(Redirected from Second Austrian Republic)
'Austria' (
German: ''Österreich'') (), officially the 'Republic of Austria' (
German: ''Republik Österreich'') (), is a
landlocked country in
Central Europe. It borders
Germany and the
Czech Republic to the north,
Slovakia and
Hungary to the east,
Slovenia and
Italy to the south, and
Switzerland and
Liechtenstein to the west. The
capital city is
Vienna.
Etymology
The
German name ''Österreich'' can be translated into
English as the "eastern realm", which is derived from the
Old German ''
Ostarrîchi''. The name was Latinized as "Austria", although it has no etymological connection with the name of
Australia (which derives from Latin ''Australis'' meaning ''The South''). ''
Reich'' can also mean "empire," and this connotation is the one that is understood in the context of the
Austrian/
Austro-Hungarian Empire,
Holy Roman Empire, although not in the context of the modern Republic of ''Österreich''. The term probably originates in a
vernacular translation of the
Medieval Latin name for the region: ''Marchia orientalis'', which translates as "eastern marches" or "eastern borderland", as it was situated at the eastern edge of the
Holy Roman Empire, that was also mirrored in the name ''
Ostmark'', for a short period applied after ''
Anschluss'' to
Germany.
The current official designation is the 'Republic of Austria' (''Republik Österreich''). It was originally known after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1918 as the 'Republic of
German Austria' (''Republik Deutschösterreich''), but the state was forced to change its name to "Republic of Austria" in 1919 peace
Treaty of Saint-Germain. The name was changed again during the
Austro-fascist regime (1934–1938), into 'Federal State of Austria' (''Bundesstaat Österreich''), but restored after regaining independence and the birth of the
Second Austrian Republic (1955–present).
During the monarchy, Austria was known as the 'Austrian Empire' (''Kaisertum Österreich''); however no official designation existed since the empire was strongly multiethnic. After the
Ausgleich with
Hungary in 1867, the empire became known as 'Austria-Hungary' in reflection of the
dual monarchy character.
History
Main articles: History of Austria
Prehistory and the Middle Ages
Coats of arms of the Habsburg Emperor
Settled in prehistoric times, the central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various
Celtic tribes. The Celtic kingdom of
Noricum was claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province. After the fall of the Roman Empire, of which most of Austria was part (all parts south of the Danube), the area was invaded by Bavarians, Slavs and
Avars.
Charlemagne conquered the area in 788 and encouraged colonization and Christianity. As part of
Eastern Francia, the core areas that now encompass Austria were bequeathed to the house of
Babenberg. The area was known as the ''
marchia Orientalis'' and was given to
Leopold of Babenberg in 976.
The first record showing the name Austria is from 996 where it is written as ''
Ostarrîchi'', referring to the territory of the Babenberg March. The term
Ostmark is not historically ascertained and appears to be a translation of ''marchia orientalis'' that came up only much later.
The following centuries were characterized first by the settlement of the country. In 1156 the
Privilegium Minus elevated Austria to the status of a duchy. In 1192, the Babenbergs also acquired the Duchy of
Styria.
With the death of
Frederick II in 1246, the line of the Babenbergers went extinct.
Otakar II of Bohemia effectively controlled the duchies of Austria, Styria and
Carinthia after that. His reign came to an end with his defeat at Dürnkrut at the hand of
Rudolf I of Germany in 1278. Thereafter, until World War I, Austria's history was largely that of its ruling German dynasty, the
Habsburgs.
Rise of The Habsburgs
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the Habsburgs began to accumulate other provinces in the vicinity of the Duchy of Austria. In 1438, Duke Albert V of Austria was chosen as the successor to his father-in-law,
Emperor Sigismund. Although Albert himself only reigned for a year, from then on, every emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was a Habsburg, with only one exception.
The Habsburgs began also to accumulate lands far from the Hereditary Lands. In 1477, the
Archduke Maximilian, only son of
Emperor Frederick III, married the heiress of
Burgundy, thus acquiring most of the
Low Countries for the family. His son
Philip the Fair married the heiress of Castile and Aragon, and thus acquired Spain and its Italian, African, and New World appendages for the Habsburgs.
