'Austrians' (''
German: Österreicher'') are defined as the people of the
Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states (
March of Austria,
Archduchy of Austria,
Austrian Empire,
Austria-Hungary), and to this extent share a common
Austrian culture and being of Austrian
descent. Common definitions also include speaking
Austrian German as a
mother tongue. Due to their belonging to the
Holy Roman Empire till 1806,
German-speaking Austrians were historically regarded as
Germans, but after the founding of a German
national state, (the
German Empire in 1871), and at certainly after the events of
World War II and
Nazism, this has become out-of-fashion and is generally considered offensive .
Austrians are also often defined by their ''national''
citizenship, which had, in the course of
Austrian history, varying relations to the above, for example referring to a native German-speaker of the one-time
Habsburg empire, or in a wider sense to any citizen of any of the various lands of that empire that did not form the
Hungarian half of
Austria-Hungary. In the latter sense, the definition included speakers of up to twelve different languages. Today there are approximately 8 million Austrians world wide,
[1] even though ethnic identification of who is Austrian is almost impossible, as it is mainly a question of national identity and self-definition.
Etymology of Austrian
The
English word ''Austrian'' is a derivative of the proper name ''Austria'', which comes, via
Medieval Latin, from the
Old High German name ''
Ostarrîchi'', meaning "Eastern Realm". The same word is the source for the New High German word ''Österreich''.
The oldest known mention in writing of ''Ostarrîchi'' dates from the year
996, when it was used to refer to a region in what is now
Lower Austria.
A
Latin translation for Ostarrîchi, ''Marcha Orientalis'', was itself retranslated into German during the 19th century as ''
Ostmark'', which was the official name applied to modern-day Austria for part of the time that it was incorporated into
Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. ''Ostmark'' itself does not appear to have been used during the
Middle Ages.
History
Ancient times
Main articles: Hallstatt culture,
Noricum,
March of Austria
During the migration period,
Germanic peoples started to move from their original position in modern Denmark and Southern Sweden. In the end two Germanic peoples made the area which is now Austria their new homeland: The
Bavarii and the
Alamanni.
The ''Bavarii'' were a large and powerful
tribe which enters history from what is now the
Czech Republic. They swiftly expanded their influence southward, and occupied modern Austria and the area which still bears their name:
Bavaria.
The ''Alamanni'', ''Allemanni'', or ''Alemanni'' were originally an alliance of
Germanic tribes located around the upper
Main. The assembled warbands of the Alamanni frequently crossed the ''limes'', attacking Germania Superior and moving into the
Agri Decumates. As a confederation, they occupied what is now Alsace and expanded into northern
Switzerland, as well as parts of what are now
Bavaria,
Baden-Württemberg and Austria.
Medieval times
Over time the Bavarii and Alamanni were conquered by another Germanic people, the
Franks, and were incorporated in
their empire. The Frankish Empire eventually evolved into the Holy Roman Empire, a vast multi ethnical Empire mostly located in Central Europe. Eventually
Vienna, Austria's capital, grew to become the secret capital of the Holy Roman Empire and a cultural centre for arts and science, music and fine cuisine.
In 1278 the territory, by then corresponding roughly to what are now
Upper and
Lower Austria, passed to the
House of Habsburg, with whose history it became closely associated until the early 20th century. Within a century the Habsburgs had added
Carinthia,
Styria,
Carniola, and
Tyrol to their rule, thus effectively controlling most of the territory of the modern
Republic of Austria. Being ruled from the Duchy of Austria, the name of the duchy came to be informally applied to all these territories collectively, and hence their inhabitants also became known as Austrians.
The Habsburgs greatly increased their political prestige and power with the acquisition of the lands of the crowns of
Hungary and
Bohemia in 1526. Hungary was more successful at retaining its cultural identity than Bohemia, which underwent a period of intense German colonisation, coupled with
Germanization. However, the longer history under rule from Vienna, and the common German-speaking identity of lands such as Carinthia, Styria, or Tyrol, created a sense of Austrian identity.
