Landeshauptmann

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Landeshauptmann (German for "state captain", plural Landeshauptmänner or Landeshauptleute, female form: Landeshauptfrau) is the gubernatorial title of the chief executive of an Austrian state and the Italian province of South Tyrol.

The title originally referred to the governor of a principality or province in the Holy Roman Empire and the Austrian Empire. It is still used in modern Austria and in South Tyrol, an autonomous province in Italy with strong linguistic and cultural ties to the neighbouring Austrian state of Tyrol. In the Czech Republic, a hejtman (German hauptmann) represents each of the 13 self-governing regions (Czech kraj, pl. kraje).

The title was also used by the German empire for governors during the early stages of its colonial rule over South West Africa (1893-1898), Togoland (1893-1898) and German New Guinea (1886-1889, 1892-1899)

Austria

In modern Austria, the title is used for the head of the executive of the nine Austrian states, equivalent to the position of a Minister-President in German states. The Landeshauptmann is elected by the Landtag, the state parliament of the respective state.

The female version of this title would be Landeshauptfrau. When Waltraud Klasnic (ÖVP) became state governor of Styria in 1996, she peferred to be addressed as Frau Landeshauptmann, whereas Gabi Burgstaller (SPÖ), state governor of Salzburg since 2004, prefers Frau Landeshauptfrau. Since 1 July 1988, the Constitution of Austria allows for, but does not prescribe, office designations to be gender-specific [1]

Landeshauptmann and Landesdirektor (Prussia)

In the Free State of Prussia a Landeshauptmann was the elected president within each of the provinces of Prussia. He was elected for six-year terms (and maximally two terms) by the respective Provinziallandtag (provincial diet), representing the rural and urban districts within the province. The districts organised through their elected deputees their utilities, such as construction and maintenance of provincial roads, hospitals, schools, public savings banks, waste disposal etc., in self-rule.

Whereas the Oberpräsident (upper president) was the government-appointed representative for the province, busy with implementing and supervising central prerogatives of Prussia. After the kingdom had turned into a free state Landeshauptmann replaced the earlier expression Landesdirektor (land director), an office established in 1875 with the strengthening of provincial self-rule, in all but one of Prussia's provinces. The holder of the office presided the Landesdirektorium, i.e. provincial government of self-rule. The provincial Landtag of the Province of Brandenburg had decided to keep the traditional expression.[2] With the abolition of democratic self-rule on all government levels after the Nazi takeover in 1933 the office-holders were furloughed or retired and the offices remained vacant.

Klaipėda Region

The Klaipėda Region (German: Memelgebiet, Memelland), which was dissected from East Prussia in 1920, continued the usage of the terms Landesdirektor (i.e. government member) and Landesdirektorium (Lithuanian: krašto direktorija; i.e. government). The head of government was given the title Landespräsident (land/state president).

References

  1. ↑ Constitution of Austria, Article 7,3.
  2. ↑ Cf. article: "Landesdirektor", in: Der Große Brockhaus: Handbuch des Wissens in zwanzig Bänden: 21 vols. ; Leipzig: Brockhaus, 151928–1935; vol. 11 (1932), p. 71.
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