In 1526, following the
Battle of Mohács, Austrian rulers expanded their territories, bringing Bohemia and the part of Hungary not occupied by the Ottomans under their rule. Ottoman expansion into Hungary led to frequent conflicts between the two powers, particularly evident in the so-called
Long War of 1593 to 1606.
Austria as a European Power
The long reign of
Leopold I (1657–1705) saw the culmination of the Austrian conflict with the Turks. Following the successful defense of
Vienna in 1683, a series of campaigns resulted in the return of all of Hungary to Austrian control by the
Treaty of Carlowitz in 1699.
The later part of the reign of
Emperor Charles VI (1711–1740) saw Austria relinquish many of these fairly impressive gains, largely due to Charles's apprehensions at the imminent extinction of the House of Habsburg. Charles was willing to offer concrete advantages in territory and authority in exchange for other powers' worthless recognitions of the
Pragmatic Sanction that made his daughter
Maria Theresa his heir. With the rise of Prussia begins the
Austrian–Prussian dualism in Germany.
Map of Austria-Hungary
Austria became engaged in the war with Revolutionary France, which lasted until 1797 and at the beginning proved unsuccessful for Austria. Defeats against Napoleon meant the end of the old Holy Roman Empire in 1806. Just two years before the abolition of the
Holy Roman Empire in 1806, in 1804 the
Empire of Austria was founded, which was transformed in 1867 into the dual-monarchy
Austria-Hungary. However, in 1814 Austria was part of the Allied forces invading France and conquering it. Following the Napoleonic wars Austria emerged from the
Congress of Vienna in 1815 as one of three of the continent's dominant powers (together with Russia and Prussia). In 1815 the
German Confederation, (German)
Deutscher Bund was founded under the presidency of Austria. Austria and Prussia were the leading powers of the
German Confederation. Its central institution was the
Bundesversammlung in
Frankfurt. Because of unsolved social, political and national conflicts some of the German inhabitants took part in the
1848 revolution to create a unified Germany. The
Frankfurt Parliament in the
St. Paul's Church elected the arch duke
Johann of Habsburg as a
Reichsverweser, an administrator of the German Empire. For a new German empire would have been possible three options: a Greater Germany ''
Großdeutsche'' with the German-speaking territories of the Habsburg Empire, a Greater Austrian solution, ''
Großösterreichische'', the
German Confederation with the whole Habsurgian territories, and a smaller German solution, ''
Kleindeutsche'' the
German Confederation without Austria at all. As Austria was not willing to relinquish its German-speaking territories to what would become the
German Empire of 1848 the parliament offered the crown the Prussian King
Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Austria grew out of Germany, Prussia grew in. In 1864 Austria and Prussia fought together against Denmark, to free the independent dutchies Schleswig and Holstein. Austria and Prussia could not agree on a solution to the administration of Schleswig and Holstein, which led to the
Austro-Prussian War of 1866. Austria, that fought together with most of the German states was defeated by Prussia in the battle of
Königgrätz in
Bohemia. Austria had to leave the
German Confederation and was subsequently no longer permitted to take part in German politics.
The
Ausgleich of 1867 provided for a dual sovereignty, the empire of Austria and the kingdom of
Hungary, under
Franz Joseph I, who ruled until his death on
21 November 1916. The German-Hungarian rule of this diverse empire, which included,
Czech,
Romanian,
Serbian, and many other minorities, became increasingly difficult in an age of emerging nationalist movements.
World War I and its aftermath
The assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand in
Sarajevo in 1914 by a Serbian nationalist was the proximate cause of World War I, which led to the downfall and the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. War left the country in political chaos and economic ruin, the Central Powers (being Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany and Turkey) having been defeated in 1918. The Empire was broken up - Austria, with most of the German-speaking parts became a
republic (see
Treaty of Saint-Germain) and all of what had been subordinated states became independent countries.
Between 1918 and 1919, it was officially known as the Republic of
German Austria (''Republik Deutschösterreich''). After the
Entente powers forbade German Austria to unite with Germany, they also forbade the name, it was thus changed to the Republic of Austria. The monarchy was dissolved in 1919 and a parliamentary democracy was set up by the constitution of
10 November 1920.
In the autumn of 1922, Austria was granted an international loan supervised by the
League of Nations. The purpose of the loan was to avert bankruptcy, stabilize the currency, and improve the general economic condition. With the granting of the loan, Austria passed from an independant state to the control excersized by the League of Nations. At the time, the real ruler of Austria became the League, through its commissioner in Vienna. The commissioner was a Dutchman not formally part of the Austrian government. Austria had fallen under an international receivership, which had not been seen openly since
Lord Croner became the financial advisor to the bankrupt
Khedivial Government of Egypt a little less than half a century earlier.
