Franz Viehböck

Biography

Franz Viehböck is designated CEO of the Berndorf Group and hitherto only Austrian in space. In spring 1988, Franz Viehböck, then a university assistant at the Vienna University of Technology, responds to an ad looking for an “Austrian cosmonaut (m/f).” Following two years of training in Russia, he spends seven days in space between October 2 and 10, 1991. Celebrated as a space travel champion, he works in the space travel industry in the USA from 1994 to 1999, first at Rockwell’s Space Systems Group, later at Boeing. In 2020, Franz Viehböck (58) will become the new CEO for the 3,000 Berndorf Group employees. The former cutlery manufacturer is today a high-tech group encompassing 16 business segments and subsidiaries. Franz Viehböck, who holds a doctorate in electrical engineering, joined the Berndorf Group in 2002. In 2008, he was appointed CTO. Together with the current CEO Peter Pichler and CFO Dietmar Müller, he makes up the Management Board of the Berndorf Group.