Chief of the General Staff (Austria)

Chief of the General Staff
Chief of the General Staff
Chef des Generalstabes des Bundesheeres (German)
	Roundel of Austria
	Flag of Austrian general
	Incumbent; Rudolf Striedinger [de]; since 20 October 2022
	General staff of the Bundesheer ; Ministry of Defense
Style	Mr. Chief of the General Staff ; (formal)
Status	Head of a general staff
Member of	General staff
Reports to	Minister of Defense
Seat	Rossauer Barracks, Innere Stadt, Vienna
Precursor	Chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff
First holder	Rudolf Vidossich ; as Army Inspector of the Bundesheer (1922)
Website	Official website

The Chief of the Austrian General Staff (German: Chef des Generalstabes des Bundesheeres) is the highest-ranking military officer in the Austrian Armed Forces and is responsible for maintaining control over the service branches.

List of chiefs of the general staff

Army Inspectors (1922–1937)

No.	Army Inspector	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	Vidossich, RudolfOberstbrigadier Rudolf Vidossich (1872–1929)	1922	1923	0–1 years
2	Körner, TheodorMajor General Theodor Körner (1873–1957) ^[a]	1923	1924	0–1 years
3	Schneider, JosefMajor General Josef Schneider	1924	December 1924	0 years
4	Buzek, ThomasGeneral Thomas Buzek	January 1925	1926	0–1 years
5	Schilhawsky, RichardGeneral Richard Schilhawsky (1879–1960)	1926	1929	2–3 years
6	Schilhawsky, RichardGeneral Ludwig von Eimannsberger (1878–1945)	1929	1930	0–1 years
7	Knaus, SiegmundGeneral of the Infantry Siegmund Knaus (1879–1971)	1930	1932	1–2 years
8	Schilhawsky, SigismundGeneral of the Infantry Sigismund Schilhawsky	1932	1937	4–5 years

General Inspector of Troops (1937–1938)

No.	Portrait	General Inspector of Troops	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Bahnbrück, SigismundGeneral of the Infantry Sigismund Ritter Schilhawsky von Bahnbrück (1881–1957)	1937	12 March 1938	0–1 years

Chiefs of the General Staff (1936–1938)

No.	Portrait	Chief of the General Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Jansa, AlfredLieutenant field marshal Alfred Jansa (1884–1963) ^[b]	1 April 1936	12 February 1938	1 year, 317 days
2		Böhme, FranzMajor General Franz Böhme (1885–1947) ^[c]	12 February 1938	12 March 1938	28 days

General Inspectors of Troops (1956–2002)

No.	General Inspectors of Troops	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	Fussenegger, ErwinGeneral Erwin Fussenegger [de] (1908–1986)	31 August 1956	16 December 1970	14 years, 107 days
2	Seitz, OttoGeneral of the Infantry Otto Seitz [de] (1911–1974)	1 January 1971	30 November 1971	349 days
3	Leeb, AntonGeneral of the Infantry Anton Leeb [de] (1913–2008)	30 November 1971	31 December 1977	6 years, 31 days
4	Wingelbauer, HubertGeneral of the Infantry Hubert Wingelbauer [de] (1915–1987)	1 January 1978	31 December 1980	3 years, 0 days
5	Scharff, HeinzGeneral Heinz Scharff [de] (1920–2014)	1 January 1981	31 December 1986	6 years, 0 days
6	Tauschitz, OthmarGeneral Othmar Tauschitz [de] (1925–2022)	1 January 1987	1 October 1990	4 years, 273 days
7	Majcen, KarlGeneral Karl Majcen [de] (born 1934)	1 October 1990	20 December 1999	9 years, 80 days
8	Pleiner, HorstGeneral Horst Pleiner [de] (born 1941)	1 January 2000	1 December 2002	2 years, 334 days

Chiefs of the General Staff (2002–present)

No.	Chief of the General Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1	Ertl, RolandGeneral Roland Ertl [de] (born 1945)	1 December 2002	30 November 2007	4 years, 364 days	—
2	Entacher, EdmundGeneral Edmund Entacher [de] (born 1949)	30 November 2007	24 January 2011	3 years, 55 days	—
–	Commenda, OthmarLieutenant General Othmar Commenda (born 1954) Acting	24 January 2011	7 November 2011	287 days	^[1]
(2)	Entacher, EdmundGeneral Edmund Entacher [de] (born 1949)	7 November 2011	23 March 2013	1 year, 136 days	^[2]
3	Commenda, OthmarGeneral Othmar Commenda (born 1954)	22 May 2013	24 July 2018	5 years, 63 days	^[1]
4	Brieger, RobertMajor general Robert Brieger (born 1955)	24 July 2018	6 May 2022	3 years, 286 days	^[3]^[4]
5	Striedinger, RudolfMajor general Rudolf Striedinger [de] (born 1961)	20 October 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 68 days	^[5]

Notes

^ Later served as the President of Austria from 1951 to 1957.
^ Dismissed according to paragraph 8 of the Berchtesgaden agreement of 12 February 1938.
^ Appointed according to paragraph 8 of the Berchtesgaden agreement of 12 February 1938.

References

^ ^a ^b Böhmer, Christian (22 May 2013). "„Commander" Commenda soll fürs Heer begeistern". Kurier (in German). KURIER Medienhaus. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
^ "Entacher wird in den Ruhestand verabschiedet". BVZ (in German). 22 March 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
^ "Commendas Nachfolger als Generalstabschef steht fest". ORF (in German). Retrieved 21 July 2018.
^ "Verteidigungsministerin Tanner verabschiedet Generalstabschef Brieger". bundesheer.at (in German). Bundesheer. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
^ "General Rudolf Striedinger tritt Amt als neuer Generalstabschef an". ots.at (in German). Wien. PK/PK. 20 October 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.

[1] Later served as the President of Austria from 1951 to 1957.

[2] Dismissed according to paragraph 8 of the Berchtesgaden agreement of 12 February 1938.

[3] Appointed according to paragraph 8 of the Berchtesgaden agreement of 12 February 1938.

[Commenda-4] Böhmer, Christian (22 May 2013). "„Commander" Commenda soll fürs Heer begeistern". Kurier (in German). KURIER Medienhaus. Retrieved 12 February 2023.

[5] "Entacher wird in den Ruhestand verabschiedet". BVZ (in German). 22 March 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2018.

[6] "Commendas Nachfolger als Generalstabschef steht fest". ORF (in German). Retrieved 21 July 2018.

[7] "Verteidigungsministerin Tanner verabschiedet Generalstabschef Brieger". bundesheer.at (in German). Bundesheer. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.

[8] "General Rudolf Striedinger tritt Amt als neuer Generalstabschef an". ots.at (in German). Wien. PK/PK. 20 October 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.

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