Austrofascism and the Third Reich
The
First Austrian Republic, lasted until 1933 when Chancellor
Engelbert Dollfuß shut down parliament and established an autocratic regime oriented towards Italian fascism, (
Austrofascism) to check the power of Nazis advocating union with
Germany.
The two big parties of this time —the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the Conservatives— had paramilitary armies, which fought each other. The "Heimwehr" (later integrated into the "Vaterländische Front"), the paramilitary arm of the Conservative party supported Dollfuß' s Fascist regime; the "Republikanischer Schutzbund", was the military arm of the Social Democrats which was outlawed in 1933 but still existed underground - civil war was to break out.
After the
Austrian Civil War in February 1934, several members of the Schutzbund were executed, the Social Democratic party was outlawed and many of its members were imprisoned or emigrated. In May of that year the Fascists introduced a new constitution ("Maiverfassung") which cemented Dollfuß's power but on
25 July he was assassinated in a
Nazi coup attempt.
His successor
Kurt Schuschnigg, struggled to keep Austria independent but on
12 March 1938 German troops occupied the country and
Hitler proclaimed its
Anschluss with Germany, annexing it to the
Third Reich, Austria thus ceased to exist.
Just before the collapse of the Third Reich, the defeat of Germany and the end of the war,
Karl Renner, astutely set up a Provisional Government in
Vienna in April 1945 with tacit approval of the Soviet forces and declared Austria's secession from the Third Reich.
After the defeat of Germany, Allied Occupation
As with Germany, Austria was divided into a British, a French, a Soviet and an American Zone and was governed by the
Allied Commission for Austria but because of
Karl Renner's action on April 27th in setting up a Provisional Government there was, automatically, a very subtle difference in the treatment of Austria by the Allies (Austria was treated as though, originally, it had been invaded by Germany. Therefore, having being freed, it had been liberated). This Austrian Government was recognised and tolerated by the Four Powers.
Vienna itself was totally within the Soviet Zone and, especially during the time of the
Berlin Air Lift, Soviet military pressure on the access points was, with skilful Allied military and political//diplomatic influence, successfully resisted, Britain's High Commissioner during a large part of this time being the exceptionally able Sir
Harold Anthony Caccia. (Viennese citizens were at very great risk if they attempted to cross and to exit the Soviet Zone, travel to the West being banned.).
On
15 May 1955 Austria regained its independence by concluding the
Austrian State Treaty with the Four Occupying Powers. And with its Second Austrian Republic, (established
19 December 1945 on the basis of the 1920 constitution (amended in 1929) ), the country was declared by the Federal Parliament to be neutral.
Recent history
The political system of the Second Republic came to be characterized by the system of ''
Proporz'', meaning that most posts of some political importance were split evenly between members of the Social Democrats (Labour Party) and the People's Party (Conservatives).
Interest group representations with mandatory membership (e.g. for workers, businesspeople, farmers etc.) grew to considerable importance and were usually consulted in the legislative process, so that hardly any legislation was passed that did not reflect widespread consensus. The Proporz and consensus systems largely held even during the years between 1966 and 1983, when there were non-coalition governments, but can now be called history.
Austria nowadays has five major political parties: The SPÖ (Labour Party), the ÖVP (Conservatives), the "Greens" (Environmental, social-liberal) and FPÖ/BZÖ (both right-wing, nationalist). SPÖ and ÖVP share about 75% of the parliamentary mandates, while the remaining 25% are divided between the the other three parties.
Austria became a member of the
European Union in 1995 and retained its constitutional neutrality, like other EU members (e.g. Sweden). The major parties SPÖ and ÖVP have contrary opinions about the future status of Austria's military neutrality: While the SPÖ pleas for a neutral role in the EU (together with other neutral EU members like Sweden), the ÖVP argues for a stronger integration into the EU's security policy and even an entry into NATO is considered by some ÖVP politicans. In any case, neutrality is a constitutional law and can only be suspended by a two-thirds majority in the Austrian parliament.
