Fee ranking: head of the National Library at the top

Johanna Rachinger, the director of the Austrian National Library from Putzleinsdorf, earned 312,500 euros in 2021 – just ahead of Chancellor Karl Nehammer’s salary of 311,967 euros at the time. This is shown by the current income report from the Court of Auditors, which reveals the salaries of local cultural managers for 2021 and 2022.
Rachinger was an exception with her fee in 2021. All other managers of federal cultural institutions had lower incomes than the Chancellor. And even Racheger’s salary fell again to 267,100 euros just a year later.
In second place in the fee ranking is the general director of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Sabine Haag, with 258,600 euros and 260,200 euros respectively. Klaus Albrecht Schröder, as general director of the Albertina, received the same income in both years at 214,300 euros. As general director of the Natural History Museum, Katrin Vohland was faced with a stable gross income of 200,400 euros in 2021 and 2022. Belvedere boss Stella Rollig, who ran Lentos from 2004 to 2016, received an income of 229,300 euros in 2021, which increased to 241,800 euros in 2022. Peter Aufreiter (Technical Museum) received 195,600 euros each. In the case of the Burgtheater, the Court of Audit gives an average value of 228,900 euros and 223,400 euros respectively for Martin Kusej and the commercial director Robert Beutler, while State Opera director Bogdan Roscic had an income of 251,400 euros and in the following year 256,200 euros.
The situation at ORF, on the other hand, is curious. General Director Roland Weißmann, who according to his own statements earns 380,000 euros gross per year, should not be at the top of the payroll. According to media reports, Pius Strobl, who was responsible for the renovation of the ORF building on Küniglberg, may have overtaken him thanks to bonuses.

Millions in salary at the post office

However, the salaries of other state-affiliated companies are much more generous: in 2022, the postal service paid its board members an average of 1.99 million euros per year, while the association paid out 1.46 million euros.