ÖVP names Christiane Frauscher to succeed Markus Achleitner
Friday 16th October 2026 on 11:15 in
Austria
Austria’s People’s Party (ÖVP) has unanimously selected Christiane Frauscher to succeed Markus Achleitner as an Upper Austrian state councillor, ORF Upper Austria reported on Friday. The 52-year-old lawyer received full support from the party’s executive committee. She was due to be officially introduced in Linz at midday.
Frauscher is from Weilbach in the Ried district and has held senior public-sector roles in Upper Austria for years. After studying law at the University of Salzburg, she worked as a university assistant in Salzburg and Vienna. She later studied business law at Johannes Kepler University Linz and completed training in public management.
She joined the Upper Austrian state administration in 2000, initially working at the Braunau district authority. From 2002 to 2004, she worked on public administration innovation projects at the Federal Chancellery under then-Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel.
After returning to Upper Austria, Frauscher became chief of staff to Deputy Governor Franz Hiesl. She was appointed state finance director in 2014 and, two years later, became a managing director of the Upper Austrian Landesholding, a state-owned holding company. Since 2023, she has led the holding company as part of a joint leadership team.
The Landesholding manages the state’s stakes in a range of companies, including in energy, infrastructure and healthcare. Frauscher also serves on several supervisory boards, including those of Energie AG Oberösterreich, Linz Airport and Kepler University Hospital.
Achleitner, 57, is stepping down as councillor responsible for the economy, tourism, energy and sport to return to the private sector. He plans to remain in office for several weeks to prepare the handover. It is not yet clear whether Frauscher will take over all his portfolios; a redistribution of responsibilities within the state government is also being discussed, according to party sources.
Frauscher lives in Linz and volunteers in youth work and on a parish council.