Language: German
Currency: Euro (€) (EUR)
Calling code: 43
Austria is a landlocked Central European country
with a good 9.1 million inhabitants. The neighboring countries are
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.
Austria is a democratic federal
state, specifically a semi-presidential republic. Its nine federal
states, which largely emerged from the historical crown lands, are
Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg,
Styria, Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Vienna. The federal state of Vienna is
both the federal capital and the most populous city in the state.
Other population centers are Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck.
Austria is a mountainous country, with the Eastern Alps covering
around two-thirds of the area, which is why the state is also known
as the Alpine Republic. The highest mountain in the country is the
Großglockner, which is located in the Central Alps in the Hohe
Tauern range. The most important settlement and economic areas are
the flat and hilly countries (Alpine and Carpathian foothills,
Vienna Basin, Graz Basin).
The name Austria in its Old High
German form "Ostarrichi" has been handed down for the first time
from the year 996. In addition, the Latin name Austria was used from
the early Middle Ages. Originally a border mark of the tribal duchy
of Bavaria, Austria was raised to an independent duchy in the Holy
Roman Empire in 1156. After the Babenberg dynasty died out in 1246,
the House of Habsburg asserted itself in the struggle for power in
Austria. The area referred to as Austria later included the entire
Habsburg monarchy and subsequently the Austrian Empire constituted
in 1804 and the Austrian half of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy
established in 1867. The city of Enns describes itself as the oldest
city in Austria according to a city charter from the year 1212.
Today's republic came into being in 1918, after Austria-Hungary
lost the First World War, from the German-speaking parts of the
monarchy that were initially called German Austria. The Treaty of
Saint-Germain established the national border and the name Republic
of Austria. This was accompanied by the loss of South Tyrol and the
gain of Burgenland. The First Republic was characterized by internal
political tensions that culminated in a civil war and corporate
dictatorship. The country was under National Socialist rule from
1938 due to the so-called “Annexation”. After the defeat of the
German Reich in World War II, Austria became an independent state
again. At the end of the Allied occupation in 1955, Austria declared
its permanent neutrality and joined the United Nations. Austria has
been a member of the Council of Europe since 1956, a founding member
of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
established in 1961 and a member state of the European Union since
1995.
1 Vienna has an impressive cultural
center. Exciting sights as well as Viennese cosiness between a wine
tavern and a coffee house make Vienna popular all over the world.
Vienna's history dates back to the first century AD, when the Romans
founded the Vindobona military camp. Today's cityscape was shaped mainly
in the Baroque period. Especially during the reigns of Empress Maria
Theresa and Emperor Franz Joseph, who had the magnificent Ringstrasse
boulevard laid out. One of the most visited sights in the city is the
baroque Schönbrunn Palace, the former summer residence of the emperors,
which is equipped with an enchanting park landscape, palm house,
Gloriette and a zoo. In the Hofburg, from where the Habsburg Empire was
ruled, you can immerse yourself in the splendid everyday life of the
imperial family. Today the Austrian Gallery is housed in the baroque
Belvedere Palace, which presents the largest collection of works by
Klimt and Kokoschka as well as prominent works by Schiele. The landmarks
of Vienna are the Gothic St. Stephen's Cathedral in the center, the
Ferris wheel in the Vienna Prater, a traditional amusement park and the
Spanish Riding School with its famous Lipizzaner ballet.
2
Eisenstadt. Email:
rathaus@eisenstadt.at. Prince Esterházy chose it as his residence, today
Eisenstadt is the capital of Burgenland. Traces of courtly life and the
legacy of Joseph Haydn accompany visitors at every turn. Eisenstadt's
top attraction is the Esterházy Palace, an originally Gothic castle
(1364), which was generously expanded and rebuilt by the Esterházy
princes (1663-1672) and made the center of courtly life. Today the
castle presents itself as a place of lively culture. In the Haydn Hall,
the melodies of Joseph Haydn can be heard under the magnificent ceiling
frescoes on festive occasions and concerts. In general, the name of the
composer is inextricably linked to the city. From 1761 he worked for
more than forty years as Kapellmeister at the Esterházy court. Today you
can meet him in the Haydn Church (mountain church), in the Haydn
Mausoleum and in the baroque Haydn House and above all at the
International Haydn Days in September with the world's best Haydn
interpreters.
3 Graz. Email:
stadtverwaltung@stadt.graz.at . The Styrian capital, whose origins date
back to Roman times, lies on both sides of the Mur. Graz was the
European Capital of Culture in 2003. The Schlossberg, a wooded, hikeable
mountain, is enthroned in the middle of the city. All that remains of
the former fortress on its plateau is the clock tower, the city's old
landmark. As a new landmark, the Kunsthaus has been hovering over the
right bank of the Mur since 2003 like a huge, bluish shimmering bubble.
Between time-honored and dynamically modern, the sights of the city with
305,000 inhabitants are also important: The late Gothic Graz Cathedral
is reminiscent of the time when Graz was an imperial city. Emperor
Ferdinand II rests in the mausoleum. In the state armory, you can see an
incredible 32,000 historical weapons and war implements on five floors.
And the country house with its Renaissance arcaded courtyard looks
almost like a Venetian palazzo.
4
Klagenfurt. The capital of
Carinthia is located on one of the warmest and largest alpine lakes in
Europe - the Wörthersee is a travel destination for international
celebrities, water lovers and sun worshipers every year. Klagenfurt has
one of the most beautiful old towns in Austria and has already been
awarded the Europa Nostra diploma three times. Characteristic are the
Renaissance inner courtyards, in which modern boutiques, trendy bars and
rustic guest gardens are located today. On the Neuer Platz is the
Lindwurm, the city's stone landmark, which tells the story of the
founding of Klagenfurt. During a castle hike, visitors can be
transported back to the Middle Ages. The city also has numerous museums
and galleries of international renown, including the Museum of Modern
Art, the State Museum with its Roman finds (including the famous "Young
Man from Magdalensberg"), the Coat of Arms Hall, the Diocesan Museum and
the Country House Gallery.
5
St. Pölten. Email:
tourismus@st-poelten.gv.at . The young provincial capital in Lower
Austria could almost be called the capital of the baroque era: baroque
town houses and the Carmelite convent are witnesses to a great past. It
was not until 1986 that St. Pölten, which has 50,000 inhabitants, was
made the capital of Lower Austria. The town on the Traisen has the
oldest documented town charter in Austria, which was bestowed in 1159 by
Bishop Konrad of Passau. Here you can experience magnificent baroque
buildings, picturesque squares and attractive events in a dynamic and
interesting city. The city experienced its first heyday in 1689, when
the baroque master builder Jakob Prandtauer moved here and subsequently
created some important buildings. For example, the Carmelite convent or
the main building of the Institute of the English Misses can be traced
back to the master builder at Melk Abbey. In the baroque town houses on
the Herrenplatz and on the town hall square, which was redesigned by
Boris Podrecca in 1995, you will encounter impressive evidence of
baroque splendor. The same applies to the facades of the baroque house
in Fuhrmanngasse and the aforementioned Institute of the English Misses,
one of whose most famous students was Paula von Preradovic, the lyricist
of the Austrian national anthem.
6
Linz. Email: info@mag.linz.at.
Due to its independent cultural development and an innovative art and
culture scene, Linz was chosen as the European Capital of Culture 2009.
In the run-up to this event, events are already being offered. Immersing
yourself in the world of tomorrow is already possible today in
Linz~Donau: The Ars Electronica Center fascinates with the CAVE, in
which you can walk through three-dimensional virtual worlds and are
invited to experiment everywhere! On the other bank of the Danube, the
Lentos Art Museum impresses with its glass architecture and masterpieces
from the 19th and 20th centuries. The old town captivates with idyllic
alleys, historic buildings and one of the largest medieval main squares
in Central Europe. A trip on the bright yellow Linz City Express, on the
steepest mountain railway in Europe from 1898 up the Pöstlingberg or on
a Danube boat turn every sightseeing tour into an adventure.
7 Salzburg. Email:
post@salzburg.gv.at. Churches, castles, palaces and palaces dominate the
cityscape in the city of Mozart. No wonder that the picturesque old town
has been declared a World Heritage Site. Hohensalzburg Fortress, the
largest completely preserved castle in Central Europe, rises above the
city, which has around 150,000 inhabitants. Here you can get a good
overview and plan your tour: The archbishop's residence, a magnificent
early baroque complex with state rooms and the residence gallery
(European paintings from the 16th to 19th centuries) should not be
missed on such a tour. The nearby Salzburg Cathedral is considered the
most important sacred building in the city. Here Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
was baptized, who is omnipresent in his native city as a genius loci.
One should probably take a little time for Mozart's birthplace, where
the brilliant composer saw the light of day on January 27, 1756. The
house is located in the world-famous Getreidegasse, where tall, narrow
houses, enticing shops and romantic courtyards create an ambience. No
less worth seeing is the Mirabell Palace, generously designed by the
baroque master builder Lukas von Hildebrandt, with its magnificent
garden.
8 Innsbruck.
Email: kontakt@innsbruck.gv.at . In the heart of the Alps you will find
world-famous monuments as witnesses of great history - side by side with
post-modern, international top-class architecture. The Hofburg, the
Ambras Castle, the Ottoburg and the Wilten Basilica tell the eventful
history of Innsbruck, which is associated with names such as Philippine
Welser and Andreas Hofer. Emperor Maximilian I was probably the most
famous personality who left his mark on the city: for example with the
Golden Roof he built or with his tomb in Innsbruck's Hofkirche.
Recently, modern architects such as Dominique Perrault with the
Rathausgalerie and Zaha Hadid with the Berg-Isel-Schanze have
significantly shaped the image of the city. An impressive backdrop in
which you can enjoy attractive events - from the Innsbruck Dance Summer
to the Innsbruck Festival Weeks to Innsbruck Advent.
9 Bregenz.
Email: rathaus@bregenz.at. Vorarlberg's state capital is not only a
crowd puller for culture fans because of the festival. Examples of
modern architecture also set milestones for Austria as a cultural
country. Today, the 2,000-year-old town on Lake Constance with the
landmark Martinsturm in the medieval town center has become a magnet for
fans of modern architecture. Architects such as Hans Hollein, Jean
Nouvel and Peter Zumthor as well as the group of "Vorarlberg architects"
have recently had a decisive influence on the image of the city of
28,000 inhabitants. A first-class cultural highlight is the Bregenz
Festival, where top-class directors have been staging first-class operas
for more than half a century - with the "house orchestra", the Vienna
Symphony Orchestra, on a breathtaking lake stage. Outside the festival
season, hundreds of events such as exhibitions, concerts or the "Bregenz
Spring", an internationally renowned dance festival, take place every
year.
Austria is a participant in the Schengen
Agreement.
Travel documents: Valid passport. For EU citizens and
for citizens of other states in the European Economic Area EEA (Norway,
Iceland, Liechtenstein) and Switzerland, an official identity card is
sufficient, in special cases a passport that has not expired for more
than five years. Accompanying children need their own passport. Driving
licenses are generally not recognized as identification documents.
Visa: Citizens of all neighboring countries of Austria, the EU
member states and numerous other countries do not need a visa.
Information is available from the Austrian embassy or consulate in the
respective country and on the website of the Federal Ministry for
Foreign Affairs. According to the Schengen Agreement, third-country
nationals who require a visa can also enter Austria with a Schengen visa
or residence permit issued by any Schengen country without requiring an
additional Austrian visa, provided that this document is not restricted
to other countries.
Passport controls: As a rule, controls are no
longer carried out at the borders to any of Austria's neighboring
countries. This also applies to air traffic at Austrian airports for
flights from and to other Schengen countries. However, in order to be
able to provide proof of identity in the event of random checks,
travelers must also carry their travel document with them in the
Schengen area.
Taking animals with you on trips (also applies to
travelers from the EU area): A valid vaccination certificate (rabies) in
German or with an officially certified translation is required for pets
such as dogs or cats from the age of 12 weeks. The vaccination must have
been given at least 30 days before crossing the border, but must not
have been more than a year ago. A maximum of three animals may be taken
along.
The largest and most important international
airport in Austria is Vienna Airport, from where there are scheduled
connections to many major cities in Europe and the Middle East. Almost
the entire world can be reached via transfer connections.
There are
other airports with international scheduled connections in Graz, Linz,
Salzburg, Innsbruck and Klagenfurt.
It is also advisable to look for
flight connections to airports close to the border, as these can
sometimes be significantly cheaper than flights to the destination or to
regional destinations, which can even be geographically cheaper:
For western Austria, the two major airports in Munich and Zurich offer
good alternatives to the airports in Salzburg and Innsbruck. The
airports in Memmingen, Friedrichshafen and Altenrhein also offer flight
connections, some with low-cost airlines, which can be used to travel to
Vorarlberg and Tyrol.
For the greater Vienna area, the airports in
Bratislava and, to a lesser extent, Brno also offer numerous flight
connections from low-cost airlines, especially Ryanair.
Ljubljana,
Maribor and Zagreb airports can be viable options for getting to
southern Austria.
Internationally, Vienna in particular
is easy to reach by long-distance trains. There are daily connections
every two hours from Frankfurt Hbf (via Nuremberg, Passau and Linz) and
from Munich Hbf (via Salzburg), some with through connections to
Budapest. The Railjet Zurich-Innsbruck-Salzburg-Vienna runs every two
hours from Switzerland. Numerous EuroCity trains also travel from Munich
to Italy via the Brenner Pass, thus connecting Innsbruck to the
long-distance network.
Night trains run at night, some with car
transport wagons, from Hamburg to Vienna or Innsbruck. The numerous
connections to the neighboring Eastern European countries of the Czech
Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and Croatia are also important.
