Background
He was born in Radlbrunn, Lower Austria and after obtaining his Matura at Tulln he studied at the University of Natural Resources (BOKU), Vienna.
He was born in Radlbrunn, Lower Austria and after obtaining his Matura at Tulln he studied at the University of Natural Resources (BOKU), Vienna.
Since 22 October 1992 he has been governor (Landeshauptmann) of Lower Austria. He is the longest serving governor in Austria. The transfer of the regional administration from Vienna to Sankt Pölten took place during his administration.
In the year 2000 he was still a supporter of the "black-blue" coalition (Österreichisches Volkspartei (Austrian People's Party) with the Freedom Party (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (Freedom Party of Austria))), but two years later argued against such an arrangement.
Pröll also has a good relationship with Viennese mayor Michael Häupl (Sozialistische Partei Österreichs (Socialist Party of Austria)). Great interest was aroused in Europe when he proposed a tax on mobile phone masts in the state of Lower Austria.
Together with the Sozialistische Partei Österreichs (Socialist Party of Austria) he suggested legally regulating mobile phone transmitters, with the aim of reducing the overall number. At the same time the state planned to set up a local telecommunications infrastructure by means of a Wireless Local Area Network . After an agreement with the mobile radio companies, the taxation was not realized.
The agreement in fact was used as an example for other regions.
In 2006 he hosted a conference with European Union politicians over subsidiarity in Sankt Pölten. Pröll is married with four children. He is the uncle of Josef Pröll, former Austrian Vice Chancellor and Minister of Finance.
The magazine Falter in 2002 reported the response by regional party secretary Ernst Strasser to criticism of Pröll"s confession that he had only ever managed to finish one book, Karl May"s cowboy novel Der Schatz im Silbersee (The Treasure of Silver Lake): "People like that, at least it shows the governor isn"t a know-all."
In September 2014, in an interview with the newspaper Kurier, he denied any interest in being a candidate for the Presidential election due in 2016, saying the idea left him cold: "My life plan is different".
Recent press reports, however, have suggested that he has been sounding out the idea with his staff
Pröll is seen as a supporter of a Grand Coalition between the Österreichisches Volkspartei (Austrian People's Party) and Social Democratic Party (Sozialistische Partei Österreichs (Socialist Party of Austria)).