As recently as June 2026, shortly before the start of the summer holidays, the popular music primary school in Retznei, in southern Styria, was facing closure. Since then, parents’ representatives and the Ombudsperson, Dr Christoph Luisser, have been fighting side by side to preserve this regional educational provision in the market town of Ehrenhausen an der Weinstraße.
The questionable closure plan put forward by Ehrenhausen’s mayor, Johannes Zweytick, was a matter of concern not only for the parents’ association, the Austrian Ombudsman Board and the Department of Education, but also for the public television channel ORF. On the programme “Bürgeranwalt” in June 2026, Ombudsperson Christoph Luisser criticised the lack of transparency and demanded clarification: “Pupils and parents must not be left in the dark. A workable solution must be found as quickly as possible, before the start of the school year.”
Department of Education rejected the application – Retznei site to remain open for the time being
As the Austrian Ombudsman Board’s investigative proceedings revealed, the mayor’s application to close the school was rejected by the Styrian Department of Education on procedural grounds. In his investigation, Ombudsperson Luisser observed a serious case of maladministration caused by the market town of Ehrenhausen, as he described in the ‘Bürgeranwalt’ on 3 October 2026.
Specifically, the municipality had neither drawn up a space utilisation plan nor established the school committee required by law. Furthermore, as a result of this omission, the persons concerned were not given the opportunity to be officially heard. In addition, the municipality failed to rectify in a timely manner the shortcomings identified by the Department of Education in the course of the closure application.
For Ombudsperson Luisser, however, the welfare of the pupils is at the heart of the debate. For the time being, regular lessons can once again take place at the State Prize-winning Retznei Music Primary School. This represents a positive outcome for the persons concerned and a success for the Ombudsperson.
“I am delighted for the pupils, parents and teachers that, for the time being, continued attendance at Retznei Primary School is guaranteed. From a formal point of view, the mayor’s actions were not lawful. The Department of Education also reached this conclusion, which is why the application had to be rejected. “I would like to thank the parents’ association for highlighting the problem, as well as the Styrian Regional Minister for Education, Stefan Hermann – who is also President of the Department of Education – for his swift intervention,” said Ombudsperson Luisser.
