Who runs local government in Austria?
Austria has nine Länder (states) and about 2,090 municipalities. Municipalities are elected and self-governing under the federal Constitution, but between them and the Land sit district authorities run by appointed officials, not elected councils.
Republic of Austria · Federal parliamentary republic · Western Europe
The levels of government below the nation
| Level | How it is chosen | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Länder (9, including Vienna) | Elected Landtag and government; governor (Landeshauptmann) elected by the Landtag | Make municipal laws, supervise municipalities, run much administration on behalf of the federation. |
| Districts (Bezirke) with district authorities (Bezirkshauptmannschaften) | District head (Bezirkshauptmann) appointed by the Land government | State administration: permits, policing matters, social services. Not elected. |
| Statutory cities (Statutarstädte, 15) | Elected council and mayor | Combine municipal and district-authority tasks. |
| Municipalities (Gemeinden, about 2,090) | Municipal council elected; mayor elected directly in six Länder and by the council in Lower Austria, Styria and Vienna | Local planning, building permits, local roads, water, kindergartens, primary school buildings. |
Three questions about local power in Austria
Are local leaders elected?
Municipal councils and (in six Länder) mayors are directly elected; district heads are appointed civil servants.
Which laws set up local government?
Articles 115–120 of the Federal Constitution guarantee municipal self-government; Land municipal codes set details. Agrarian communities are statutory; clubs are informal.
Who are local leaders accountable to?
Voters; the Land government supervises legality and finances and can dissolve a council; audit courts; the Constitutional Court.
Traditional and customary authority
No customary authority. The Catholic Church and other recognised religious communities have public-law status, and church tax is collected by the churches themselves; they have no local governing role.
Community and neighbourhood power
Village communities within municipalities, called Katastralgemeinden or Ortschaften, are mostly units for land registry and identity. Agrarian communities (Agrargemeinschaften), especially in Tyrol, are old co-ownership bodies that manage shared forests and alpine pastures and are regulated by Land law. Local clubs and volunteer fire brigades are very strong.
Points to know
- Vienna is both a Land and a municipality; its 23 districts have elected district councils.
- Austria has many small municipalities; Styria cut its number by about half in a 2015 merger reform.
- The Constitutional Court ruled in 2008 that Tyrolean municipalities had a share in the property of some agrarian communities, a long-running dispute over common land.
Local terms
- Bezirkshauptmannschaft
- District authority run by an appointed official.
- Agrargemeinschaft
- A traditional co-ownership community managing shared land such as alpine pastures.
Sources
- Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz (Federal Constitutional Law), consolidated, Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS), Austrian Federal Chancellery, checked 14 October 2026
- Constitution of Austria (1920, reinst. 1945, rev. 2013), Constitute Project, checked 14 October 2026
- Austria: country profile (territorial organisation, responsibilities, finance), OECD–UCLG World Observatory on Subnational Government Finance and Investment (SNG-WOFI), checked 14 October 2026
- Austria: monitoring of the European Charter of Local Self-Government (Recommendation 446 (2020)), Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (CARTA-MONITOR), checked 14 October 2026
See also: Austria's official statistics and leaders · the 10 levels of power.