While the spouses of government leaders play an important role abroad, in Austria the motto is: just don’t attract attention. Who the top candidates trust privately.
They put their own careers on the back burner and keep the family together in the background, plus they have a vague idea of the role of political partners in Austria. Always stay in the background and do not give the impression that you are discussing political issues with your spouse; Self-confident women on the side of the top candidates are not (yet) pleasant for the electorate. In short: the better half of the top candidates do a pretty thankless job.
The party leaders have very political women at their side: Karin Blum, wife of SPÖ leader Andreas Babler, was elected student representative during her studies. Werner Kogler’s wife is in turn the federal spokeswoman for the Green Economy and Katharina Nehammer, as press spokeswoman for Wolfgang Sobotka, was involved in federal politics long before her husband.
Katharina & Karl Nehammer (ÖVP)
Not a sheet of paper fits between the Nehammer couple. Kathi Nehammer, the daughter of ORF presenter Peter Nidetzky (file number XY), has been married to the chancellor for 17 years. The couple has two children. She has the wedding date tattooed on her left arm.
The Nehammers are both political nerds. Before the Chancellor entered federal politics, Kathi Nehammer was press spokeswoman for former Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka. She has been caring for the family for three years and organizes charities together with Atil Kutoglu.
Sabine Jungwirth & Werner Kogler (Greens)
He kept the move a secret for a long time. Just 18 months after the wedding, Green Party leader Werner Kogler revealed he was tying the knot with his partner Sabine Jungwirth in 2023.
Kogler and Jungwirth, the federal spokeswoman for the Green Economy, married “in the smallest possible circle, there were just the two of us.” The mothers also only heard about the wedding afterwards.
Jungwirth and Kogler have been together for fourteen years. And stepdaughter Miriam is Kogler’s ‘sunshine’.
Karin Blum & Andreas Babler (SPÖ)
SPÖ leader Andreas Babler is enthusiastic about his wife Karin Blum, who works as a municipal councilor in Traiskirchen, that she is the “love of his life”. On New Year’s Eve 2008, Blum proposed to Andreas Babler on the Charles Bridge in Prague.
In SPÖ circles it is said that the Vorarlberg woman from Höchst is ideologically even further to the left than Andreas Babler.
Babel’s wife is also one of his most important advisors. The two have a daughter.
Herbert Kickl with his partner
Virtually nothing is known about the family life of FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl. The passionate mountaineer lives in Pukersdorf.
So far, he has appeared with his partner only once, as Minister of the Interior, when he opened the Police Ball at Vienna’s City Hall in January 2018. This rare photo also comes from this ball visit.
The couple has a son together who is over 20 years old. Little is known about him either. For a few years, Kickl’s son tried to become a professional race car driver, but he competed under his mother’s maiden name so he could pursue his career incognito.
Paul Meinl & Beate Meinl-Reisinger (NEOS)
The NEOS boss describes her life as a top candidate and mother of three daughters as a balancing act between ‘desk and kitchen cupboard’ and this multiple burden is an ‘eternal failure’.
She participated in the 2019 election campaign, a few months after the birth of her third daughter. The husband, Paul Meinl, went on maternity leave with each child – obviously in court. He is the main pillar of support for the thoroughbred politician.
They bought a house together in Bad Aussee in the Salzkammergut as the main retreat for the family.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