Politics
Main articles: Politics of Austria
Political system
The
Parliament of Austria is located in
Vienna, the nation's largest city and capital. Austria became a federal,
parliamentarian, democratic republic through the
Federal Constitution of 1920. It was reintroduced in 1945 to the nine
states of the Federal Republic. The
head of state is the
Federal President, who is directly elected by popular vote. The chairman of the
Federal Government is the
Federal Chancellor, who is appointed by the president. The government can be removed from office by either a presidential decree or by
vote of no confidence in the lower chamber of parliament, the
Nationalrat.
The Parliament of Austria consists of two chambers. The composition of the Nationalrat is determined every four years by a free general election in which every citizen over 16 years (since 2007) is allowed to vote to fill its 183 seats. This period will be extended to five years after the next election. While there is a general threshold of 4 percent for all parties at federal elections (Nationalratswahlen), there remains the possibility to gain a direct seat, or ''Direktmandat'', in one of the 43 regional election districts. The Nationalrat is the dominant chamber in the formation of legislation in Austria. However, the upper house of parliament, the
Bundesrat has a limited right of
veto (the Nationalrat can — in almost all cases — ultimately pass the respective bill by voting a second time. This is referred to as 'Beharrungsbeschluss'', lit. "vote of persistence"). A convention, called the ''Österreich–Konvent''
[1] was convened in
June 30,
2003 to decide upon suggestions to reform the constitution, but has failed to produce a proposal that would receive the two thirds of votes in the Nationalrat necessary for constitutional amendments and/or reform. However, some important parts of the final report were generally agreed upon and are still expected to be implemented.
Recent political developments
In February 2000 the conservative People's Party formed a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, headed by
Jörg Haider. The (at that time) 14 other member states of the
European Union - but not the EU itself - condemned Austria's new coalition, froze diplomatic contacts, which were commonly referred to "sanctions", although they were more or less diplomatic unfriendliness. Given the controversy, Haider chose not to join the government, but he continued to wield influence from the sidelines.
In September 2002, the coalition between the
People's Party and the
Freedom Party dissolved after a shake-up in the Freedom Party. In November 2002, the People's Party made large gains in general elections. After failed coalition talks with other parties, the People's Party again formed a government with the
Freedom Party in February 2003.
After general elections held in October 2006, the Social Democrats emerged as the largest party, whereas the People's Party lost about 8% in votes. Political realities prohibited any of the two major parties from forming a coalition with smaller parties. In January 2007 the People's Party and Social Democrats formed a
Grand Coalition with the social democrat
Alfred Gusenbauer as Chancellor.
Foreign policy
The 1955
Austrian State Treaty ended the occupation of Austria following World War II and recognized Austria as an independent and sovereign state. In October 1955, the
Federal Assembly passed a constitutional law in which "Austria declares of her own free will her perpetual neutrality." The second section of this law stated that "in all future times Austria will not join any military alliances and will not permit the establishment of any foreign military bases on her territory." Since then, Austria has shaped its foreign policy on the basis of neutrality.
Austria began to reassess its definition of neutrality following the fall of the Soviet Union, granting overflight rights for the
UN-sanctioned action against
Iraq in 1991, and, since 1995, contemplating participation in the
EU's evolving security structure. Also in 1995, it joined the Partnership for Peace and subsequently participated in peacekeeping missions in Bosnia.
Austria attaches great importance to participation in the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and other international economic organizations, and it has played an active role in the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Energy politics
In 1972, the country began construction of a
nuclear-powered electricity-generation station at
Zwentendorf on the River
Danube, following a unanimous vote in parliament. However, in 1978, a
referendum voted approximately 50.5% against nuclear power, 49.5% for, and parliament subsequently unanimously passed a law forbidding the use of nuclear power to generate electricity.
Austria currently produces more than half of its electricity by
hydropower. Together with other renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and biomass powerplants, the electricity supply from renewable energy amounts to nearly 80% of total use in Austria. The rest is produced by
gas and
oil powerplants.
