On 16 January 2011, at the age of 68, Hilde Zach, former Mayor of the City of Innsbruck, Austria, passed away.

 

First elected in 2002 on the 'Liste für Innsbruck", the Innsbruck electoral list, she became the first female mayor of the city of Innsbruck as well as of an Austrian provincial capital.

 

"As Mayor, Hilde Zach showed great leadership skills, and notably in transforming Innsbruck into a true European city," declared CEMR Secretary General, Fréderic Vallier. 'For the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), she was not only a leader but a friend whose positions where highly respected. Moreover, Innsbruck hosted CEMR's General Assembly in 2006, a very important year for our organisation, which saw its Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life adopted." Zach was for that matter the first mayor to sign the Charter.

 

Hilde Zach was also elected a member of the board of the Austrian Association of Cities, ésterreichischer Städtebund, one of CEMR's member associations. In 2008, she was elected Vice-President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, where she had previously held the function of chairwoman of the Committee on Culture and Education.

 

In February 2010, Zach was presented with the 'Mayors that made history" award for her strong commitment to the development of local governance at the European level at the occasion of the European Summit of Local Governments held in Barcelona, Spain.

 

Tribute to Mayor Councillor Hilde Zach (in English and German).