		Bruno Kreisky (1911–1990)	21 April 1970	24 May 1983	13 years, 33 days	1970	SPÖ	Kreisky I–II–III–IV • SPÖ	[39]
						1971
						1975
						1979
		Fred Sinowatz (1929–2008)	24 May 1983	16 June 1986	3 years, 23 days	1983	SPÖ	Sinowatz • SPÖ • FPÖ	[40]
		Franz Vranitzky (born 1937)	16 June 1986	28 January 1997	10 years, 226 days	1986	SPÖ	Vranitzky I–II • SPÖ • FPÖ	[41]
						1990		Vranitzky III–IV–V • SPÖ • ÖVP
						1994
						1995
		Viktor Klima (born 1947)	28 January 1997	4 February 2000	3 years, 7 days	–	SPÖ	Klima • SPÖ • ÖVP	[42]
		Wolfgang Schüssel (born 1945)	4 February 2000	11 January 2007	6 years, 341 days	1999	ÖVP	Schüssel I • ÖVP • FPÖ 4 February 2000 – 3 April 2005 Schüssel II • ÖVP • BZÖ 3 April 2005 – 11 January 2007	[43]
						2002
		Alfred Gusenbauer (born 1960)	11 January 2007	2 December 2008	1 year, 326 days	2006	SPÖ	Gusenbauer • SPÖ • ÖVP	[44]
		Werner Faymann (born 1960)	2 December 2008	9 May 2016	7 years, 159 days	2008	SPÖ	Faymann I–II • SPÖ • ÖVP	[45]
						2013
		Christian Kern (born 1966)	17 May 2016	18 December 2017	1 year, 215 days	–	SPÖ	Kern • SPÖ • ÖVP	[46]
		Sebastian Kurz (born 1986)	18 December 2017	28 May 2019	1 year, 161 days	2017	ÖVP	Kurz I • ÖVP • FPÖ 18 December 2017 – 22 May 2019 • ÖVP 22 May 2019 – 28 May 2019	[47]
		Brigitte Bierlein (born 1949)	3 June 2019	7 January 2020	218 days	–	IND	Bierlein • Technocrats	[48][49]
		Sebastian Kurz (born 1986)	7 January 2020	11 October 2021	1 year, 277 days	2019	ÖVP	Kurz II • ÖVP • Greens	[50]
		Alexander Schallenberg (born 1969)	11 October 2021	6 December 2021	56 days	–	ÖVP	Schallenberg • ÖVP • Greens	[51]
		Karl Nehammer (born 1972)	6 December 2021	Incumbent	2 years, 62 days	–	ÖVP	Nehammer • ÖVP • Greens	[52]

Timeline