Military
Main articles: Military of Austria
The main branches of the Austrian Armed Forces ("Bundesheer") are Joint Forces (Streitkräfteführungskommando, SKFüKdo) which consist of Land Forces (Landstreitkräfte), Air Forces (Luftstreitkräfte), International Missions (Internationale Einsätze), and Special Forces (Spezialeinsatzkräfte); next to Mission Support (Kommando Einsatzunterstützung; KdoEU) and Command Support (Kommando Führungsunterstützung; KdoFüU). In 2004, Austria expends about 0.9% of its GDP for defense. The Army currently has about 45,000 soldiers, of which about half are conscripts. As head of state,
Austrian President (currently
Heinz Fischer) is nominally the Commander-in-Chief of the Bundesheer, however the military authority over the Austrian Armed Forces are in most cases exercised by the Minister of Defense, currently Norbert Darabos.
With the end of the
Cold War, the Austrian military has increasingly assisted the border police in controlling the influx of illegal immigrants through Austrian borders. Austria has been engaged in UN peacekeeping missions despite its neutrality. Currently, larger contigents of Austrian forces are deployed in
Bosnia,
Kosovo and, since 1974, on the
Golan Heights.
States
A federal republic, Austria is divided into
nine states (). These states are then divided into
districts (''
Bezirke'') and cities (''
Statutarstädte''). Districts are subdivided into municipalities (''Gemeinden''). Cities have the competencies otherwise granted to both districts and municipalities. The states are not mere administrative divisions but have some distinct legislative authority separate from the federal government.
Geography
Topography of Austria
Austria is a largely
mountainous country due to its location in the
Alps. The
Central Eastern Alps,
Northern Limestone Alps and
Southern Limestone Alps are all partly in Austria. Of the total area of Austria (84 000 km² or 32,000
sq. mi), only about a quarter can be considered low lying, and only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft). The high mountainous Alps in the west of Austria flatten somewhat into low lands and plains in the east of the country.
Map of Austria
Austria can be divided into five areas. The biggest area are the
Austrian Alps, which constitute 62% of Austria's total area. The Austrian foothills at the base of the
Alps and the
Carpathians account for around 12% of its area. The foothills in the east and areas surrounding the periphery of the Pannoni low country amount to about 12% of the total landmass. The second greater mountain area (much lower than the Alps) is situated in the north. Known as the Austrian
granite plateau, it is located in the central area of the Bohemian Mass, and accounts for 10% of Austria. The Austrian portion of the
Vienna basin comprises the remaining 4%.
Climate
The greater part of Austria lies in the cool/temperate
climate zone in which humid westerly winds predominate. With over half of the country dominated by the
Alps the
alpine climate is the predominant one. In the East, in the
Pannonian Plain and along the
Danube valley, the climate shows continental features with less rain than the alpine areas.Although Austria is cold in the winter, in the summer temperatures can be relatively warm reaching 20-35 degrees Celsius. This year, though, the weather has been changing rapidly from cool temperatures to fairly warm temperatures. Therefore, it will be hard to predict the weather in the future for Austria.
The six highest mountains in Austria are:
Economy
Austria as one of the 10 richest countries in the world has a well-developed
social market economy and a very high
standard of living. Until the 1980s, many of Austria's largest industry firms were nationalised; in recent years, however,
privatisation has reduced state holdings to a level comparable to other European economies.
Labour movements are particularly strong in Austria and have large influence on labour politics. Next to a highly-developed industry international tourism is the most important part of national economy.
Germany has historically been the main trading partner of Austria, making it vulnerable to rapid changes in the
German economy. But since Austria became a member state of the
European Union it has gained closer ties to other
European Union economies, reducing its economic dependence on Germany. In addition, membership in the EU has drawn an influx of foreign investors attracted by Austria's access to the single European market and proximity to EU aspiring economies. Growth in GDP accelerated in recent years and reached 3.3% in 2006.
[2]
Education
Responsibility for educational oversight in Austria lies partly at the Austrian
states (Bundesländer), partly with the federal government. Optional
kindergarten education is provided for all children between ages four and six years old. School attendance is
compulsory for nine years, usually to the age of fifteen.
Primary education lasts for four years. Alongside
Germany,
secondary education includes two main types of schools based on a pupil's ability as determined by grades from the primary school: the
Gymnasium for the more gifted children which normally leads to the
Matura which is a requirement for access to universities and the
Hauptschule which prepares pupils for vocational education.
