Styrian parliament mourns longtime director Maximilian Weiss

Maximilian Weiss, the longtime director of the Styrian state parliament, died on Saturday aged 58, ORF reported. He stepped down from the role in February for health reasons and was valued for his non-partisan expertise.

Weiss joined the state parliament administration in 1998 and worked in its legislative service until 2007. After a period as a legal trainee in Vienna, he returned in 2010 as deputy director and became director in 2013. During his career, he worked with 10 presidents of the Styrian state parliament.

The state parliament administration said Weiss was an expert in parliamentary law and was appreciated for his ability to work across party lines and bring parliamentary groups together. He played a leading role in developing the PALLAST system, which supported the digitisation of parliamentary work and the move to a paperless parliament. He also promoted cooperation with universities and efforts to strengthen young people’s understanding of democracy.

Weiss was active in Austria’s conference of state parliament directors and helped maintain parliamentary partnerships with Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony and South Tyrol. He also led tours of Graz’s Landhaus, the building where the state parliament works, explaining its history and the parliament’s work to visitors. He leaves behind a nine-year-old daughter.

State parliament president Gerald Deutschmann said Weiss had shaped the institution’s administration both professionally and personally, and praised his reliability, warmth, humour and commitment to parliamentarism.