City and regional buses
Public bus transport in Austria
includes more than 2,800 scheduled routes. Almost all places relevant to
tourism can be reached by bus. Central bus information: 01/711 01
Long-distance buses
There are numerous international
long-distance bus lines from all over Europe to Vienna and to numerous
larger cities such as Linz, Salzburg, Graz, Innsbruck and Klagenfurt.
Most long-distance bus trips in Austria are carried out by Eurolines and
Flixbus.
car/motorcycle/bicycle
Austria is connected to its
neighbors via numerous border crossings. The most important border
crossings from Germany are from West to East:
A96/A14 Lindau-Bregenz
border crossing. Toll-free on the Austrian side up to the Hohenems exit
A7 border tunnel Füssen/Fernpass
A93/A12 border crossing at
Kiefersfelden-Kufstein. Toll-free on the Austrian side up to the
Kufstein-Süd exit
A8/A1 Bad Reichenhall-Salzburg border crossing.
Toll-free on the Austrian side up to the Salzburg-Nord exit
A3/A8
Pocking-Schärding border crossing. No exception to the toll, you have to
leave the autobahn on the German side.
It should be noted that
tolls are compulsory on motorways in Austria. However, since December
2019, it is usually possible to drive toll-free up to the first exit
after the border. In Bregenz, even the entire Bregenz/Dornbirn bypass is
toll-free up to the Hohenems exit, in order to keep smuggling traffic
out of the city.
Long traffic jams are to be expected at the
border crossings during the main travel periods during the holidays.
This applies in particular to the Kiefersfelden border crossing and the
Füssen border tunnel, which is then regulated by block processing. A
loss of time of up to two hours must then be taken into account.
The Danube passes through northern Austria and flows through
Lower Austria, Upper Austria and Vienna. Vienna in particular, the most
important passenger port on the Danube next to Budapest, is the starting
point for many (usually three or four-day) cruises to Budapest and back.
From here it is also possible to travel the entire Danube up to the
Danube Delta with passenger ships in a very comfortable and
contemplative way and to see the numerous sights along the way. However,
traveling by ship is a rather slow way and comparatively expensive.
Liner connections, which are not only worth a trip, but are also
good for business, there are connections to Austria via Lake Constance
to Bregenz, as well as express boats several times a day between
Bratislava and Vienna.
As a means of transport within the country, the train (especially
ÖBB) or the car is recommended, "smaller" destinations (especially those
without their own train station) can be easily reached throughout
Austria with the regional bus lines, which are each part of the
transport association of the corresponding federal state are integrated
and serve primarily as a feeder to train stations or larger towns.
Domestic flights are unusual and rather expensive. They also do not
bring significant time savings if you include the time required from the
airports to the city centers.
Bicycle - Information about
long-distance cycle paths and regional routes can be found in the
article "Radtouren Österreich", information about mobility in Vienna can
be found in the article Cycling in Vienna.
For information on the
transfer routes (Brenner route, Felbertauern route, Fernpass route) in
the state of Tyrol, see there.
The ÖBB (Austrian
Federal Railways) are the only major railway company in Austria, the
rail network is particularly well developed in the (less mountainous)
eastern half of Austria; many smaller towns can also be reached by train
there.
With the VorteilsCard, the ÖBB offers a discount card that
is valid for 1 year from the date of issue and is available for three
age groups. The discount is 50% off the regular fare when buying tickets
on all distribution channels. Price examples: (as of: Jul 2022)
VorteilsCard youth: 19 € (15 to under 26 years)
VorteilsCard 66: €66
(no age limit, special rate; only available online at)
VorteilsCard
Classic: 99 € (no age limit)
VorteilsCard Senior: 29 € (from 65
years)
VorteilsCard Family: €19 (up to 4 children under the age of 15
travel for free, each adult needs their own VorteilsCard Family)
With the Vorteilscard, the fare for a one-way trip from Vienna to
Salzburg is reduced from €50 (rounded) to €25, which means that the cost
of a youth card is amortized with this one trip alone. In order to issue
a VorteilsCard, a photo ID showing the age of the person must be
presented. The card is sent by post and takes a while, but if you buy it
at the counter you will receive a “temporary” ID card that is valid
immediately. You can also order the VorteilsCard online.
Small
children up to and including 5 years travel free, children from 6 to 14
years inclusive half price.
The Einfach-Raus-Ticket in Austria is
a similar ticket to the Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket in Germany, but with the
exception that it must be used by at least two people. It costs
€33-37-41-45 for 2-3-4-5 passengers, the Einfach-Raus-Ticket is also
available with authorization to take a bicycle for €42-46-50-54 for two
to five passengers. It can be purchased at ÖBB ticket counters, ticket
machines, in the ÖBB mobility call center at 0043/5/1717 and as an
online ticket at http://www.oebb.at/. The Einfach-Raus-Ticket is valid
throughout Austria from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m. the
following day, on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 12 a.m. to
3 a.m. the following day on all local trains (REX (regional express), R
(regional train) and S -lanes).
Westbahn: In addition to the ÖBB,
the private company of the same name operates on the Westbahn route from
Vienna to Salzburg, the regular ticket prices of which are based on the
half-prices of the ÖBB. Tickets are available on the train, in advance
at tobacconists (= tobacconists and newsagents) or on the company's
website. Special offers only in advance.
The Salzburg main
station is in Austria and is part of the ÖBB network, but the Deutsche
Bahn fare is also valid as a transitional fare coming from Germany to
Salzburg main station. Between the last stop in Germany (Freilassing)
and Salzburg Hbf there are four other stations: Salzburg Liefering,
Salzburg Taxham-Europark (next to the Europark shopping centre),
Salzburg-Aiglhof (near the Salzburg State Hospital) and Salzburg
Mülln/Altstadt (walking distance to the old town and to the banks of the
Salzach). For journeys only on the route section Salzburg Hbf - Salzburg
Liefering in Austria, the tariff of the ÖBB or the Salzburger
Verkehrsverbund (SVV) applies.
Cheap offers from ÖBB or foreign
railway companies (e.g. Sparschiene Europa, EuRegio) are also
interesting for the train journey, which means that it can pay off
financially to split the tickets. Examples:
Sparschiene
Budapest-Vienna: Online via the MÁV website from €13 per direction, with
ÖBB from €19.
EuRegio Bratislava-Vienna: 16 € per person round trip,
valid on the first day for city traffic in Bratislava, return trip valid
for three days.
Sparschiene from Zurich, Munich, Nuremberg, Prague,
Warsaw or Zagreb to Vienna: With timely advance booking from €19 (one
way).
Rail border crossings to Austria:
for Vienna →
Břeclav/Bernhardstal, Devínska Nová Ves/Marchegg,
Hegyeshalom/Nickelsdorf. From Germany via Freilassing/Salzburg or
Passau/Schärding
for Salzburg → Freilassing/Salzburg
for
Klagenfurt → Tarvisio/Thörl-Maglern, Karawanken Tunnel
for Innsbruck
→ Kufstein, Mittenwald/Scharnitz, Buchs/Feldkirch
for Graz →
Maribor/Spielfeld
Timetable information for all trains and other
public transport online at fahrplan.oebb.at (SCOTTY – the route planner
for public transport) or by telephone at the ÖBB call center: +43 5
1717.
ÖBB Nightjet: The Nightjet (NJ) is a class of night trains
in long-distance rail transport. The Nightjet operates within Austria as
well as to Germany, Switzerland and Italy. There are also night train
connections with partner companies to Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech
Republic and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Travel categories offered are
sleeping and couchette compartments as well as seats (only 2nd class) in
compartments with six seats. The Nightjet can be used with normal price
or ÖBB Sparschiene tickets plus a reservation. For journeys from/to
Germany, a ticket for the IC/EC tariff (flexible price or Europe
special) plus a reservation is required. The reservation, which is also
mandatory for the seated car, costs €4 when purchased in Germany.
In Austria, vehicles are driven on the right-hand
side of the road.
Toll
Motorways and expressways (also city
motorways) are generally subject to tolls in Austria. The toll is paid
in the form of a sticker, digital vignette or Go-Box (for vehicles over
3.5 t). Vignettes are available from the following points of sale:
At gas stations throughout Austria
In tobacconists (tobacco
shops)
At the traffic clubs ÖAMTC and ARBÖ
In the ASFINAG online
shop
Abroad at gas stations near the border
Partly with traffic
clubs abroad
Digital vignette - special features: If the digital
vignette is purchased via the Internet, it is only valid 18 days after
the date of purchase at the earliest. The reason for this are the
statutory cancellation rights and periods for online purchases (14
days). If the digital vignette is purchased through one of the ASFINAG
sales partners, at the toll station or from a vending machine, this
18-day period does not apply and the vignette is then valid immediately.
Placement of the vignette:
Car/RV: on the inside of the
windshield so that it is clearly visible and controllable from the
outside.
Motorcycles: on a clean and non-replaceable external part of
the motorcycle (fork leg or tank).
The vignette prices Austria
2023: (vignette color purple)
Prices for cars/mobile homes (or all
two-track vehicles up to 3.5t):
Annual vignette: EUR 96.40
2-month
vignette: EUR 29.00
10-day vignette: EUR 9.90
Prices for
motorcycles (single-track motor vehicles and, since the 2020 season,
also vehicles with 3 wheels that were previously considered cars):
Annual vignette: EUR 38.20
2-month vignette: EUR 14.50
10-day
vignette: EUR 5.80
There is no additional vignette requirement
for car trailers. However, an additional toll fee for trailers is
charged for driving on some special toll routes. If you are caught on
one of Austria's motorways without a vignette, you have to pay a
replacement toll of €120 immediately. If you cannot pay on the spot, you
may even face a fine of €300 to €3,000. The toll tariff is adjusted
annually to the general Austrian consumer price index. The following
motorway sections are not subject to a vignette, but are subject to a
special toll:
A9 Bosruck tunnel, Gleinalm tunnel
A10 Tauern
tunnel, Katschberg tunnel
A11 Karawanken Tunnel
A13 Brenner
Autobahn (entire length)
S16 Arlberg road tunnel
In addition,
there are numerous country roads, passes and private roads that require
tolls.
Further information is available online from ASFINAG
(Autobahn und SchnellstrassenFinanzierungs Aktiengesellschaft) at
www.asfinag.at, by telephone on 0800 / 400 12 400 (free of charge) and
by e-mail at info@asfinag.at.
Carrying safety
vests is mandatory in cars when driving on motorways and expressways.
Compulsory winter tires Cars may only be driven with winter tires
(M+S) or studded tires (M+S+E) between November 1st and April 15th in
wintry conditions. Contrary to the popular claim of tire dealers, there
is no obligation to use winter tires if the road conditions are good.
Important deviation from the regulations in Germany: While a minimum
tread depth of 1.6 mm is prescribed for winter tires in Germany, a tire
that does not have a minimum tread depth of 4 mm is no longer considered
a winter tire in Austria!
Motorcycle: Children under the age of
13 may not be taken on motorcycles or trikes, with the exception of
sidecars with appropriate rollover protection. Motorbikes are required
to have headlights at all times of the day and in all weathers.
Petrol stations sell diesel, regular petrol (RON 91), super (RON 95) and
super plus (RON 98). Many gas stations also have a small grocery store;
unlike most shops in Austria, these are also open on Sundays and in the
evenings. – Fuel prices: Due to the lower tax, petrol is noticeably
cheaper than in Germany, which means that the last gas stations before
the border are often overloaded when holidaymakers return home. Unlike
in Germany, the sale of E10 petrol is not compulsory for petrol stations
in Austria, but there are still individual petrol stations that offer
Super E10 petrol voluntarily. On average, motorway fuel stations have
fuel prices that are 15 to 20 cents more expensive per liter. As a
solution, there is now a gas station in the immediate vicinity of almost
every motorway exit with normal prices.
Rental cars can be rented
at all airports, major train stations and in cities (Budget, AVIS,
Europcar-Interrent, Hertz and other rental companies). International car
rental companies also maintain reservation offices in all countries,
where tourists can make reservations at special rates from their home
country.
Parking: The parking time in the short-term parking
zones ("blue zones") can vary between 30 minutes and three hours and is
indicated at the beginning of the respective zone. Corresponding traffic
signs do not have to be repeated at every intersection. The parking fee
for parking in short-term parking zones on the public road network is
usually paid at parking ticket machines. After purchase, the parking
ticket must be placed behind the windshield in a place that is clearly
visible from the outside. However, there are no parking ticket machines
in Vienna. Parking tickets for using the short-term parking zones can be
purchased at the following points of sale in Vienna:
In tobacconists
(tobacco kiosks)
At the ticket machines and at the ticket offices in
the underground stations of Wiener Linien and in the customer center in
Erdberg
At gas stations
In post offices
At the traffic clubs
ARBÖ and ÖAMTC
At cigarette machines
City cash desk and other city
cash desks
It should be noted that the parking tickets in Vienna
are not automatically valid from the time of purchase, as is usual when
buying parking tickets from parking ticket machines. The date must be
entered legibly on the parking ticket with a ballpoint pen in the format
DD-MM-YYYY, the time is To do this, there are fields on the parking
tickets for the hour from 00 to 23 and for the minutes 00-15-30 and 45.
Parking tickets can also be purchased in advance.
Drivers should
refer to the Dangerous Situations section for information on
trespassing.
Dashcams, i.e. video cameras mounted in the vehicle
for permanent recording of traffic, are in Austria and unlike e.g. in
Germany or Switzerland prohibited. Private video surveillance from the
car is not permitted for data protection reasons. Anyone who still films
must expect a fine of up to 10,000 euros and, in the event of a repeat
offense, up to 25,000 euros. Photographing and filming after an accident
is considered evidence and is therefore permitted.