Early Modern Times
Although not formally a united state, the lands ruled by the Habsburgs would sometimes be known, at least to outsiders, by the name Austria. In reality they remained a disparate range of semi-autonomous states, most of which were part of the complex network of states that was the
Holy Roman Empire (the imperial institutions of which were themselves controlled for much of their later existence by the Habsburgs). However, the second half of the 18th century saw an increasingly centralised state begin to develop under the regency of
Maria Theresa of Austria and her sun
Joseph II. After the
French Revolution and the rise of
Napoleon, the emperor
Franz II formally founded the
Austrian Empire in 1804 and became as ''Franz I'' the first Austrian emperor. For the first time the citizens of the various territories were now citizens of the one same state, while the other germanspeaking states still cultivated their
Kleinstaaterei and didn't success to form a homogenus empire before 1871 when the
German Empire was founded.
A further major change resulted from a reorganisation of the empire in 1867 into a
dual monarchy, with the Kingdom of Hungary gaining a considerable amount of political autonomy as one of the two halves. The other half remained a patchwork of states, broadly coterminous with the modern-day Austria, the
Czech Republic,
Slovenia, and parts of
Poland,
Ukraine,
Italy, and
Croatia. These non-Hungarian lands, formally known as "the Kingdoms and States Represented in the Imperial Council" were sometimes known as Austria, for want of a better name. An alternative label in this context is
Cisleithania.
Modern times
19th-century nationalism
The Austrian lands had also been members of the Habsburg-dominated
German Confederation since 1815. This split political personality also reflected a cultural uncertainty as to whether the German-speaking peoples under Austrian rule were Austrian, or German, or both. The developing sense of a German nationality had been accelerated massively as a consequence of the political turmoil and wars that engulfed
Central Europe following the
French Revolution and the rise to power of
Napoleon Bonaparte. Although the years of peace after Napoleon's fall quickly saw German nationalism largely pushed out of the public political arena, the
Revolutions of 1848 established it as a significant political issue for a period of over twenty years. Political debate centred on the nature of a possible future German state to replace the Confederation, and part of that debate concerned the issue of whether or not the Austrian lands had a place in the Germany polity.
Habsburg influence over the German Confederation was rivalled by the increasingly powerful
Prussian state. Political manoeuvering by the Prussian
chancellor Otto von Bismarck resulted in military defeat of the Austrians in 1866 and the collapse of the Confederation, both effectively ending any future Austrian influence on German
political events. The so-called
Franco-Prussian War and the establishment of a German Empire, headed by Prussia and pointedly excluding any of the Austrian lands, diminished the influence of pan-Germanism in the Habsburg territories, and worked to reinforce the sense of a distinctively Austrian identity as the state turned away from Germany and turned its gaze towards the
Balkan Peninsula.
The 20th century
The last year of the
First World War saw the collapse of Habsburg authority throughout an increasingly greater part of its empire, and the military surrender in November 1918 finally brought with it the abdication of the last emperor. The creation of the
Czecho-Slovak and
South Slav states, full independence for a
rump Hungary, and the post-war treaties imposed by the victorious Allies combined to see the newly-established Austrian republic both with the boundaries it has today, and a largely homogeneous German-speaking population. However, German-speaking communities were also left scattered throughout the other new states, as well as in the southern part of Tyrol which now found itself part of Italy.
Initially the republic took the name
German Austria, initially reflecting the republic being the German-speaking part of the old Austria and showing the popular desire to unite with the new German republic. This hope was to be dashed by the
Treaty of Saint-Germain in 1919, and the new state changed its name to Republic of Austria on
21 October 1919.
Desire for unity with Germany was motivated both by a sense of common national identity, and also by a fear that the new state, stripped of its one-time imperial possessions, and surrounded by potentially hostile nation-states, would not be economically viable.
