Barbara Rosenkranz
Barbara Rosenkranz, born on June 20, 1958 in Salzburg, is an Austrian politician, housewife and Member of Parliament for the FPÖ (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs; Freedom Party of Austria).
Political Career[edit]
Barbara Rosenkranz was elected to the Parliament of Lower Austria in 1993, and has chaired her party group since 2000. In 2002, she was elected to the National Council of Austria, where she served on the committees for family, health, interior and education affairs, and chaired the Committee on Health Affairs. She was her party's top candidate in Lower Austria in the 2008 election. The election was a major success for her party, which more than doubled their representation in the parliament. She resigned as a member of the National Council on April 9, 2008, and the following day she was appointed to the cabinet of the state as Minister of Building Law and Animal Protection.
In addition, Rosenkranz was elected Deputy Chair of her party in the state of Lower Austria in 1996. She was additionally Secretary General of the State Party (1998-1999), and in 2003, she was elected chair of the State Party. Since 2005, she has also been deputy chair of the Freedom Party at the federal level. Furthermore, Rosenkranz was the candidate of the FPÖ for the Austrian presidential election in 2010. Her candidacy was officially presented by the Freedom Party on 2 March 2010. Rosenkranz received 15.6% of the vote, coming second after Heinz Fischer. The voter turnout was only 53.6%, the lowest in modern history.
Education[edit]
After attending elementary school and the Language Lycée, Barbara began studies in History and Philosophy at the University of Vienna in 1976, but didn't graduate.
Notable Work[edit]
Rosenkranz was awarded the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich) in 2007 by Barbara Prammer, the President of the National Council of Austria. The decoration comprises 15 grades and is Austria's highest national honour.