Speed limit:
The general speed limit is 50 km/h in built-up areas, 100 km/h outside
of built-up areas and 130 km/h on motorways. Speed limits that deviate
from the general speed limits are shown on additional signs.
Alcohol: The alcohol per mille limit for drivers of motor vehicles is
0.5 per mille.
In some cases there are different traffic rules
and zones than in Germany and Switzerland, which do not exist in
Germany, e.g. encounter zones.
The majority of all Austrians speak German, although the regional
dialects are sometimes very diverse and pronounced. The majority of
Austria lies in the Bavarian dialect area, the extreme west in
Alemannic. German is the official language throughout the country.
Languages of autochthonous minorities are mainly found in the border
areas of Burgenland, Styria and Carinthia, whose language and culture
are partially protected and also taught in schools: In Burgenland these
are the Burgenland Croats, Hungarians, Sinti and Roma; in Carinthia and
Styria Slovenes.
Many different migrant languages can also be
heard, especially in the larger cities. Residents of Turkish origin can
also be found in smaller towns.
In Austrian schools, English is
usually taught as the first foreign language; Basic knowledge of this
language is therefore widespread, especially in the tourism sector.
Standard Austrian German differs significantly in some areas from
the standard language of its northern neighbors. Attached is a small
"phrase guide" for the area of cuisine, in relation to which the
Austrians are particularly proud of their traditional expressions.
Winter sports
Alpine skiing: Austria has a wide range of offers
for skiers. There are, among other things, twelve glacier ski areas.
Snowboard: Of course, snowboarders can use all slopes. However, some ski
areas are considered to be downright snowboard centers.
Cross-country
skiing: Many places offer well-groomed trails, both for traditional
cross-country skiing and for skaters.
Summer sports
Cycling
and mountain biking - Austria has an extensive network of cycle paths.
You have the choice between level cycle paths in the valleys or
demanding routes in the mountains. Some routes are listed in the article
"Radtouren Österreich". However, it should be noted that cycling on
forest roads is generally prohibited unless expressly permitted.
Violations will be punished with trespassing lawsuits and reports.
Hiking and mountaineering - Information on hiking and mountaineering can
be found in the overview article Alps. Simply click on the corresponding
mountain groups.
Running and walking: if you rest, you rust. This old
adage is true.
Water sports: The country's numerous lakes and rivers
invite you to go swimming, sailing, boating, diving and surfing in
summer.
The currency has been the euro since January 1, 2002, the prices are
roughly comparable to those in other Western European countries, with
the price level in the tourist centers as well as in Salzburg and Vienna
being significantly higher than in the rest of the country. Overall,
there is a slight gradient from west to east. Shops are open all day on
weekdays, Saturdays often close for lunch, especially in the more rural
areas, while cities and large grocery chains are open all day. Special
case Sunday: Here shopping is usually only possible at petrol stations,
train station shops and in well-known tourist locations. This Sunday
shopping is limited to "travel provisions" - all other shopping
opportunities are denied on this day due to the strict regulations on
Sunday opening in Austria.
Important shopping streets in Austria
include:
in Vienna: Kärntner Strasse, Mariahilfer Strasse
in Graz:
Herrengasse, Annenstrasse
in Linz: Landstraße and surroundings,
Taubenmarkt
in Salzburg: Getreidegasse, Judengasse, Linzergasse
in
Innsbruck: Maria-Theresien-Strasse
in Klagenfurt: Alter Platz
in
Bregenz: Kaiserstrasse, Kornmarktplatz
in Eisenstadt: main street
in St. Pölten: Kremser Gasse
Popular souvenirs: Austrian
handicrafts are of particular importance: traditional costumes and
costume jewellery, loden clothing from Salzburg and Tyrol, embroidery
from Vorarlberg, ceramics and porcelain goods (Augarten manufactory in
Vienna, Gmundner ceramics, pottery from Stoob/ Burgenland), glass and
crystal goods ( e.g. Svarowski/ Tirol) and beautiful wood carvings, just
to name a few. In Bernstein (Burgenland) is the world's only find of
precious serpentine, a green semi-precious stone from which jewelry and
decorative objects are made.
The culinary souvenirs are always
worth a calorie sin: pumpkin seed oil and Schilcher wine from Styria,
the real Salzburg Mozart balls, the famous Viennese Sachertorte, the
Zauner Stollen from Bad Ischl, fine wines from Burgenland and Lower
Austria as well as all kinds of schnapps and fires.
Outside of Austria, Austrian cuisine is mainly known for hearty meat
dishes (especially the Wiener Schnitzel) and desserts such as apple
strudel and Kaiserschmarrn. On the other hand, the Carinthian Kasnudeln
and the Topfenfleckerln are less well known. Austria's past as an empire
is reflected in Austrian cuisine.
The Wiener Schnitzel (breaded
veal fried in lard) is practically THE national dish, although it is now
difficult to find an original Wiener Schnitzel. The schnitzel houses,
which can be found particularly in Vienna, mainly offer “Viennese style”
schnitzel, which consists of pork.
Just as typical of Austrian
cuisine are dumplings, which can have different flavors from sweet to
savory, as well as goulash and, as a snack variant, goulash soup.
In addition, Austrian cuisine is known for its sweet baked goods -
called "flour dishes" in Austria; the best-known representative is
certainly the apple strudel. The Kaiserschmarrn, a chopped pancake that
is usually served with applesauce or plums, is also widespread. Although
a dessert, Kaiserschmarrn in Austria is mainly (and often on Fridays)
eaten as a main course.
The Kletzenbrot, a fruit bread that is
only available in the pre-Christmas period and around Christmas, is very
popular, mainly with Kletzen (= dried pears), but also with other dried
fruit and nuts, which is available in different regional variants.
Kletzennudeln: A Carinthian specialty that you can hardly find
anywhere else: sweet noodles filled with dried pears.
Salads are
often marinated with Styrian Pumpkin Seed Oil, a dark green oil that has
an interesting nutty flavor. Real Styrian pumpkin seed oil is relatively
expensive, but one of the most popular "souvenirs". (Cheap pumpkin seed
oil, also sold as "salad oil", is pumpkin seed oil diluted with other
oils and does not have the full taste. "Styrian pumpkin seed oil" is a
protected geographical indication, which is used to distinguish it from
suppliers from other areas such as Hungary.) Pumpkin seed oil is sold
also sold worldwide via online shops.
Manner Schnitten (Schnitten =
waffles) are a typical Viennese product. However, only the square format
and the pink color of the packaging are unique. You can buy them more or
less everywhere in the country, and they are also a popular souvenir.
Among the best-known Tyrolean specialties are u. the universally popular
dumplings in a wide variety of variations: liver dumplings, pressed
dumplings and many more. Tyrolean dumplings are bacon dumplings in the
country-specific variant.
The Carinthian national dish, the Kasnudel,
is in season all year round. The pasta dough is rolled out thinly,
formed into a pocket the size of a fist and filled with various
delicacies. With curd cheese and garden mint, it's the typical Kasnudel;
There are variations e.g. B. with meat, spinach, potatoes and mushrooms
or sweet with Kletzen. Popular additions to soups are Schlickkrapferl –
a miniature version of the Carinthian noodle with a filling of offal and
herbs.
From Salzburg we know the Salzburger Nockerl, a sweet dessert
made from flour, sugar and beaten egg white that comes in slight
variations. It has to be put on the table immediately after baking and
is mainly demanded by tourists.
More information on Austrian cuisine
with a number of recipes can be found at Koch-Wiki.
Austrian wine: Wine was already being grown in the Danube region,
around Lake Neusiedl and in Styria in Roman times. In the Middle Ages,
it was mainly the monasteries that were responsible for the cultivation
of the vines and the cellar technology and thus ensured the spread of
wine culture. Today, viticulture in Austria is characterized by a rural,
small-scale structure. The approximately 50,000 hectares of vineyards in
Lower Austria, Styria, Burgenland and Vienna are cultivated by over
30,000 winegrowers, of whom only just under a third exclusively grow
wine.
Viticulture shapes the landscape and the culture of the
respective region, which is manifested in the typical wine taverns, wine
monasteries, wine inns and even wine academies. Due to their excellent
quality, Austria's wines always take top places in international
competitions. More than 30 grape varieties are currently permitted in
Austria for the production of quality and predicate wine, including
well-known varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Muskateller, Blauer
Portugieser and Zweigelt.
The Grüner Veltliner (also:
Weißgipfler), a mostly dry white wine, is an autochthonous grape variety
from Lower Austria. It is the most important and widespread grape
variety from Austria and is often regarded abroad as the Austrian
national variety.
Further information on Austrian wine and its
growing areas can be found at Koch-Wiki.
In Austria, a mixture of
dry white wine and mineral water about 50:50 is called a spritzer. The
alcohol content of the spritzer must be at least 4.5%. The proportion of
mineral water in the summer spritzer is higher and the alcohol content
is lower.
Like the neighboring regions of Bavaria and the Czech Republic,
Austria also has a long tradition of brewing beer. Pilsener (light,
bottom-fermented beer) is mostly produced, with the larger breweries
also offering mixed, Zwickel (unfiltered), dark and, in western Austria,
wheat beer. Large breweries that supply nationwide are u.A. Ottakringer
(Vienna), Puntigamer (Graz), Gösser (Leoben), Stiegl (Salzburg), Kaiser
(Linz), Zipfer, Wieselburger and Schwechater. But there are also
numerous breweries and manufacturers that are only available regionally,
as well as numerous pub breweries that also produce more unusual
varieties or craft beer. However, most of the larger breweries already
belong to one of the few global corporations.
Beer terms in
Austria:
a beer; Krügerl/Krügl (Vienna area); Halbe (rest of
Austria): a glass with 0.5 liters
a small beer; Seiterl/Seidl (Vienna
area): a 0.3 liter glass
a measure (1 liter) is not common in
Austria; Most likely still directly in the Bavarian border area or at
Bavarian stylized "Oktoberfests".
ein Bock: a stronger beer that is
mainly available during Lent (before Christmas and Easter).
In Austria, as in many countries of the former imperial and royal
monarchy, a wide range of restaurants has been preserved. They have not
only a culinary, but also a social and (sub)cultural significance for
the population:
The inn or tavern usually corresponds with its offer
to a restaurant, where elaborate dishes can also be served.
The Beisl
is a small bar where the residents of the surrounding area meet for
drinks, mostly simple dishes are served (German equivalent of the pub).
The Coffeehouse: Hot drinks are served here at small, plain tables;
cakes, tarts and other sweets are usually on offer; often there are also
snacks and newspapers and magazines are often available. Especially in
traditional coffee houses, it is not uncommon to be able to spend hours
there and catch up with printed news from around the world. Freelancers
and artists also liked to use this in the past. In big cities, artists'
and poets' cafés have become a fixture.
The Heurige or the
Buschenschank can be found especially in wine-growing areas; Here mostly
self-made wine is served in a simple ambience, along with simple, often
only cold snacks on offer.
The sausage stand is mainly found in
cities as a fast food stand with one of the numerous sausage
specialties. Often open late and in many cases the only way to get
something to eat at night. Accordingly, the heterogeneous audience also
consists of taxi drivers, petty criminals and night owls, among whom
there may be a leftover theatergoer. Mostly just bar tables. Especially
the sausage stand, which is open during the day, is now being replaced
by kebab stalls and stands.
A restaurant does not necessarily
have to correspond to one of these types of pubs in their purest form. A
coffee house can also serve the elaborate dishes of a restaurant
(café-restaurant) and/or attract a beer-drinking audience in the evening
and thus become a pub.
Note: Credit card payment is not possible
everywhere in Austrian restaurants. Even more upscale restaurants often
only accept cash. Anyone who is dependent on card payment should clarify
before ordering whether the card will also be accepted.
In most small and larger towns there is a corresponding number of
pubs, clubs and trendy places.
In Vienna, bars and clubs tend to
be scattered rather than concentrated in a specific part of the city.
However, important nightlife areas are around Schwedenplatz and the
Stadtbahn arches on the Gurtel.
German visitors are amazed at the
large number of Laufhauses, which are mostly located just outside the
villages, but close to thoroughfares.
In the cultural sector,
many museums, sights or public institutions offer special events, such
as the annual Long Night of Museums, the Long Night of Music or, in
summer, open-air cinemas such as the cinema under the stars in the
baroque Augarten in Vienna. In Salzburg during the festival season in
summer there are free live broadcasts or recordings of Salzburg opera
performances next to the cathedral.
Current information on
theatre, concerts, cinema etc. can be found primarily in the various
city newspapers such as the weekly Falter with its extensive program
section for Vienna and Graz. This also offers an online program of
events and a local guide at www.falter.at.
In Austria, so-called wild camping is not permitted and can result in
a trespassing lawsuit (see Security section). It is therefore advisable
to either speak to the landowner or to go to a campsite. Hotels in
Austria usually have a high standard, which is often reflected in the
prices.
For information on booking options on the Internet, see
also the relevant section on Austria in the hotel portals topic article.
Wild camping is regulated differently in the federal states. Lower
Austria, Carinthia, Tyrol and Burgenland levy fines, up to €3600 in
2019! Vorarlberg, Styria, Upper Austria and Salzburg permit
community-specific regulations. Sometimes you can also camp above the
tree line without any problems. Detailed information from the Alpine
Club.
Many young people from other countries study in Austria, especially
from Germany and other EU countries. Students from countries outside the
EU have to reckon with higher tuition fees at state universities than EU
citizens. Foreign citizens must be able to prove German language skills
at level C2 in order to be admitted to university studies in Austria.
