Succession at stake

Three candidates want to become Red Cross President

Hans-Peter Schlachter, Wilbirg Mitterlehner and Gottfried Hirz vie for the presidential chair(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Rotes Kreuz Christian Mathe)

Under very special circumstances, a new Red Cross President will be elected today at the St. Magdalena Education Center in Linz: It will be a "three-way fight". This broke out after the death of long-time President Walter Aichinger.

Following the unexpected death of Walter Aichinger on 27 August - he was at the helm of the blue light organization for 13 years - two men and one woman are vying for the highest rescuer office in the country. This is actually unusual, because up to now it has always been ensured that there is only one candidate. After the death of Aichinger, this candidate was quickly found in the form of the former head of the Green Party in the state parliament, Gottfried Hirz. 

But then everything changed . . . 
But then everything changed, because Hans-Peter Schlachter from Gallneukirchen (he has been with the Red Cross since 1978) also stood for election. And with the former district governor of Rohrbach, Wilbirg Mitterlehner, a woman is also standing for election today. She would be the first woman in history to make it to the top of the Upper Austrian Red Cross.