The Austrian university system had been open to any student who passed the
Matura examination until recently. A 2006 bill allowed the introduction of entrance exams for studies such as
Medicine. Currently all students are charged a fee of about €370 per semester for all university studies. A recent
OECD report critizised the Austrian education system for the low number of students attending universities and the overall low number of academics compared to other OECD countries.
Demographics
_058.jpg)
A painting by
Canaletto of
Vienna during the first half of the eighteenth century.
Austria's population estimate in October 2006 was 8,292,322. The population of the capital,
Vienna, exceeds 1.6 million (2.2 million with suburbs), representing about a quarter of the country's population and is known for its vast cultural offerings and high standard of living.
In contrast to the capital, other cities do not exceed 1 million inhabitants: the second largest city
Graz is home to 250,099 inhabitants, followed by
Linz (188,968),
Salzburg (150,000), and
Innsbruck (117,346). All other cities have fewer than 100,000 inhabitants.
German-speaking Austrians, by far the country's largest group, form roughly 90% of Austria's population. The Austrian federal states of
Carinthia and
Styria are home to a significant (indigenous)
Slovenian minority with around 14,000 members (Austrian census; unofficial numbers of Slovene groups speak of about 40,000). Around 20,000
Hungarians and 30,000
Croatians live in the east-most Bundesland,
Burgenland (formerly part of the Hungarian half of
Austria-Hungary). The remaining
number of Austria's people are of non-Austrian descent, many from surrounding countries, especially from the former
East Bloc nations. So-called
guest workers ''(Gastarbeiter)'' and their descendants, as well as refugees from
Yugoslav wars and other conflicts, also form an important
minority group in Austria.
According to the 2001
census, the mother tongue of the population by prevalence, is German (88.6%) followed by Turkish (2.3%), Serbian (2.2%), Croatian (1.6%), Hungarian (0.5%) and Bosnian (0.4%).
[3]
The official language,
German, is spoken by almost all residents of the country. Austria's mountainous terrain led to the development of many distinct German dialects. All of the dialects in the
country, however, belong to
Austro-Bavarian groups of German dialects, with the exception of the dialect spoken in its west-most Bundesland,
Vorarlberg, which belongs to the group of
Alemannic dialects. There is also a distinct grammatical standard for
Austrian German with a few differences to the German spoken in Germany.
As of 2006, some of the Austrian states introduced standardised tests for new citizens, to assure their language and cultural knowledge and accordingly their ability to integrate into the Austrian society.
[4]
Politics concerning ethnic groups (''Volksgruppenpolitik'')
An estimated 13,000 to 40,000
Slovenians in the Austrian state of
Carinthia (the
Carinthian Slovenes) as well as Croatians (around 30,000
[5]) and
Hungarians in Burgenland were recognized as a minority and have enjoyed special rights following the Austrian State Treaty (''Staatsvertrag'') of 1955. The Slovenians in the Austrian state of
Styria (estimated at a number between 1,600 and 5,000) are not recognized as a minority and do not enjoy special rights, although the State Treaty of
July 27 1955 states otherwise.
The right for bilingual topographic signs for the regions where Slovene- and Croat-Austrians live alongside the Germanic population (as required by the 1955 State Treaty) is still to be fully implemented. Many Carinthians are afraid of Slovenian territorial claims, pointing to the fact that Yugoslav troops entered the state after each of the two World Wars and considering that some official Slovenian atlases show parts of Carinthia as Slovenian cultural territory. The current governor,
Jörg Haider, has made this fact a matter of public argument in autumn 2005 by refusing to increase the number of bilingual topographic signs in Carinthia. A poll by the Kärntner Humaninstitut conducted in January 2006 states that 65% of Carinthians are not in favour of an increase of bilingual topographic signs, since the original requirements set by the State Treaty of 1955 have already been fulfilled according to their point of view. Another interesting phenomenon is the so called "Windischen-Theorie"
[6] stating that the Slovenians can be split in two groups: actual Slovenians and ''Windische'' (a traditional German name for Slavs), based on differences in language between Austrian Slovenians, who were taught Slovenian standard language in school and those Slovenians who spoke their local Slovenian dialect but went to German schools. The term ''Windische'' was applied to the latter group as a means of distinction. This theory was never generally accepted and fell out of use some decades ago.