In addition to the general universities, various technical colleges
and private universities have been established in recent years.
In the summer months, numerous courses are offered in Austria - from
music training to painting - which are attended by people from all over
the world. They often take place in particularly beautiful places or in
historic buildings. In the larger cities you will also find a wide range
of language schools that offer German courses for foreigners lasting
several weeks, both for advanced learners and for beginners. Prices
start from under 200 euros for a four-week intensive course (without
accommodation).
Of course you can learn various sports during
your holiday in Austria, e.g. golfing, sailing or skiing. Language
holidays are also offered.
Austria is basically a safe country and the safety standard is comparable to other Central European countries. Violent crimes are rare and usually do not involve accidental victims. Robberies etc. may occur. The crime rate is highest in the big cities, where the usual precautionary measures are sufficient. You can usually move around very safely even at night. Targeted assaults and attacks with a racist, misogynistic or homophobic background are rare.
European emergency number: 112 (forwards the emergency information to
the appropriate emergency services, such as the police, fire brigade and
ambulance)
Fire Department: 122
Police: 133
Ambulance: 141
Rescue: 144
Mountain Rescue: 140
Accident and breakdown
assistance: 120 (ÖAMTC), 123 (ARBÖ)
Missing Children Hotline: 116000
The Ministry of the Interior offers further and detailed information.
The lawsuit for trespassing, which is anchored in Austrian property
law and is unknown in this form, at least in other German-speaking
countries, can be problematic for foreigners and very expensive. A
trespassing lawsuit can B. occur when a car is parked on private
property (e.g. supermarket parking lot) or a private path is used by
pedestrians (hikers). The lawsuit itself doesn't have much of an impact,
but all costs have to be borne by the defendant - and that can be very
expensive. Urgent advice: do not enter or use any properties/paths
marked “private” or similar; pay attention to signs. Extensive
information on this can be found on the Internet.
You should beware
of pickpockets and pickpockets, especially in large crowds (public
transport, markets) and in heavily frequented tourist destinations. This
also applies to hotels and restaurants. In ski resorts, high-priced
equipment is frequently stolen during the high season. Nothing of value
should be visible in parked cars either.
At events, especially in
rural areas, where large amounts of alcohol are consumed (fairs, tent
festivals, etc.), things can sometimes get a little rough and there can
sometimes be fisticuffs. Groups of young people who hang out around
larger blocks of flats or in larger cities in the evenings and who drink
alcohol they have brought with them are mostly harmless. With a little
common sense, unpleasant situations can be easily avoided.
When
hiking in the mountains, you should never underestimate the danger of
rapid weather changes! Even in the hilly country you can definitely get
into mountain distress.
foreign representations
Embassy of the
Federal Republic of Germany
A-1030 Vienna, Gauermanngasse 2-4 (3rd
district), telephone number: 01/711540, fax number: 01/7138366.
Plenipotentiary Ambassador: Ralf Beste.
Embassy of the Swiss
Confederation
A-1030 Vienna, Prinz Eugen-Strasse 9A (3rd district),
telephone number: 01/79505, fax number: 01/7950521. Plenipotentiary
Ambassador: Walter Haffner.
In some areas (especially in the east of Austria and of course in
larger forest areas) you should be careful of ticks in summer, a TBE
vaccination is recommended here.
The European health insurance
card is valid for "contract doctors". Co-payments are slightly higher
than in Germany.
Medical services for winter sports accidents
(rescue, treatment, hospitalization) are often provided by private
service providers who are not "panel doctors". Their costs are not
covered by the German statutory health insurance companies! Health
insurance companies abroad usually also pay these costs, so that taking
out such insurance is strongly recommended.
Austria has a temperate climate with mild summers and moderately cold
winters. The climate in western Austria (Upper Austria, Salzburg, Tyrol,
Vorarlberg) is characterized by the Atlantic, which ensures frequent
precipitation and mostly small temperature fluctuations. In the east of
the country (Lower Austria, Vienna, Burgenland), the continental
influence predominates, making the summers warmer and the winters cooler
than in the west. The amount of precipitation in eastern Austria is
significantly lower than in the western federal states. The southeast of
Austria (Styria, Carinthia) benefits especially in summer from the warm
and dry air of the Mediterranean region.
The climate in the area
of the Alps (southern Salzburg, Tyrol, Vorarlberg) is generally cooler
than in the rest of Austria. In winter, low temperatures and large
amounts of snowfall enable a wide range of winter sports, but in winter
in alpine areas you always have to reckon with avalanches and closed or
buried roads.
On the northern edge of the Alps (northern
Salzburg, Upper Austria), especially in the summer months, rain often
lasts for days due to clouds that have accumulated on the Alps (hence
the term "Salzburg üpflregen"). In spring and autumn, warm foehn winds
ensure pleasant temperatures in these areas, but can cause headaches for
people who are sensitive to the weather. In the southeast of Austria
(Styria, Carinthia), heavy thunderstorms, sometimes with large-grain
hail, are to be expected, especially in summer.
For Austria, what applies to all European countries and what is
expected of guests everywhere applies to Austria. What is not
appreciated are comparisons to Germany or making historical references
in an ironically malicious way, unless one is asked about it or is
talking to friends. In any case, restraint and friendliness are valued
more than blustering demeanor.
"Austrian identity always consists
of distancing oneself from Germany."
Hansjörg Müller: Neue Zürcher
Zeitung, NZZ digital. Comment from May 21, 2019
German guests
should consider and consider this in a positive sense. Basically, one
can assume that every Austrian has an opinion about the Germans. Of
course, your counterpart will not articulate this opinion to you, but
assume: he has one! Austrians are reluctant to commit themselves, avoid
conflicts as much as possible by escaping non-commitment, but value
politeness, titles of all kinds and networks. Of course, the Austrians
also have their code words for their neighbors; Germans are generally
referred to as Piefke, for Bavaria there is still the less friendly
expression Marmeladinger.
The famous Piefke saga gives a
tongue-in-cheek introduction and preparation for a holiday in Austria,
including the ups and downs in the relationship with the neighbors who
are very similar.
Despite the difficult topographical conditions, Austria is one of the
countries in Europe with the best mobile phone coverage. Practically all
inhabited areas as well as all traffic routes and ski areas are supplied
with LTE and partly 5G, and even in remote Alpine valleys you often have
at least UMTS or EDGE.
There are three major mobile operators in
Austria: A1 Telekom Austria, Magenta Telekom and Drei. The first two
share nothing in terms of coverage. Three have very large gaps outside
of metropolitan areas, but offer roaming to the GSM and, more recently,
UMTS network from Magenta Telekom in regions that are not covered. The
smaller ones are: Spusu, Hot (Hofer/Aldi), Yess run over the networks of
the big providers.
If you come from another EU country like
Germany, you can use EU roaming and your home SIM card in Austria.
Otherwise, it is also possible to buy a prepaid SIM card (called a value
card in Austria) on site. Since 2019, buyers of a SIM card have to
register with an ID card; for this registration, mobile phone providers
are allowed to charge unlimited fees, especially at tourist hotspots
such as Vienna-Schwechat Airport, you are mercilessly ripped off with
registration fees of over €40.
The Austrian tariffs are among the
cheapest in Europe. B. for 10 € per month 1000 free minutes, 1000 SMS
and 6 GB data volume. Unfortunately, the Austrians are very anti-EU when
it comes to their mobile phone contracts: the cheap prepaid tariffs,
which are most interesting for tourists, do not offer roaming at all, so
they cannot be used outside of Austria. In the more expensive plans,
data volume for Austria and the EU is billed separately and you have to
pay extra for EU data - whether this is still compatible with the EU
roaming regulation is highly doubtful.
Telephone booths have also
become a rarity in Austria and can only be found in larger numbers in
metropolitan areas. In metropolitan areas, they offer the possibility of
sending e-mails, sending text messages and general Internet access
(so-called multimedia terminals). For longer calls, it is advisable to
purchase a prepaid telephone card (available from tobacconists, tobacco
shops that sell newspapers, and post offices).
Internet cafés can
be found in all major cities and in most towns with 1,000 or more
inhabitants, as well as access points in many public places, some of
which are free of charge.
The oldest traces of human presence in Austria belong to the Middle
Palaeolithic, the time of the Neanderthals. The site with the oldest
traces is the Repolust Cave in Styria. Many other sites are in Lower
Austria, the best known are in the Wachau - including the sites of the
two oldest Austrian works of art, the figurative female representations
of the Venus of Galgenberg and the Venus of Willendorf.
After the
gradual settlement of all regions of Austria in the Neolithic Age, and
thus the transition from the previously existing cultures of hunters,
gatherers and fishermen to rural village cultures, the Copper Stone Age
is characterized by the development of raw material deposits, especially
copper. The discovery of the famous glacier mummy Ötzi in the
Austrian-Italian border area dates back to this time.
During the
Bronze Age between the 3rd and 1st millennium BC ever larger trading
centers and fortifications were built, mainly in raw material mining
areas. The systematic extraction of salt began in the Hallstatt area.
The older period of the Iron Age, the Hallstatt period, is also named
after this place. The younger Iron Age, also known as the La Tène
period, is dominated by the Celts, who established the first state
structure in the south and east of today's Austria - the Kingdom of
Noricum, an alliance of thirteen Celtic tribes. The West was settled by
Councilors at this time.
Most of today's Austrian territory was conquered around 15 BC.
occupied by the Roman Empire. The Roman Emperor Claudius established the
Roman province of Regnum Noricum during his reign (AD 41–54), the
borders of which included much of present-day Austria. The city of
Carnuntum, east of Vindobona (today's Vienna), was the largest Roman
city, other important places were Virunum (north of today's Klagenfurt)
and Teurnia (near Spittal an der Drau).
In the 2nd century AD,
the migration of peoples and the slow decline of the Roman Empire
intensified. After the continuous harassment of the province of Noricum
by the Goths and other Germanic peoples, the settlement of the area
began in the 6th century. From the east to the Enns, the Avars,
organized as a khaganate, and in the south, the Slavs, settled as the
Carantan princes. The Bavarians, who were increasingly Christianized and
organized as a tribal duchy under the Franks, settled from the west to
the Enns, as did the Alamanni in today's Vorarlberg.
In the 8th century, the large areas of the Slavs and Avars in the
south and east of today's Austria and beyond to Pannonia were
increasingly conquered by the Frankish Empire. The conquered Slavic
Carantania came under Bavarian control as part of the Marcha orientalis,
the east country of the Bavarian tribal dukes. In 805, Charlemagne
summarized the conquered Avar areas as the Awarenmark (Avaris) and put
their Avar princes under the prefect of the Mark of the Bavarian east
country, with headquarters initially in Lorch and later in Upper
Pannonia of the subordinate Danube counties below the Enns to the Raab
(today's Lower Austria and the Danube area bordering to the east). In
828 Frankish counties were established in the Mark instead of the
existing Avar and Slavic principalities. The new area was settled in a
row by the Bavarians (Baiern) and Franks, and the Christianization, by
Archdiocese of Salzburg, founded for this purpose in 798, and Diocese of
Passau, and thus laid the nucleus of what later became Austria.
However, in 907 this area was lost to the Magyars and it was only after
the Battle of Lechfeld in 955 that the East Frankish Empire was able to
assert itself in the area. A new wave of Bavarian settlement activity
could thus begin here.
The reconquered area was then consolidated
in 976 with the founding of the oldest duchy on what is now Austria, the
Duchy of Carinthia, and the transfer of the remaining Bavarian Marcha
orientalis as a margraviate by Emperor Otto II to Luitpold, the
progenitor of what was later called the “Babenberger”. Dynasty. The
oldest known written mention of the name "Ostarrichi" comes from a
document written in Bruchsal on November 1, 996. It contains a gift from
Emperor Otto III. to the Bishop of Freising in Neuhofen an der Ybbs "in
the region usually called Ostarrichi" ("regione vulgari vocabulo
Ostarrichi"). This document is now kept in the Bavarian Main State
Archives in Munich. Pronunciation and spelling later changed to
"Austria". The area was also known as Ostland (lat. "Austria") or
Osterland.
On September 8, 1156, Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa)
elevated the margraviate of Austria to an independent duchy of Austria,
independent of Bavaria, at the court in Kreuzhof near Regensburg. This
marks the beginning of the actual history of Austria as an independent
territory within the Holy Roman Empire.
The Babenbergs were
followed in 1251 by Ottokar II Přemysl from the Přemyslid family, who
was replaced in 1282 by the Habsburgs. In order to emphasize their rank
and put their dynasty on an equal footing with the electors of the Holy
Roman Empire, Rudolf IV made his duchy of Austria the archduchy of
Austria through the forged Privilegium Maius (1358/59; Latin maius
"greater", comparative to magnus "great") . In 1365 Rudolf IV also
founded the University of Vienna. The Habsburgs continued to expand
their dominion until 1526 and became a power factor in the Holy Roman
Empire. The later Babenbergers had already been able to connect Styria
with Austria, and the Habsburgs created a complex of countries in the
Eastern Alps by acquiring Carinthia, Tyrol, Carniola and other areas,
which was called the Dominion of Austria. From 1438 the dynasty almost
continuously held the Roman-German kingship and the associated imperial
dignity. A part of the dominion was the foreland or also called
Vorderösterreich.
From the late 15th century to 1690, the
Habsburg lands came under constant attack from the Ottoman Empire, which
was pushing westward from Hungary. After repelling the second Turkish
siege of Vienna in 1683, the military successes of Prince Eugene of
Savoy, among others, in the fight against the Turks were confirmed in
the Peace of Karlowitz and in the Peace of Passarowitz, but acquisitions
going beyond this were reversed in the Peace of Belgrade .