By 1938, with
Nazi governments in control of both Berlin and Vienna, the country was annexed to Germany as ''
Ostmark''. In 1942 the name was changed to the Danubian and Alpine Districts, thus eradicating any links with an Austrian national past.
Post World War II
The end of World War II in 1945 saw the re-establishment of an independent Austria, although the
Allied Powers remained in occupation until 1955.
Austrians, wishing to distance themselves from the
Third Reich, decided to develop a self-image unambiguously separate from its neighbour, basing itself on cultural achievements of the past and, though not without controversy, the centuries of Habsburgs rule.
Unlike in the early 19th century, Austrians do not consider themselves to be a German subgroup.
[2] Indeed, being (mis)identified as such can cause resentment. The logic of the existence of an independent German-speaking Austrian state is no longer questioned as it was in the early years of its existence. Most Germans likewise consider the Austrians to be a separate German-speaking people like the Swiss. Austria today still remains broadly ethnically homogeneous. However, immigration in recent decades has resulted in around 8,9% of the country being a member of an ethnic or linguistic minority.
Austria's history and geographical location has resulted in recent immigration from
Slovenia, the
Czech Republic,
Hungary,
Slovakia,
Romania, and
Poland. As with neighbouring Germany, there has also been immigration from
Turkey and former
Yugoslav states such as
Serbia.
Culture
Culture on the territory of what is today 'Austria' can be traced back to around 1050 B.C. with the
Hallstatt and
La Tène cultures. However, a 'culture of Austria' as we know it today began to take shape when the Austrian lands were part of the
Holy Roman Empire, with the
Privilegium Minus of 1156, which elevated Austria to the status of a
Duchy, marking an important step in its development. Austrian culture has largely been influenced by its neighbours,
Italy,
Germany,
Hungary and
Bohemia.
Language
Austrian German is a variety of the
German language spoken in Austria. There is no unitary Austrian
language, but a variety of
High German dialects are spoken. Besides the Germanic languages discussed here,
minority languages such as
Slovenian,
Croatian, and
Hungarian are spoken in parts of the country.
Ordinarily, the latter dialects are considered to belong either to the
Central Austro-Bavarian or
Southern Austro-Bavarian subgroups, with the latter encompassing the languages of the
Tyrol,
Carinthia, and
Styria and the former including the dialects of
Vienna,
Upper Austria, and
Lower Austria. The dialect spoken in Vorarlberg is more closely related to
Swiss German than it is to other Austrian dialects, so Austrians from outside Vorarlberg can have difficulties understanding it.
While strong forms of the various dialects are not normally comprehensible to most German speakers, there is virtually no communication barrier along the border between Austria and Germany, since people on both sides of the border speak very similarly. The Central Austro-Bavarian dialects are more intelligible to speakers of Standard German than the Southern Austro-Bavarian dialects of
Tirol.
Viennese, the Austro-Bavarian dialect of Vienna, is most frequently used in Germany for impersonations of the typical inhabitant of Austria.
Cuisine
Austrian cuisine, which is often incorrectly equated with Viennese cuisine, is derived from the cuisine of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire. In addition to native regional traditions it has been influenced above all by
Hungarian,
Czech,
Jewish, and
Italian cuisines, from which both dishes and methods of food preparation have often been borrowed. Goulash is one example of this. Austrian cuisine is known primarily in the rest of the world for its pastries and sweets. In recent times a new regional cuisine has also developed which is centred on regional produce and employs modern and easy methods of preparation.
References and sources
1. Idem.
2. Austria. Library of Congress Country Studies, 2004.. Accessed 1 October 2006.
#
People of Austria (Encarta)
#
Ethnic groups of Austria (CIA Factbook)
#
Austrians (German Wikipedia)
See also
★
Austro-Bavarian
★
List of Austrians
★
Demographics of Austria
★
Germanic peoples
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