Austria’s Niederösterreich reaches 100 female mayors
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Sabine Tolstiuk’s election as mayor brought the total number of female mayors in the Austrian state of Niederösterreich to 100. This milestone represents 17 percent of the 573 municipalities in the region, a fivefold increase since 2004. Niederösterreich now has the highest percentage of female mayors in all of Austria.
The increase in female leadership is occurring despite women still holding a minority of mayoral positions.
Tolstiuk believes traditional gender roles and the challenges of balancing family, career, and public office contribute to this disparity. While approximately 25 percent of deputy mayors and 30 percent of municipal councilors in Niederösterreich are women, this number decreases significantly at the mayoral level. The district of Neunkirchen within Niederösterreich is notable for its higher-than-average number of female mayors, with 27 percent of its 44 municipalities led by women.
Zenzi Hölzl, elected mayor of Gloggnitz in 1948, was Austria’s first female mayor, and Lisbeth Kern served as mayor of Petzenkirchen for nearly three decades, becoming Austria’s longest-serving mayor before retiring in February 2026. Tolstiuk and others emphasize the importance of female role models in encouraging more women to pursue political office, and advocate for creating conditions that allow for a better balance between political responsibility and personal life.