The
reformation of the church was initially able to assert itself quickly,
but was pushed back in the course of the 17th century, which was seen as
an important task by the Habsburgs at the time. In 1713, with the
Pragmatic Sanction, a basic law that was equally valid for all Habsburg
countries was put into effect for the first time. It was stipulated (for
the first time) that after the foreseeable extinction of the ruling
dynasty in the male line, succession would have to take place via the
female line. As a result, the daughter of Emperor Charles VI, Maria
Theresia, was able to succeed him as monarch of the Habsburg hereditary
lands and was therefore preferred to the daughters of his older brother
Joseph. During the War of the Austrian Succession, Maria Theresia, who
founded the new House of Habsburg-Lorraine with Franz I Stephan von
Lorraine, was able to largely claim the hereditary lands for herself.
When Prussia and Russia partitioned Poland in the 18th century, Austria
was given Galicia.
Francis II founded the Austrian Empire in 1804
and, as Francis I, assumed the title Emperor of Austria in order to
maintain equality with the new French Emperor. In 1806, under pressure
from Napoleon, he laid down the imperial crown of the Holy Roman Empire
of the German Nation, which meant that it ceased to exist.
The new Austrian Empire was a multi-ethnic state in which, in
addition to German, Hungarian, Italian, Czech, Polish, Ukrainian,
Romanian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian were also spoken. From
1815 onwards it belonged to the German Confederation with its
territories that previously belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. The
Austrian envoy chaired the Federal Assembly. In 1816, after several
changes of ownership, Salzburg fell as a duchy to the Austrian Empire,
after it had been an independent spiritual principality (Archbishopric
of Salzburg) since 1328.
The leading politician of the Austrian
Biedermeier period was the foreign minister and later state chancellor
Klemens Wenzel Lothar von Metternich. He was concerned with controlling
the population with censorship and a system of informers in order to
preserve the old order, the absolute monarchy, through restoration. At
the time, Prussia and Russia had the same goals; together these three
monarchies founded the Holy Alliance. On the other hand, the
industrialization of Austria also took place in this era. In 1837 the
first steam railway ran between Floridsdorf near Vienna and
Deutsch-Wagram, the first section of the Northern Railway.
During
the revolution of 1848, the people of the monarchy strove for democracy
and independence, and State Chancellor Metternich was expelled. only the
k k. Army under Radetzky, Jelačić and Windisch-Graetz and the help of
the Russian army ensured the survival of the monarchy. On December 2,
1848, at the request of the dynasty, 18-year-old Franz Joseph succeeded
the ailing Emperor Ferdinand I on the throne. The inexperienced new
ruler held court over the rebellious Hungarians in 1849 and had a dozen
of the highest Hungarian military leaders executed. In 1851, in the New
Year's patent, he repealed the constitution he had imposed himself. His
popularity was extremely low during the first 20 years of his reign.
In the struggle for supremacy in the German Confederation (German
dualism), Prussia under Bismarck forced a decision in favor of a small
German solution without Austria. In the German War of 1866, Austria,
which led the German Confederation, was defeated by Prussia at the
Battle of Königgrätz. The German Confederation dissolved and Austria no
longer played a role in the further German unification process.
Already in 1859, after the Battle of Solferino, Austria had lost its
supremacy in northern Italy. With the defeat in the German War in 1866
it also had to cede Venetia to Italy, which was allied with Prussia.
The emperor, politically weakened by the defeats, had to carry out
far-reaching internal reforms and give up his (neo-)absolutist style of
government. Against his tenacious resistance, his advisors achieved the
transformation into a constitutional monarchy: with the February patent
of 1861, following the inexpedient October diploma of 1860, with which
the Reichsrat was created as a parliament.
The settlement reached
with Hungary in 1867 ended the boycott of the state by the Magyar
aristocracy and led to the conversion of the previous unitary state into
the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy, a real union. In Cisleithania (a
term used by bureaucrats and lawyers), the western half of the empire
unofficially usually referred to as Austria, this was effectuated by the
December 1867 constitution, which remained in force until 1918.
The favoring of the Magyars, who were now largely independent of Austria
in domestic politics, as a result of the settlement compared to the
other peoples of the monarchy further fueled the nationality conflicts.
While the Czech national movement's attempts at an Austro-Czech
settlement failed, the Slovak national movement and, to a lesser extent,
the Illyrian movement led by Croatian intellectuals and supported by
Russia, competed with the Hungarian government's Magyarization policies.
In Austria, the national desires of the individual peoples led to an
extremely difficult political situation. In the Reichsrat, whose male
suffrage was successively democratized, only short-lived alliances of
convenience existed from the 1880s onwards; Czech MPs practiced
obstructionism. The Imperial Council was therefore often adjourned for
months by the Emperor. The Governments changed frequently, and a policy
of short-term help became the norm – observers spoke of muddling along
instead of purposive policies.
After the forced withdrawal from
Germany and Italy, the Kaiser and his foreign policy advisers chose
south-eastern Europe as a new sphere of influence. With the 1908
annexation of Bosnia, which had been occupied in 1878 with the approval
of the Berlin Congress, and which triggered the Bosnian annexation
crisis, Habsburg became an enemy for many political activists in the
Balkans and hindered national unification. In addition, the monarchy
there competed with Russia, which described itself as the patron of all
Slavs.
After the assassination in Sarajevo, the old age of the
84-year-old emperor, the overconfidence of the "war party" in Vienna and
Budapest (later seen as a clique of warmongers) and the government
situation without a parliament led to a declaration of war on Serbia in
July 1914, from which due to the “Automatic” of the European assistance
pacts within a week what later became known as the First World War broke
out. The defeat of the dual monarchy, which became inevitable in the
fall of 1918, brought it to an end. On October 31, 1918, the Kingdom of
Hungary left the real union with Austria. At the same time, Cisleithania
divided without the involvement of Kaiser, Government or Reichsrat: to
the new states of German Austria and Czechoslovakia; in areas that were
constituted with those outside of Austria-Hungary to form the new states
of Poland and the SHS state, and in areas that were incorporated into
other neighboring states (Italy, Romania) due to the outcome of the war.
On October 21, 1918, the Reichsrat deputies from the German-speaking
areas (they called themselves Germans), including those from Bohemia,
Moravia and Austro-Silesia, met for the first time as the Provisional
National Assembly for German-Austria. The end of the war and the
collapse of the monarchy were already in sight, and the country would
not have had any resources for another winter of war. The Social
Democrat Karl Seitz chaired it alternately with the Christian Socialist
Johann Nepomuk Hauser and the Greater German Franz Dinghofer. Its
executive committee was called the State Council, and on October 30,
1918, it appointed the first government in German-Austria, whose
ministers were called "State Secretary" based on the Anglo-Saxon model;
The first state chancellor was Karl Renner, who was again to play an
important role in founding the Second Republic in 1945. The first
provisional foreign minister was Victor Adler. In this way, a new state
came into being in the area of Old Austria, which was predominantly
inhabited by people with German as their mother tongue.
At the
beginning of November 1918, the Kaiser tried to involve the
German-Austrian Council of State in the armistice decisions. However,
the Council of State ruled that the monarchy, which started the war,
must also end it. The armistice between Austria and Italy on November 3,
1918 (the Hungarian troops had already left the front at the end of
October, when Hungary left the real union with Austria) was still the
responsibility of Emperor Charles I. Criticism like in the German Reich,
where the civilian negotiators of the armistice were later reviled by
right-wing politicians as "November criminals", was therefore not
possible.
Members of the government, of the Lammasch ministry,
and of the Renner cabinet, which was preparing the republic and wanted
to avoid a clash between the old and the new state order, worked
together to draw up the declaration with which Charles I on November 11,
1918 “every share in the affairs of state”. Although this was not a
legal abdication, the decision on the form of government was de facto
made. On November 12, the Republic of German-Austria was proclaimed and
it was formally decided by the Provisional National Assembly that the
state of German-Austria was a democratic republic and part of the German
Republic.
On December 18, 1918, women's suffrage was introduced for Austrian
women over the age of 20. This was part of the new constitution of
December 1918. However, prostitutes remained barred from voting until
1920.
In the coalition governments of 1918-1920 (see Renner I to
Renner III and Mayr I state government) important social laws were
created (e.g. the creation of the Chamber of Labor as a legal
representation of the interests of workers and employees, eight-hour
days, social security). The nobility was abolished in April 1919,
members of the Habsburg-Lorraine family were only allowed to stay in
Austria if they declared themselves to be citizens of the republic and
gave up any claim to power. "The former bearer of the crown" (as he was
called in law) was permanently expelled from the country because he
refused to abdicate, but had already left for Switzerland to avoid
imminent internment. The Habsburg-Lorraine "family funds", quasi
endowment assets for the benefit of even Habsburgs without income, were
declared state property, individual private assets were not touched.
In the Treaty of Saint-Germain in 1919, the state name "Republic of
Austria" was prescribed and accession to the new German Republic, as
provided for in the constitution, was prevented by the obligation to
independence. This "ban on connection" was also caused by Article 80 of
the Versailles Treaty, which obliged the German Reich to respect
Austria's independence.
Some areas in which the majority of the
population spoke German (Sudetenland, South Moravia, South Tyrol) were
also not allowed to become part of Austria because of the opposing will
of the victorious powers. The Carinthian defensive struggle against the
troops of the Kingdom of SHS, on the other hand, mobilized the
international public and, at the request of the victorious powers, led
to a referendum in southern Carinthia on October 10, 1920, which clearly
agreed that the voting area south of the Drau belonged to the Republic
of Austria.
On October 21, 1919, when the peace treaty came into
force, the name was changed to "Republic of Austria" and in 1920 the new
Austrian Federal Constitutional Law (B-VG) was passed, in which, among
other things, Vienna is defined as a separate federal state. (The 1929
version of the B-VG, which strengthened the office of Federal President,
is essentially still in effect today). In 1921, Burgenland, the
predominantly German-populated part of western Hungary, was incorporated
into the republic as an independent federal state. A plebiscite was held
for the natural capital of the region, Sopron, at the request of
Hungary, which found support from Italy, with the majority opting for
Hungary. In the contemporary Austrian and Hungarian accounts of this
plebiscite, divergences could be noticed. From the autumn of 1920, the
federal government was made up of the Christian Socials and their
supporters from the right wing (see Federal Government Mayr II, etc.).
The Social Democrats, the majority party in “Red Vienna”, were now in
fierce opposition at federal level.
The hyperinflation of the
early 1920s ended in 1925 with the introduction of the shilling
currency. The Conservative government kept the shilling stable; it was
called the Alpendollar. The downside of this meager economic policy was
that in the global economic crisis that began in 1929, hardly any
government measures were planned to combat the enormously high
unemployment.
Political defense associations (Republican
Protection League, Freedom League) attracted men who, as Social
Democrats, feared a coup or, as right-wingers, rejected democratization
in Heimwehr. In 1927, in Schattendorf in Burgenland, gunless
demonstrators were fired on. An invalid and a child died. The news of
the Schattendorf verdict, in which the perpetrators were acquitted, led
to an escalation in the Vienna Palace of Justice fire the following day,
July 15, 1927. The completely overwhelmed police shot indiscriminately
into the large crowd with extreme brutality and then hunted down fleeing
demonstrators. The so-called July revolt claimed 89 lives, including
four police officers. Chancellor Prelate Ignaz Seipel ("No leniency!")
defended the scandalous actions of the police in Parliament.
In
the years that followed, the poor economic situation and political
disputes led Austria deeper and deeper into a crisis. In these times
there were on the one hand ideas about Austrian identity and Austrian
patriotism and on the other hand a strong movement towards a greater
German solution and the annexation of Austria to Germany. Austro-Marxism
spoke of the ultimate goal of the dictatorship of the proletariat,
frightening all conservatives; however, they wanted to achieve this goal
in a democratic way.
On the right-hand side of the party
spectrum, there was a perception that democracy was not suitable for
solving the country's problems. Benito Mussolini was a role model for
this. One of the Christian Social politicians who took this stance
(there were also Christian Social Democrats like Leopold Kunschak) was
Federal Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss. When the National Council, after
the resignation of all three presidents, broke up over a dispute over a
vote, it prevented its reconvening in March 1933 with police force and
announced the "automatic elimination of parliament". A petition signed
by more than a million people to Federal President Miklas to ensure that
the constitutional state was restored was unsuccessful, although Miklas
was aware of the unconstitutionality of Dollfuss's actions.
Dollfuss used the War Economy Enabling Act of 1917, which was still
in force, to arbitrarily change or introduce laws through federal
government regulations. On February 12, 1934, the smoldering clashes
between the ruling Christian Socials (Fatherland Front) and the
opposition Social Democrats culminated in violent clashes, which
historians sometimes refer to as the Austrian Civil War. The government
used the federal army and its cannons. On the same day, the mayor of
Vienna, Karl Seitz, was dismissed and the Social Democratic Party and
its support organizations were banned. A number of summary death
sentences were issued against members of the Schutzbund.
On May
1, 1934, Dollfuss proclaimed the federal state of Austria on a corporate
basis (Corporate State) in the authoritarian "May Constitution". It was
a dictatorship that was already referred to by the term Austrofascism
(e.g. in a private letter from Federal President Miklas, as Friedrich
Heer reports).
A few weeks later, supporters of the NSDAP, which
had been banned in Austria since 1933, staged a putsch in July. On July
25, 1934, some putschists succeeded in penetrating the Federal
Chancellery, where Dollfuss was injured so badly that he died in office
shortly afterwards because he was refused medical help. The attempted
coup was defeated within a few hours. Kurt Schuschnigg became the new
Federal Chancellor.
