Petra Ramsauer is an Austrian journalist, author, and crisis reporter best known for more than two decades of frontline war coverage from the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia.
She studied political science at the University of Vienna, specializing in international relations, Islam, and the Middle East, before training as a journalist in Paris.
Petra Ramsauer Quick Facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Petra Ramsauer |
| Born | July 27, 1969, Vöcklabruck, Austria |
| Age | 57 |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Profession | Journalist, Author, Trauma Therapist in Training |
| Education | University of Vienna (Political Science); Fondation Journalistes en Europe, Paris |
| Net Worth | Not publicly disclosed |
Who is Petra Ramsauer?
Petra Ramsauer is one of Austria’s best-known crisis and war reporters.
Over a career spanning more than 25 years, she reported from Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Syria, and Iran, among other conflict zones.
Her outlets included major Austrian and international publications such as Profil, NZZ am Sonntag, Die Presse, Ha’aretz, Welt am Sonntag, and the weekly news magazine News.
Her reporting focused on the human cost of conflict. She gave particular attention to the use of rape as a weapon of war, speaking directly with survivors in Kosovo, Darfur, Eastern Congo, and Libya.
She also authored seven books on topics ranging from climate change to Islamic extremism.
Since around 2020, she has been training as a trauma therapist, drawing on her years of exposure to crisis environments.
Early Life of Petra Ramsauer
Petra Ramsauer was born on July 27, 1969, in Vöcklabruck, a city in Upper Austria. She grew up in Austria before pursuing higher education in Vienna.
Her early interest in international politics and the Arab world shaped her academic direction from the start.
Ramsauer has kept her family background largely private. No information about her parents or siblings has entered the public record.
Her career path took shape when she left Austria to study journalism in Paris after completing her university degree.
That international training gave her the language skills and editorial perspective she later brought to her reporting from the Middle East and Africa.
Petra Ramsauer Age / Birthday
Petra Ramsauer is 57 years old as of 2026, born on July 27, 1969. Her zodiac sign is Leo, a sign often linked with boldness and a drive to lead.
As of 2026, she continues her work as a freelance journalist, author, and trainer in trauma therapy.
Petra Ramsauer Ethnicity and Nationality
Ramsauer holds Austrian nationality, born and raised in Upper Austria. Her ethnic background is Austrian.
She has spent large parts of her professional life working abroad, but her base and identity remain firmly Austrian.
Petra Ramsauer Education
Ramsauer studied political science at the University of Vienna, with a focus on international relations, Islam, and the Middle East.
She completed her Magistra degree there.
After Vienna, she traveled to Paris and completed a course in international reporting at the Fondation Journalistes en Europe.
That training sharpened her skills in foreign correspondence and gave her direct preparation for the conflict zones she would cover throughout her career.
Her combined academic and journalistic training in Vienna and Paris gave her a foundation that few Austrian journalists of her generation matched.
Petra Ramsauer Career
Ramsauer began her broadcasting career in 1991, working as a reporter for ORF and the radio stations O3 and Radio Wien.
That phase ran until 1993 and gave her early on-air experience in Austria’s public media landscape.
Early Career (1991–1999)
From 1993 to 1997, Ramsauer worked as an editor at the daily newspaper Kurier, focusing on environmental coverage.
That shift from radio to print broadened her writing and editorial skills.
In 1997, she joined the news magazine News and over the following 12 years built her reputation as one of Austria’s leading crisis reporters. She led News’s foreign editorial desk during this period.
Her international fieldwork began in earnest in 1999 with coverage of the Kosovo War. She reported from the ground on conflicts that most Austrian journalists covered only from a distance.
Major Positions and Frontline Reporting (1999–2009)
During her decade at News, Ramsauer reported from some of the world’s most dangerous environments.
Her beats included the Intifada in the Palestinian territories, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the civil war in Darfur, and the protest movement in Iran.
She focused particular attention on sexual violence as a weapon of war.
She spoke with survivors across Kosovo, Darfur, Eastern Congo, and Libya, a consistent thread through her reporting that few Austrian journalists had pursued in comparable depth.
In late 2008, one day after Barack Obama was elected US president, Ramsauer resigned from News. She told Der Standard that she had been overworked and that staff cuts had made the environment unsustainable.
That decision led her to become a freelance journalist.
Freelance Career and Syria Reporting (2009–Present)
After leaving News, Ramsauer quickly rebuilt her career as a freelancer. Her first major freelance assignment came during the Arab Spring, when a single phone call sent her to Tahrir Square in Cairo within hours.
She reported from Egypt and Libya as both revolutions unfolded.