Religion
While northern and central Germany was the origin of the
Reformation, Austria (and Bavaria) was the heart of the
Counter-Reformation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when the absolute monarchy of
Habsburg imposed a strict regime to maintain Catholicism's power and influence among Austrians. The
Habsburgs viewed themselves as the vanguard of
Roman Catholicism and all other confessions and religions were oppressed. In 1781,
Emperor Joseph II issued a Patent of Tolerance that allowed other Christian confessions a limited
freedom of worship. Religious freedom was declared a constitutional right in the
Austro-Hungarian ''Ausgleich'' in 1867 thus paying tribute to the fact that the monarchy was home of numerous religions beside Roman Catholicism such as Greek, Serbian, Romanian, Russian, and Bulgarian
Orthodox Christians (Austria neighboured the
Ottoman empire for centuries), and both
Calvinist and
Lutheran Protestants.
Austria continued to remain largely influenced by Catholicism. After 1918, First Republic Catholic leaders such as
Theodor Innitzer and
Ignaz Seipel took leading positions within or close to the Austrian Government and increased their influence during the time of the
Austrofascism—Catholicism was treated much like a
state religion by dictators
Engelbert Dollfuss and
Kurt Schuschnigg. Although Catholic leaders welcomed the Germans in 1938 during the
Anschluss of Austria into
Germany, Austrian Catholicism stopped its support of
Nazism later on and many former religious public figures became involved with the resistance during the
Third Reich. After 1945 a stricter secularism was imposed in Austria, and religious influence on politics declined.
As of the end of the twentieth century, about 73% of Austria's population were registered as Roman Catholic, while about 5% considered themselves
Protestants. Both these numbers have been on the decline for decades, especially Roman Catholicism, which has suffered an increasing number of seceders from the church. Austrian Catholics are obliged to pay a mandatory tax (calculated by income—about 1%) to the Austrian Roman Catholic Church, which might act as an incentive to leave the church.
About 12% of the population declare that they do not belong to any
church or religious community. Of the remaining people, about 180,000 are members of the
Eastern Orthodox Church and about 7,300 are
Jewish. It has to be noted that the Austrian Jewish Community of 1938 – Vienna alone counted more than 200,000 - was reduced to solely 4,000 to 5,000 after the
Second World War. The influx of
Eastern Europeans, especially from the former Yugoslav nations, Albania and particularly from
Turkey largely contributed to a substantial Muslim minority in Austria—around 300,000 are registered as members of various Muslim communities.
Buddhism, which was legally recognized as a religion in Austria in 1983, enjoys widespread acceptance and has a following of 20,000 (10,402 at the 2001
census).
A 2005 survey among 8,000 people in various
European countries showed that Austria is among those nations whose populations maintain the strongest belief in
God. 84% of all Austrians state a belief in God, with only the people of
Poland (97%),
Romania (91%),
Portugal (90%) yielding significantly higher numbers. This is a much larger figure than the European average of 71%, or that of
Germany (67%).
[7]
Culture
Music
Austria's past as a European power and its cultural environment have generated a broad contribution to various forms of art, most notably among them music. Austria has been the birthplace of many
famous composers such as
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Joseph Haydn,
Franz Schubert,
Anton Bruckner,
Johann Strauss, Sr.,
Johann Strauss, Jr. and
Gustav Mahler as well as members of the
Second Viennese School such as
Arnold Schoenberg,
Anton Webern and
Alban Berg.
Vienna has long been especially an important center of musical innovation. Eighteenth and nineteenth century composers were drawn to the city due to the patronage of the Habsburgs, and made Vienna the European capital of classical music. During the Baroque period, Slavic and Hungarian folk forms influenced Austrian music. Vienna's status began its rise as a cultural center in the early 1500s, and was focused around instruments including the lute.
Ludwig van Beethoven spent the better part of his life in Vienna.
Austria's current
national anthem was chosen after
World War II to replace the traditional Austrian anthem by Joseph Haydn. The composition, which was initially attributed to
Mozart, was most likely not composed by Mozart himself.
Austria has also produced one notable jazz musician, keyboardist
Josef Zawinul who helped pioneer electronic influences in jazz as well as being a notable composer in his own right.