The corporate state's policy was aimed at
presenting Austria as the "better German state". In fact, before it was
annexed to the German Reich, Austria was a much milder dictatorship:
several people persecuted by the National Socialists, especially actors
and writers, sought refuge in Austria from 1934 to 1938. In terms of
external appearance, the regime (later called competitive fascism)
copied elements from fascist Italy and National Socialist Germany:
marches with a sea of flags, the unified organization of the Fatherland
Front, the leader principle, the ban on parties.
While Adolf
Hitler played the uninvolved in the July coup because Mussolini still
wanted Austria to be independent at the time, the German Reich's
pressure on Austria increased from year to year after 1934. At meetings,
Schuschnigg was intimidated and blackmailed by Hitler into accepting
national (= German national) ministers into his government. When, in an
act of desperation, the chancellor announced a referendum on Austria's
independence in March 1938, Göring used telephone threats from Federal
President Miklas to force the establishment of a National Socialist
government under Arthur Seyss-Inquart. Parallel to their assumption of
office on March 12, 1938, the long-prepared invasion of German troops
(Operation Otto) took place. At that time, in some places, e.g. in Graz,
the local National Socialists have already seized power. On March 13,
1938, motivated by the enthusiasm of his Austrian supporters, Hitler
enacted the Anschluss Law, which he had not originally planned for this
date. Terror against Jewish Austrians began immediately, which also
found expression in so-called “Aryanizations”, i.e. the theft of Jewish
property.
The most serious consequence of the "annexation" was the terror that
began immediately against Jewish Austrians, which later culminated in
mass murder. Tens of thousands of people who were unwanted for racial or
political reasons fled abroad if they did not end up in a concentration
camp soon.
Austria initially remained in the Reich as a country,
but on April 14, 1939 the former federal states and Vienna were
transformed into National Socialist Reichsgauen by the "Ostmarkgesetz"
(Ostmark Law), the name of Austria was to disappear: this is how the
area initially called "Country of Austria" became shortly afterwards
referred to as "Ostmark" and from 1942 finally as "Alpen- und
Donau-Reichsgaue". Burgenland was divided between the Niederdonau and
Styria districts, East Tyrol was connected to the Carinthia district and
the Styrian part of the Salzkammergut was made into the Oberdonau
district. The area of Vienna was tripled at the expense of the
surrounding area ("Greater Vienna").
After his professional
failure in his home country and his political career in Germany, the
Austrian-born Adolf Hitler led Austria into despotic National Socialist
rule and subsequently had all indications of the country's independence
erased. Numerous Austrians participated with great intensity in Hitler's
policies and crimes. Well-known perpetrators such as Arthur
Seyss-Inquart, Ernst Kaltenbrunner and Alexander Löhr were Austrians.
Austrians provided concentration camp guards, SS men and Gestapo
employees. Although they made up only 8% of the population of the
Greater German Reich, 14% of the SS members, 40% of the concentration
camp guards and 70% of Adolf Eichmann's staff were of Austrian descent.
In 1938, the Mauthausen/Gusen double camp system was set up, which
included the Mauthausen and Gusen concentration camps. Over the years,
this camp system was connected to a network of branch offices that
stretched across the whole of Austria. Forced laborers from all over
Europe were forced into these concentration camps under inhumane
conditions, e.g. used in armaments production and road construction.
Around 100,000 prisoners died in Mauthausen alone.
The Second
World War in Europe finally ended with the unconditional surrender of
the German Wehrmacht on May 8, 1945 (see Chronology of the Second World
War).
With the end of the war in 1945, the defeat of the Greater German
Reich, Austria was restored as an independent state. The later
victorious powers had already announced this in 1943 in the Moscow
Declaration. As early as April 27, 1945, the provisional state
government met with Karl Renner as state chancellor and proclaimed the
reestablishment of the republic. Soon after, the Federal Constitution of
October 1, 1920 in the 1929 version was reinstated by the
“Constitutional Transition Act”. Exceptions were provisions that
provided for the conversion of the Federal Council into a state council
and a council of states. Austria thus regained the status of a
power-sharing, representative, parliamentary and federal democracy.
One of the first laws passed by the provisional state government was
the prohibition law, with which the NSDAP, its military associations and
all organizations associated with it were dissolved and banned. As in
1932, the popular election of the Federal President was suspended and
Karl Renner was unanimously elected head of state by the Federal
Assembly in December 1945. Thereupon, until 1947, Austria was governed
by an all-party government (ÖVP, SPÖ, KPÖ) with Leopold Figl as
Chancellor according to the will of the occupying powers. From November
19, 1947, the ÖVP and SPÖ formed a grand coalition. This continued until
1966. After Renner's death at the end of 1950, Theodor Körner was
elected Federal President on May 27, 1951 as a candidate for the SPÖ.
This was the first popular election of a head of state in Austrian
history.
Until 1955 Austria, like post-war Germany, was divided
into occupation zones. The largest zone was the Soviet one, which
included Upper Austria north of the Danube (Mühlviertel) and east of the
Enns, Lower Austria in the 1937 borders (i.e. before the establishment
of Greater Vienna), the reestablished Burgenland and in Vienna the
districts 2, 4, 10, 20, 21 and 22 belonged. Companies confiscated by the
Soviet Union as German property were combined in a group called “USIA”,
which, according to the decisions of the Potsdam Conference, was part of
the reparations to be paid by Austria. After 1945 and well into the
decades that followed, the view was widespread among Austrians, both
among the population and in politics, that Austria was (as formulated in
the Moscow Declaration of 1943) "Hitler's first victim", with which the
complicity in the World War II and the Holocaust should be downplayed or
denied. Most of them later justified themselves by saying that they had
no other choice. One consequence of this “victim thesis” was the
restitution of stolen assets, which has only been carried out sluggishly
to date.
With the signing of the Austrian state treaty on May 15,
1955 by Leopold Figl for the federal government Raab I and by
representatives of the four victorious powers and with the formally
independent (i.e. not anchored in the state treaty) commitment to
neutrality and the obligation not to rejoin Germany To strive for, the
republic gained full sovereignty on July 27, 1955.
On October 26,
1955, after the withdrawal of the occupying soldiers, the National
Council passed a resolution on Austria's permanent neutrality; this day
has been an Austrian national holiday since 1965. The neutrality (better
today: non-alignment) is a military one and from the beginning did not
mean equidistance to the value systems of West and East. Due to the
neutrality, however, good cultural and economic ties could be
established both with the western countries and with the former Eastern
Bloc countries, which helped the country for a long time during the
period of reconstruction.
Austria joined the UN on December 14,
1955 and was a member of the Security Council in 1973/74 and 1991/92.
The IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, had its headquarters
in Vienna as early as 1956/57, the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO) joined in 1969, and other UN agencies followed
later. Austria was re-elected to the Security Council as a non-permanent
member for the 2009/10 period.
In the 1960s, Austria brought the
conflict with Italy over the predominantly German-speaking South Tyrol,
which had belonged to the Austrian half of the empire until 1918 and had
been annexed by Italy after the First World War, to the UN. The autonomy
regulation that was subsequently (1969) achieved for the South Tyrolean
population has proven its worth and has been further expanded since
then.
From 1966 to 1970, the Federal Government of Klaus II was
the first sole government of the Second Republic, provided by the
Christian Democratic ÖVP under Josef Klaus. From 1970 to 1983, socialist
governments under Bruno Kreisky followed. Important for Austria at this
time was Kreisky's far-reaching foreign policy, which was symbolized,
among other things, by the construction of Vienna's UNO-City and the
internationalization of the Palestinian question, which Kreisky brought
before the UN for the first time.
In 1978 there was a referendum
on the commissioning of the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant, which was
approved by the Kreisky government; she came out negative. To date,
Austria has not produced any nuclear energy and will also refuse to do
so in the future.
In 1979, following the completion of its UNO
City, Vienna officially became the third official seat of the United
Nations, alongside New York and Geneva. Irrespective of this, OPEC
settled in Vienna.
In 1983, Bruno Kreisky, who was retiring,
engineered a small coalition of the Social Democrats (SPÖ) with the then
national-liberal Freedom Party (FPÖ); the FPÖ had already helped him to
power by keeping quiet in 1970 (see Sinowatz government). After the
right-wing politician Jörg Haider was elected party chairman of the FPÖ
in 1986, the coalition was ended by the SPÖ at the instigation of Franz
Vranitzky.
The collapse of the Eastern Bloc in 1989/90 caused the
Iron Curtain, which had impeded the development of eastern Austria
between 1945 and 1989, to disappear.
From 1987 to 1999 the Social
Democrats (SPÖ) formed “grand coalitions” with the Christian Democratic
ÖVP (see Federal Government Vranitzky I to Vranitzky V and Federal
Government Climate). During this period, Austria joined the European
Union (1995), for which Alois Mock and Vranitzky in particular had
advocated. In the referendum in 1994, two thirds of the participants
voted in favour.
Since the borders of the former Eastern bloc were opened in 1989/90,
Austria is no longer on the eastern border of western-oriented Europe.
Austria became one of the strongest investors in the transition
countries. In the first half of the 1990s, people from the warring
Yugoslav nationalities were increasingly admitted to Austria.
After a positive referendum on June 12, 1994, Austria joined the
European Union on January 1, 1995 (together with Sweden and Finland).
After the end of the Cold War in 1991 and especially after Austria
joined the EU in 1995, the old-style policy of neutrality became
obsolete for Austria. Due to the signed EU treaties, the term neutrality
is essentially reduced to non-alignment and has mainly
identity-political significance; de facto, as a full member of the EU,
which is aiming for a common defense policy, Austria has approved this
project and can therefore no longer be neutral or non-aligned.
Austria held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the
second half of 1998 and in the first half of 2006. In 1999, the euro was
introduced as book money, and from January 1, 2002, the euro also
replaced the shilling as cash. Austria joined the Schengen Agreement in
1995. On December 1, 1997, it lifted border controls with Germany and
Italy; since then it has been part of the Schengen area. In the second
half of 2018, Austria held the Presidency of the Council of the European
Union for the third time.
The SPÖ-ÖVP coalition governments of
1986-2000 were replaced in 2000-2006 by governments of the Austrian
People's Party (ÖVP) with the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) (see
Federal Government Bowl I and Bowl II). The then 14 other EU member
states reacted to the government participation of the FPÖ, which they
regarded as right-wing radicals, with a temporary bilateral ban on
contacts at government level (“EU sanctions”). After the FPÖ split in
2005, the newly founded Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) became
a government partner.
In 2007/2008, after new elections, an
SPÖ-ÖVP coalition was active (see Federal Government Gusenbauer). After
the expansion of the Schengen area at the end of 2007 to include the
Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia and at the end of 2008 to
include Switzerland and at the end of 2011 to include Liechtenstein,
Austria is completely surrounded by Schengen states.
Early
National Council elections triggered by the ÖVP in September 2008 led to
a new red-black coalition (Faymann federal government) under the new
party leaders Werner Faymann (SPÖ) and Josef Proell (ÖVP). After Josef
Proell resigned, Michael Spindelegger succeeded him as Vice Chancellor
in 2011.
After an extension of the legislative period of the
National Council from four to five years, which came into force in 2007,
the National Council was elected for the first time in 2013, five years
after the previous election. In this election, the former governing
parties SPÖ and ÖVP again became the strongest and second strongest
party with losses (together 99 of 183 mandates in the National Council).
From 2013 to 2017, the SPÖ and ÖVP again formed a coalition government
(Federal Government Faymann II, 2016/17 Federal Government Kern).
After the early elections in 2017, from which the ÖVP emerged as the
party with the most votes, until the Ibiza affair in 2019, a coalition
of ÖVP and FPÖ (Federal Government Kurz I) ruled a female Federal
Chancellor (Federal Government Bierlein), after the National Council
elections on September 29, 2019, a government made up of ÖVP and the
Greens (Federal Government Kurz II) has been in office for the first
time at federal level since January 2020.
After the advertisement
scandal became known, Sebastian Kurz announced his resignation as
Federal Chancellor on October 9, 2021. Kurz was listed as a suspect in
three investigations by the law enforcement agency. The ÖVP proposed
Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg as his successor. The remaining
15 members of the Kurz II government were taken over by the federal
government under Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) on October 11, 2021. In
December 2021, Karl Nehammer took over the office of Federal Chancellor.
The coalition with the Greens continued. After the close presidential
election in 2016, Alexander Van der Bellen managed to be re-elected in
the first ballot in 2022.
Austria stretches a maximum of 575 kilometers from west to east and
294 km from north to south. The five major landscapes of Austria are:
the Eastern Alps (52,600 km², 62.8% of the national area),
the
foothills of the Alps and Carpathians (9,500 km², 11.3%),
the
foreland in the east, edge of the Pannonian lowlands (9,500 km², 11.3%),
the granite and gneiss plateau, the Central Uplands of the Bohemian
Massif (8,500 km², 10.2%) and
the Vienna Basin (3,700 km², 4.4%).
More than 70% of the national territory is mountainous and mostly
part of the Eastern Alps, which can be further subdivided into the
mountain ranges of the Tyrolean Central Alps, the High and Low Tauern,
the Northern and Southern Limestone Alps and the Vienna Woods. That is
why the country is colloquially called the Alpine Republic. North of the
Danube in Upper and Lower Austria lies the granite and gneiss plateau,
part of the old rump mountain range of the Bohemian Massif, whose
foothills reach as far as the Czech Republic and Bavaria. Beyond the
eastern border are the Little Carpathians.