From 2011 onward, she filed reports on Syria and Iraq for Profil, NZZ am Sonntag, Die Presse, Ha’aretz, Welt am Sonntag, Ö1, the Swiss public broadcaster SRF, Wiener Zeitung, and Zeit Online. She also contributed to NZZ am Sonntag and Die Zeit.
By 2015, she was one of the few journalists still reporting directly from inside Syria.
After Austria’s refugee crisis that year brought the region into sharp public focus, demand for her lectures and analysis grew across the country.
Petra Ramsauer and Therapy
Ramsauer began training as a trauma therapist around 2020, at the same time she wrote her book Angst (Fear), published in Vienna.
The Falter weekly newspaper reviewed the book in December 2020 and noted that she started the therapy training while writing it.
Her move toward trauma therapy grows directly out of her journalism career.
She spent over two decades reporting from war zones and crisis regions, witnessing the psychological damage that conflict inflicts on both survivors and witnesses.
By 2022, she was receiving requests from schools across Austria to speak about the psychology of war imagery and its effects.
Der Standard reported in May 2022 that she was actively completing her trauma therapist training at that point.
Petra Ramsauer Books and Publications
Ramsauer authored several books across her career, each tied to her reporting focus:
| Year | Title (English) | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Die Klimarevolution (The Climate Revolution) | Global warming and solutions |
| 2009 | So wird Hunger gemacht (How Hunger Is Made) | Poverty and food systems |
| 2012 | Allah an die Macht (Allah in Power) | The Arab Spring revolutions |
| 2014 | Muslimbrüder (Muslim Brotherhood) | The global Muslim Brotherhood network |
| 2015 | Die Dschihad-Generation (The Jihad Generation) | Islamic State and European radicalization |
| 2017 | Siegen heißt, den Tag zu überleben | The Syrian war |
| 2020 | Angst (Fear) | Fear, war psychology, and trauma |
Her 2014 book Muslimbrüder, published by Molden Verlag in Vienna, drew on years of reporting from Egypt, Libya, Syria, and Europe to examine the Brotherhood’s global structure and goals.
Her 2020 book Angst wove together her field experiences, scientific research on fear, and reflections from her developing work as a trauma therapist in training.
Petra Ramsauer Awards and Recognition
Ramsauer received the Concordia-Medienpreis in the human rights category in 2014.
The award, given by the Austrian Presseclub Concordia, recognized her reporting on the consequences of war for civilian populations, particularly her focus on women in conflict zones.
She also received the Prälat Leopold-Ungar-Preis in the print category, also in 2014. In December 2020, she won the Siegerin des Jahres (Woman of the Year) award in the media category.
The Concordia jury specifically noted her ability to direct attention to groups facing discrimination due to their gender or refugee status, calling her work a meaningful contribution against all forms of discrimination.
Petra Ramsauer Net Worth
Petra Ramsauer’s exact net worth is not publicly disclosed.
Her income derives from her career as a freelance journalist, her book royalties across seven publications, and her lecture and speaking engagements.
Neither Ramsauer nor any credible financial source has published a figure.
Her books appeared with established Austrian publishers including Molden Verlag and Kremayr and Scheriau, and her work ran in major European outlets, reflecting a sustained career at the professional level.
Ramsauer has not discussed her finances publicly.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Petra Ramsauer?
Petra Ramsauer is 57 years old as of 2026, born on July 27, 1969, in Vöcklabruck, Austria.
What is Petra Ramsauer known for?
She is known as one of Austria’s leading war and crisis journalists, with frontline reporting from Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Darfur, Syria, and the Arab Spring countries over more than 25 years.
Is Petra Ramsauer becoming a therapist?
She began training as a trauma therapist around 2020 and was still completing that training as of 2022. The work builds on her extensive experience in conflict zones.
Where did Petra Ramsauer study?
She completed her Magistra degree in political science at the University of Vienna, then trained in international journalism at the Fondation Journalistes en Europe in Paris.
What awards has Petra Ramsauer won?
She won the Concordia-Medienpreis for human rights in 2014, the Prälat Leopold-Ungar-Preis in the print category in 2014, and the Siegerin des Jahres media award in December 2020.
How many books has Petra Ramsauer written?
She authored seven books between 2007 and 2020, covering topics from climate change and food poverty to the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic State radicalization, the Syrian war, and the psychology of fear.
Conclusion
Petra Ramsauer spent more than two decades in the most dangerous conflict zones on earth, filing reports that consistently centered the people caught inside those wars rather than the political abstractions around them.
Her pivot toward trauma therapy training reflects the same focus: working directly with people in crisis, this time from a clinical rather than a journalistic angle.