Art and architecture
Among
Austrian artists and architects one can find painters
Gustav Klimt,
Oskar Kokoschka,
Egon Schiele or
Friedensreich Hundertwasser, photographer
Inge Morath or architect
Otto Wagner.
Science, philosophy and economics
Austria was the cradle of numerous scientists with international reputations. Among them are
Ludwig Boltzmann,
Ernst Mach,
Victor Franz Hess and
Christian Doppler, prominent scientists in the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, contributions by
Lise Meitner,
Erwin Schrödinger and
Wolfgang Pauli to nuclear research and quantum mechanics were key to these areas' development during the 1920s and 1930s. A present-day quantum physicist is
Anton Zeilinger, noted as the first scientist to demonstrate
quantum teleportation.
In addition to physicists, Austria was the birthplace of two of the greatest philosophers of the twentieth century,
Ludwig Wittgenstein and
Karl Popper. In addition to them biologists
Gregor Mendel and
Konrad Lorenz as well as mathematician
Kurt Gödel and engineers such as
Ferdinand Porsche and
Siegfried Marcus were Austrians.
A focus of Austrian science has always been medicine and psychology, starting in medieval times with
Paracelsus. Austria was home to psychologists
Sigmund Freud,
Alfred Adler,
Paul Watzlawick and
Hans Asperger and psychiatrist
Viktor Frankl.
The
Austrian School, which is prominent as one of the main competitive directions for economic theory is related to Austrian economists
Joseph Schumpeter,
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk,
Ludwig von Mises, and
Friedrich Hayek.
Literature
Complementing its status as a land of artists and scientists, Austria has always been a country of poets, writers,and novelists. It was the home of novelists
Arthur Schnitzler,
Stefan Zweig,
Thomas Bernhard or
Robert Musil, of poets
Georg Trakl,
Franz Werfel,
Franz Grillparzer,
Rainer Maria Rilke or
Adalbert Stifter and writer
Karl Kraus.
Famous contemporary playwrights and novelists are Nobel prize winner
Elfriede Jelinek and writer
Peter Handke.
Cuisine
Main articles: Cuisine of Austria
Austria's 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,
Italian and Bavarian cuisines, from which both dishes and methods of food preparation have often been borrowed. The Austrian Cuisine is therefore one of the most multi and transcultural cuisines in Europe.
Typical Austrian dishes include
Wiener Schnitzel,
Kaiserschmarrn,
Knödel,
Sachertorte and
Tafelspitz. There are also Kasnockn, a macaroni dish with fresh Pinzgauer cheese and parsley, and Eierschwammerl dishes. The Eierschwammerl are the native yellow, tan mushrooms. These mushrooms are delicious, especially when in a thick Austrian soup, or on regular meals.
Pez was invented in Austria. Austria is also famous for their
Apfelstrudel.
Sports
The most popular sport in Austria is
alpine skiing and Austria shows constant dominance in the Nations-Cup. Similar sports such as
snowboarding or
ski-jumping are also widely popular.
The most popular team sport in Austria is
football. However, Austria rarely has international success in this discipline, though the
2008 UEFA European Football Championship is conjointly being held with Switzerland. Besides football, Austria also has professional national leagues for most major team sports including
ice hockey, and
basketball.
See also
References
1. http://www.konvent.gv.at/
2. Real GDP Growth – Expenditure Side, provided by the Austrian National Bank
3. Statistik Austria, Die Bevölkerung nach Umgangssprache, Staatsangehörigkei und Geburtsland], page 75.
4. Requirements to become an Austrian citizen, provided by the Viennese state government
5. http://www.croates.at/haupt/gesch_fr.htm
6. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windischen-Theorie
7. ''Acht von zehn Österreichern glauben an Gott'' (readers-digest.de)
External links
★
★
Connections Europe to Austria
★ The ''
aeiou Encyclopedia'' (
Homepage |
Table of Contents |
Search)
★
Austrians Yesterday and Today
★
Austria.info Official homepage of the Austrian National Tourist Office
★
History of Austria: Primary Documents
★
Federal Chancellery of Austria
★
Austrian Law Information on Austrian Law
★
★
Library of Congress Portals on the World - Austria
★
US Department of State Facts and Information [updated February 2005]
★
Austria News News from Austria in English language
★
Entry Requirements to Austria
★
Culture and History of Austria
; Photos
★
Europe Pictures - Austria
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