The large plains lie
in the east along the Danube, especially in the foothills of the Alps
and in the Vienna Basin with the Marchfeld, as well as in southern
Styria. Southern Styria is also called Styrian Tuscany because of the
similarity in landscape to Tuscany. Burgenland to the east of the
Alps-Carpathian arc ends in the Pannonian Plain and is very similar in
terms of landscape and climate to neighboring Hungary to the east, to
which it belonged until 1921.
About a quarter of Austria's total
area of 83,882.56 km² is made up of low and hilly countries. Only 32%
are deeper than 500 meters. The lowest point in the state is in
Hedwighof (municipality of Apetlon, Burgenland) at 114 meters above sea
level, 43% of the state is forested.
According to the descriptive classification, the climate in Austria
can be assigned to the warm-temperate rainy climates of the
humid-cool-temperate zone. In the west and north of Austria, the climate
is oceanic and often characterized by humid westerly winds. In the east,
on the other hand, a more Pannonian-continental, low-precipitation
climate with hot summers and cold winters predominates. The influence of
high-precipitation low-pressure areas from the Mediterranean region is
particularly noticeable in the southern Alps.
In fact, Austria's
regional climate is strongly influenced by the alpine topography. There
are often considerable climatic differences within short distances and
small differences in sea level. With increasing sea level, boreal and
tundra climates are first encountered, and even polar climates in the
summit areas. Not only the main chain of the Alps acts as a climate
divide. Sunny foehn valleys (e.g. Inntal) face fog-prone basin
landscapes (e.g. Klagenfurt Basin), mountain edges with a lot of
precipitation (e.g. Bregenzerwald) face dry inner-Alpine valleys (e.g.
Ötztal Alps).
The overall range of the annual mean air temperature in Austria
ranges from over 12 °C in the inner districts of Vienna to around −7 °C
on the highest peaks. In the densely populated lowlands, it is mostly 9
to 11 °C. The mean area is 7.4 °C. The annual mean of the zero-degree
isotherm is at an altitude of about 2400 m. In closed basins, valleys
and depressions below 800 to 1200 m above sea level, temperatures often
increase with altitude in the winter months (temperature inversion).
While January and July are on average the coldest and warmest months
of the year in most of Austria, this is the case in February and August
in the high mountains. The long-term January mean of the air temperature
in the flat landscapes of the east is 0 to 2 °C and drops to around 1000
m above sea level to −3 to −2 °C. The lowest value in the area of the
highest peaks is around −14 °C. In July, the long-term mean values are
21 to 22 °C in the east and 16 to 18 °C at 1000 m. On the Grossglockner,
the average level of zero degrees is just exceeded in midsummer.
The Bregenzerwald and the entire Northern Limestone Alps lie to the
windward of the frequent west to north-west locations. The same applies
to the mountains on the southern border of Austria, which receive
intensive waterlogging when there is an inflow from the Mediterranean
region. Together with the central Alpine Hohe Tauern, the measured
annual precipitation totals in the regions mentioned reach around 2000
mm on a long-term average, in some cases up to 3000 mm. In contrast, the
eastern Waldviertel, the Weinviertel, the Vienna Basin and northern
Burgenland receive less than 600 mm of precipitation over the course of
a year. With just under 450 mm, Retz can be named as the place with the
lowest precipitation in Austria.
The mean area of Austria is
about 1100 mm for the year. The summer half-year (April to September)
accounts for slightly more than 60% of the annual total, while the
winter half-year (October to March) accounts for slightly less than 40%.
This precipitation distribution proves to be favorable with regard to
the development of vegetation. While in the majority of the country the
month with the most precipitation falls in June or July due to
convection (showers and thunderstorms), the Carinthian Lesachtal is the
only exception: with a primary precipitation maximum in October, it can
be attributed to the Mediterranean precipitation climate.
The
amount of snow depends mainly on the sea level and the location of the
area relative to the main flow directions and varies accordingly. While
the average annual snowfall in Austria is about 3.3 m, Krems only has
0.3 m and Sonnblick 22 m.
The highest mountains in Austria are three-thousanders, which are
located in the Eastern Alps. At 3798 meters, the Großglockner is the
highest mountain in the Hohe Tauern. There are almost 1000
three-thousanders in Austria with secondary peaks.
The mountain
landscape is of great importance for tourism, there are many winter
sports areas, in summer there are opportunities for hiking and climbing.
There are many lakes in Austria that characterize the landscape as
relics of the Ice Age glaciations, especially in the Alps and the
foothills of the Alps. The largest lake, however, is a steppe lake in
eastern Austria, Lake Neusiedl in Burgenland, which covers about 77% of
its total area of 315 km² in Austria (the rest belongs to Hungary). In
terms of surface area, Lake Attersee comes second with 46 km², followed
by Traunsee in Upper Austria with 24 km². Lake Constance with its 536
km² at the border triangle with Germany (Free State of Bavaria and State
of Baden-Württemberg) and Switzerland lies to a small extent on Austrian
national territory. However, the state borders on Lake Constance are not
exactly defined.
In addition to the mountains, the lakes are of
great importance for summer tourism in Austria, especially the
Carinthian lakes and those of the Salzkammergut. The best known are the
Wörthersee, the Millstätter See, the Ossiacher See and the Weißensee in
Carinthia. Other well-known lakes are the Mondsee and the Wolfgangsee in
the Salzkammergut on the border between Salzburg and Upper Austria.
A large part of Austria is drained directly via the Danube to the
Black Sea, around a third in the southeast via the Mur, Drau, and - via
other countries - also via the Danube to the Black Sea, small areas in
the west via the Rhine (2366 km²) and in the north across the Elbe (918
km²) to the North Sea.
The major tributaries of the Danube (from
west to east):
Lech, Isar and Inn flow into the Danube in Bavaria.
They drain Tyrol, the Salzach, which flows into the Inn, drains Salzburg
(with the exception of the Lungau and parts of the Pongau).
The
Traun, Enns, Ybbs, Erlauf, Pielach, Traisen, Wien river and Fischa drain
the areas of Upper Austria, Styria, Lower Austria and Vienna south of
the Danube (= on the right bank).
Große and Kleine Mühl, Rodl, Gusen
and Aist, Kamp, Göllersbach and Rußbach as well as Thaya on the northern
and March on the eastern border drain the areas of Upper and Lower
Austria north of the Danube (= left bank).
The Mur drains the
Salzburger Lungau and Styria, it flows into Croatia in the Drau, which
in turn drains Carinthia and East Tyrol. The Drava flows into the Danube
in Croatia on the border with Serbia.
The Rhine drains most of
Vorarlberg, flows through Lake Constance and flows into the North Sea.
The small Lainsitz is the only Austrian river that drains from Lower
Austria via the Czech Republic to the Elbe.
Austria belongs for the most part to the Central European floral
region, only eastern Lower Austria, Vienna and northern Burgenland as
well as some inner-Alpine dry valleys as exclaves belong to the
Pannonian floral province, which in turn represents the westernmost part
of the southern Siberian-Pontic-Pannonian floral region. Both regions
are part of the Holarctic floral kingdom. In the alpine areas, the flora
differs so much that it is assigned to a separate alpine subflora
region. In some climatically warm areas, a clear sub-Mediterranean
influence can be seen.
3,165 full-status vascular plant species
grow in Austria, plus around 600 common cultivated, naturalized and
extinct species. Including subspecies, there are 3,428 elementary
vascular plant taxa in Austria, which is, for example, around 300
elementary taxa more than in neighboring Germany, which is four and a
quarter times as large in terms of area. This biodiversity is due to the
fact that Austria has a share in several different large natural areas:
the Pannonian area, the Bohemian Massif, the flora of the Alps, the
Carinthian basin and valley landscapes, the northern and south-eastern
foothills of the Alps and the Rhine Valley.
1,187 plant species
(40.2%) are on the Red List. In addition, some extremely rare endemics
grow in Austria, such as thick-root spoonwort.
There are a total
of 150 endemic plants in Austria.
In particular, the edelweiss,
the bell gentian and the auricula are considered national symbols -
although they are not typical for all of Austria and only appear in the
Alpine region - and are depicted on Austrian coins.
In addition,
around 5,000 species of mushrooms and around 2,100 different lichens are
native.
Approximately 54,000 animal species occur in Austria, of which 98.6%
are invertebrates, around 40,000 animal species are insects alone. To
date, 10,882 species have been assessed for possible endangerment,
resulting in 2,804 species being placed on the national Red List of
Threatened Species.
In Austria, 575 animals are endemic,
including a mammal, the Bavarian short-eared mouse.
The
distribution of the animals depends on the natural conditions. Chamois,
deer and birds of prey are represented in the Alpine region, while
storks and herons live in the Danube plain, in the Vorarlberg Rhine
Valley and on Lake Neusiedl. Historically, Eurasian lynx, brown bear and
northern bald ibis were also present, and since the 1960s attempts have
been made to reintroduce these species.
Austria is also home to
29 species of bats, and with Alpiscorpius germanus (German scorpion),
Alpiscorpius ypsilon, Euscorpius gamma (gamma scorpion) and Euscorpius
tergestinus (Trieste scorpion) even four scorpion species.
Due to the varied topography in Austria, there is a large number of species both in the flora and in the fauna. In order to protect them, six national parks and several nature parks of various categories have been established over the last few decades. In addition, areas of the Dürrenstein wilderness area and the Kalkalpen National Park are part of the transnational World Heritage site Old Beech Forests and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and other European regions as natural heritage on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Austria is located in a geologically active area. Hot springs in the
east and south-east of Austria are an indication of ongoing volcanic
activity. This is how earthquakes happen. On average, 30 to 60
earthquakes are felt by the population in Austria every year.
Earthquakes that damage buildings occur at irregular intervals. On
average and roughly rounded, an earthquake with minor building damage
occurs every three years, every 15 to 30 years with moderate building
damage and every 75 to 100 years an earthquake that can occasionally
also lead to severe building damage. Earthquakes occur in Austria in
certain regions, especially in the Vienna Basin, Mürztal and the Inntal.
Indirectly, the southern part of Carinthia is threatened by tremors
across the border in Italy and Slovenia.
Due to its topography,
avalanches occur in Austria, some of which are devastating, such as the
Galtür avalanche disaster in 1999. Landslides and mudslides also occur.
Floods can occur as a result of heavy rain or when the snow melts, for
example during the Alpine flood of 2005. Extreme weather events such as
storms, hail or heavy snowfall regularly cause serious damage.
The first census that meets today's criteria took place in
Austria-Hungary in 1869/70. Since then, the number of inhabitants in the
territory of today's Austria has increased steadily up to the last
census before the start of the First World War, which took place in
1913. The increase in population was due in large part to internal
migration from the crown lands.
After the First World War, in
1919, the population had declined by 347,000 people due to war
casualties and return migration to the former crown lands. After that,
the number of inhabitants increased again continuously until 1935. By
1939, when the last census before the outbreak of the Second World War
took place after Austria's "annexation" to the German Reich, the
population had fallen to 6.65 million, as a result of strong emigration
as a result of political persecution and anti-Semitism. When the first
population figures after the end of the war were determined on the basis
of the food stamps issued in 1946, the population came to around 7
million, which was a new high. The high war losses had been
overcompensated by the influx of refugees.
By 1953, most of the
refugees and displaced persons had returned home or moved on, causing
the population to drop to 6.93 million.
After that, high birth
surpluses caused the population to grow to a new high in 1974, when 7.6
million people lived in Austria. After a phase of stagnation, Austria's
population began to rise again noticeably from the end of the 1980s -
this time due to increased immigration, for example because of the
Yugoslav wars. At the beginning of 2012 Austria reached a population of
8.44 million.
On average, more than 2 million people (23.3%) with
a migration background lived in Austria in 2018. The proportion of
residents with a migration background in Vienna was 45.3% in 2018. In
addition, there is a large population concentration in the federal
capital Vienna, more than 20% of all inhabitants (a good 1.98 million)
in Austria live here.
Due to strong influx from the Ukraine as a
result of the Russian war of aggression, the population rose by 127,197
inhabitants in the period from January 2022 to January 2023 (in Vienna
alone by around 51,000), while in the same time window a year earlier it
had increased by only around 46,000 inhabitants rose. In 2022, the mark
of 9 million inhabitants was exceeded, so Austria had 9,106,126
inhabitants for the first time on January 1, 2023.
In the fifty years before the First World War, today's federal
territory and Vienna in particular were the destination of many
immigrants from other parts of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, especially
from Bohemia and Moravia. This immigration meant that in 1910 Vienna had
more than 2 million inhabitants. During the First World War, residents
of Galicia (many of whom were Jewish) fled from the Russian army to
Vienna.
With the collapse of Austria-Hungary and the founding of
Czechoslovakia in 1918, hundreds of thousands of Czechs emigrated back
to their homeland. Up until the Second World War, more Austrians
generally emigrated from the new, small Austria than foreigners
immigrated. In 1938/39 there was a wave of refugees: After Austria was
annexed to the German Reich, many people, including those who had come
from Germany since 1933, had to leave Austria, including 140,000 Jewish
Austrians.
There were waves of immigration for political reasons
around 1920 from Hungary (because of civil war-like conflicts),
1933
to 1937 from the German Reich (because of the persecution of dissenters
and believers in the Nazi dictatorship),
1956 from Hungary (after the
suppression of the Hungarian uprising by the Soviets),
1968 from
Czechoslovakia after the end of the Prague Spring,
1993 to 1995
because of the Bosnian war,
since the 2010s from the Near East and
South Asia because of political oppression and (civil) wars (main
countries of origin are Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Syria).
