"People know me"

Schleedorf’s mayor is the second youngest in Austria

At the Schleedorf municipal office, the management of the office, the building department, accounting and now also the municipal management are in female hands. Martina Berger will be sworn in on April 4.(Bild: Scharinger Daniel)

At just 28 years old, Martina Berger is the youngest head of municipality in the province. She wants to be there for the citizens more than her predecessor.

The run-off election in Schleedorf between the ÖVP candidate and the FPÖ candidate was close. Martina Berger won just 25 votes more than her rival Georg Winterreiter. The 51.8 percent or 366 votes were enough for the municipal representative to become Salzburg's youngest head of municipality. She also received a letter from the municipal association. In it, Berger learned that her age made her the second-youngest head of a municipality in Austria after a colleague in Upper Austria (a few months younger).

If I get an opportunity like this, I don't even have to think about it. I got into politics through the rural youth. I want to help shape things and be there for the people.

Martina Berger

The 28-year-old will follow in the footsteps of her predecessor at the constituent meeting of the new municipal council on April 4. "Hermann got me into politics. He asked me five years ago if I wanted to become a municipal representative," says Berger about her career as a politician. Hermann Scheipl, like Berger a member of the ÖVP, no longer stood for election.

Martina Kogler, head of the building authority, and Martina Berger initiated the exercise park, which opened in 2023.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

The Schleedorf resident learned important things about the handover of office from him on Monday and Tuesday at the municipal office. The 28-year-old wants to do one thing differently. "It was clear to me that I wanted to be a full-time mayor. My predecessor had a company on the side. During my house calls, I heard that people always want to have a contact person in the office, and I want to fulfill that," says the ÖVP candidate. Her last working day as a pharmaceutical-commercial assistant in a Seekirchen pharmacy is therefore on Wednesday.

The second important project of the municipal leader is childcare for young children. The issue had been "somewhat overlooked", which is also why her party lost its absolute majority in the municipal elections.

Flachgau has the most female mayors
Why does she believe that the people of Schleedorf trust her for the office despite her age? "Because they know me," she says, for example as the initiator of the exercise park that will open in 2023. With Martina Berger, Flachgau now has six female heads of municipality and the province has 14 in total.