Since
the beginning of the strong economic and prosperity growth that made
Austria a prosperous country from the 1950s, guest workers have been
recruited in a targeted manner. In 1964, for example, a labor
recruitment agreement was concluded with Turkey. A similar treaty was
signed with Yugoslavia in 1966. Later, streams of refugees repeatedly
reached Austria, for example during the Yugoslav wars after the collapse
of this state.
At the beginning of 2016, the number of foreigners
in the resident population was 1.268 million, or 14.6% of the
population. At the beginning of 2020, this proportion was already 16.7%
or 1.486 million people.
In 2015, around 1.813 million people
with a migration background (immigrants of the first or second
generation) lived in Austria, which was 21.4% of the total population.
In 2019 it was already 23.7% or 2.104 million people.
Overall,
Austria's migration balance is clearly positive. In 2015, for example,
immigration to Austria was 113,067 higher than emigration from Austria.
This number has increased significantly since 2009; before that,
however, it had also fallen significantly. The positive migration
balance is due to the population movements of non-Austrians, because the
migration balance of Austrian citizens is slightly negative in the
long-term trend (2015: −5,450 people).
Up to 2014, the increase
in population was primarily due to immigration from the EU (2014: 67% of
immigration from the EU). In 2015, this picture changed significantly
and the majority of immigrants came from third countries (2015: 68%
immigrants from third countries and 37% from the EU). The number of
asylum applications rose from 11,012 applications in 2010 to 88,340 in
2015, after falling almost every year since 2002.
According to forecasts by the Statistics Austria Federal Institute,
births and deaths in Austria would balance out for about 20 years, after
which births would probably be lower than deaths, which would lead to a
higher average age. However, immigration would increase the population
to around 9.5 million by 2050.
Only in Vienna, as the only one of
the nine federal states, would the average age be lower and population
growth higher than the national average. The latest forecast assumes
that Vienna will grow three times faster than previously assumed (24%
instead of 7%). Vienna could become a city of two million again in 2031.
This would result in problems in the social infrastructure and in
residential construction, where an annual construction output of 10,000
residential units was already considered necessary for 2013.
Analyzes of healthy life years indicate significant inequalities between European countries. In Austria, health expectancy in 2016 was 57.1 years for women, 16.2 years lower than in Sweden at 73.3 years. Health expectancy for men in 2016 was 57.0 years, 16.0 years lower than in Sweden at 73.0 years.
The average life expectancy in Austria in 2021 was 82.07 years, for
women 84.85 years and for men 79.42 years (1971: women 75.7 years, men
73.3 years). Life expectancy in Austria was therefore slightly higher
than in Germany. Infant mortality is 0.36%.
The suicide rate in
Austria is high: around 400,000 residents are generally affected by
depression, around 15,000 attempt suicide each year; the number of
suicides in Austria is more than twice as high as that of traffic
fatalities: every six hours, an Austrian dies by his own hand. Actual
suicides in 2009 totaled 1,273.
According to Article 8 of the Federal Constitution (Federal
Constitutional Law (B-VG) from 1920), German is the state language of
the Republic of Austria. The Austrian (standard) German is a high-level
national standard variety of the pluricentric German language - differs
in vocabulary and pronunciation, but also in grammatical peculiarities
from standard German in Germany, but also in Switzerland. The Austrian
dictionary, in which the vocabulary is summarized, was initiated in 1951
by the Ministry of Education, since then it has been the official set of
rules above the Duden and is binding for authorities as well as for
school lessons.
Unlike in Germany and similarly to
German-speaking Switzerland, the majority (88.6%) of Austrian citizens
do not speak standard German as their mother tongue or colloquial
language, but one of the many Upper German dialects. Seven million
Austrians speak a central or southern Bavarian dialect or a colloquial
language influenced by these dialects. Alemannic dialects predominate in
Vorarlberg and the Ausserfern in Tyrol. Regional dialects are also
interwoven with expressions from neighboring non-German languages (Czech
in particular, along with other languages, had an influence on the
Viennese dialect). The use of French terms at the Viennese court also
had an influence on some terms that were used in the past (e.g.
“Trottoir” for sidewalk).
The autochthonous ethnic groups of the
Croats in Burgenland, the Carinthian Slovenes, the Slovenes in Styria
and the Hungarians in Austria have the right to mother-tongue schooling
and dealings with the authorities. Burgenland-Croatian and Slovene are
additional official languages in the administrative and judicial
districts of Styria, Burgenland and Carinthia with Croatian or Slovene
or mixed populations. Furthermore, in some communities in Burgenland,
Hungarian is an official language with equal status alongside German.
Romany, the language of the Roma ethnic group, is also a
state-recognized minority language. The same applies to Czech and
Slovak. The Austrian sign language is constitutionally recognized.
In the censuses from 1951 to 2001, religious affiliation was
collected as self-declaration. Since the switch to register counts,
religious affiliation is no longer recorded. In 2021 Statistics Austria
carried out a voluntary survey on the "religious affiliation of the
population in private households" on behalf of the Federal Chancellery.
According to the 2001 census, 73.6% of the population belonged to the
Roman Catholic Church and 4.7% to one of the Evangelical Churches
(Protestantism; mostly Augsburg Confession, rarely Helvetic Confession).
Around 180,000 Christians, or 2.2% of the Austrian population, were
members of the Orthodox Church. About 15,000 believers, around 0.2% of
the population, professed the Old Catholic Church.
As in Germany,
the number of members of the Volkskirchen is declining. At the end of
2016, the proportion of Catholics was 5.16 million of 8.77 million, only
58.8% and has thus clearly made up two-thirds of the Austrian population
within a few years fallen below In relative terms, the decline was
greater among the smaller Protestant churches, with only 3.4% admitting
to being a member of one of the Protestant churches in 2016. The number
of Orthodox Christians in the country is increasing.
The largest
non-Christian religious community in Austria is Islam, which has been a
recognized religious community since 1912. In the 2001 census, around
340,000 people, or 4.3%, professed the Muslim faith - according to the
Integration Fund, there were 515,914 believers in 2009, which
corresponds to 6.2% of the total population. According to estimates by
the Ministry of the Interior and the Austrian Integration Fund, around
700,000 Muslims lived in Austria at the beginning of 2017. The number
rose sharply, mainly due to migrants, births and refugees from the Arab
world. According to a 2017 study, 34.6% of Austrian Muslims have “highly
fundamentalist” attitudes.
About 8,140 people profess Judaism.
The vast majority of them, around 7,000, live in Vienna. According to
the Vienna Jewish Community, there are 15,000 across Austria.
Just over 10,000 people profess Buddhism, which was recognized as a
religious community in Austria in 1983. According to the 2001 census,
3,629 people profess Hinduism, which is considered a “registered
religious denomination” in Austria.
20,000 people are active
members of Jehovah's Witnesses. Its legal recognition as a religious
community was decided in 2009.
According to the last survey in
2001, around 12% of the population (around one million people) do not
belong to any of the religious communities legally recognized in
Austria. It is estimated that the number of atheists and agnostics in
2005 was between 18% and 26% (1,471,500 to 2,125,500 people).
According to a representative Eurobarometer survey in 2005, 54% of
people in Austria believed in God, and 34% believed that there was
another spiritual power. 8% percent of the respondents did not believe
in a god or any other spiritual power, 4% of the respondents were
undecided.
Due to political, linguistic-cultural and ideological conditions,
which have seen Austria as part of a German identity since the Middle
Ages, the final development of an independent Austrian national identity
did not take place until after the Second World War. Until the beginning
of the 19th century there was no sense of national identity in the
modern sense. While only local ties played a role for the “lower” strata
of the population, the elites had different levels of identity that
hardly competed with each other.
The term "Austrian nation" has
come to be used as a designation for collective cultural, social,
historical, linguistic and ethnic identities that have developed on the
territory of the Republic of Austria and which have led to a feeling of
togetherness among the Austrian population. The first Austrian
we-identities emerged in the early Middle Ages. During the Habsburg
monarchy until 1918, collective identification focused mainly on the
dynasty or monarch and on cultural characteristics that were perceived
as German. Ernst Bruckmüller sees the approach to the development of
“two German nations” in this context. After the collapse of the
monarchy, this dilemma finally led to a "fundamental collective identity
crisis", which is understood to be one of the reasons for the failure of
the First Republic and which ultimately also led to the "annexation" to
the German Reich in 1938.
However, soon after the "Anschluss" and
during the war, an Austrian identity began to develop in some parts of
society, which can be explained primarily by opposition to the Nazi
regime and in view of the defeats in the war. The Austrian resistance
against National Socialism therefore played an important role in
identification. Referring to this change of heart, the Berlin political
scientist Richard Löwenthal coined the saying: “The Austrians wanted to
become Germans – until they became one.”
However, Austrian
national consciousness only developed on a broad basis after the end of
the war. Political and social successes such as the conclusion of the
State Treaty and the economic upswing of the 1960s also contributed to
this. Today the existence of an Austrian nation or an Austrian people is
largely recognized.
Equal rights for men and women are enshrined in the Federal
Constitution in Art. 7 Para. 1 B-VG.
Historical exceptions are
conscription, which only applies to men, and the pension scheme. In
Austria, women are currently allowed to retire five years earlier than
men (exception: civil servant retirement). Since, according to the
ruling of the Austrian Constitutional Court, this contradicts the
principle of equality, it was decided to gradually adjust the retirement
age for women to that of men (65 years) by 2033.
In almost all
areas, the average income of women is lower than the average income of
men (exception: civil servants). In 2020, the gender pay gap was 18.9%,
well above the EU average of 13%. Among other things, this is due to the
fact that many women retire earlier, work part-time or devote themselves
to raising children and therefore do not take advantage of opportunities
for advancement. Childcare outside the family varies greatly due to
federalism and is therefore not always compatible with both parents
working full-time in parts of the country. For example, the gender pay
gap in Vorarlberg is two and a half times as high as in Vienna.
The collective wages in Austria are the same for both sexes. In 2021,
76.7% of men and 68.1% of women were employed, and since 2021 around 40%
of the members of the Austrian National Council have been women for the
first time.
On the international Gender Inequality Index of the
United Nations from 2016, Austria was at the top of the gender equality
field in 24th place and thus 19 places lower than in 2014.
By far the largest settlement area in Austria is the metropolitan
area of Vienna with a population of 2.85 million (as of 2019). This
means that more than a quarter of the state's population is concentrated
in the capital region.
Other larger urban regions surround the
provincial capitals of Graz (Styria), Linz (Upper Austria), Salzburg
(Salzburg) and Innsbruck (Tyrol). The more important cities also include
(from west to east) Feldkirch, Dornbirn and Bregenz (Vorarlberg),
Villach and Klagenfurt (Carinthia), Wels (Upper Austria), St. Pölten and
Wiener Neustadt (Lower Austria). A total of 201 communities of very
different sizes have the right to call themselves a city (city law);
this is of administrative importance only for the 15 statutory cities. A
major problem, especially in economically weak areas, is the exodus
(rural exodus) of the rural population to urban agglomerations.
The Kleinwalsertal is a functional enclave of Germany on Austrian
territory. Although the Kleinwalsertal is part of Vorarlberg and borders
directly on it geographically, it can only be reached by road via
Germany due to its topographical location. Another functional enclave of
Germany is the municipality of Jungholz in Tirol, which cannot be
reached from Austria and is only connected to Austria by the 1636 meter
high Sorgschrofen. Unlike similar functional and geographic enclaves
such as Kleinwalsertal or Jungholz, Hinterriss is not a customs area
connected to Germany, although it is also only accessible via Germany's
roads.
The Saalforste are Austrian national territory, but are
privately owned by the Free State of Bavaria.
A functional
enclave of Austria used to exist on Swiss territory. For a long time,
the Swiss municipality of Samnaun could not be reached by road from
Switzerland, but only via Austria (Tyrol). This led to the Romansh
language being abandoned in the 19th century and a dialect similar to
Tyrolean being adopted instead. There is now a Swiss road to Samnaun,
but there is still a duty-free zone that was once established. The
municipality of Spiss in the Austrian-Swiss border area had a similar
status to Samnaun until 1980. For a long time it was only accessible via
Samnaun and had to contend with a high level of migration because,
unlike other enclaves, it hardly offered any opportunities for economic
development.
In addition, within Austria, the district of Lienz
forms an exclave of the federal state of Tyrol; the state of Vienna is
an enclave completely surrounded by Lower Austria.
According to
the Federal Constitution of 1920 in the 1929 version, which was
reinstated in 1945, Austria is a federal, parliamentary-democratic
republic consisting of nine federal states. The head of state is the
Federal President, who has been directly elected by the people for six
years since 1951 (due to the 1929 constitutional amendment); one-time
re-election is permitted.
Since Austria is a federal state, both
legislation and administration are shared between the federal government
and the (federal) states.
The National Council and the Federal Council usually exercise federal
legislation jointly (bicameral system).
The National Council,
with its 183 deputies, is the dominant chamber and is elected by
universal, equal, direct and secret suffrage by all citizens over the
age of 16 according to the principles of proportional representation.
Its legislative period lasts five years if it is not shortened by
dissolution by the National Council itself or by the Federal President
and the Federal Government in order to enable earlier new elections. A 4
percent hurdle prevents the party landscape in the National Council from
becoming too fragmented. The members of the National Council have a free
mandate and enjoy professional and non-professional immunity.
The
Bundesrat is appointed by the individual Landtag (the parliaments of the
federal states) according to the population and thus represents the
interests of the federal states in federal legislation in accordance
with the federal principle. In the majority of cases, he only has a
suspensive right of veto, which can be overruled by an inertia
resolution by the National Council. The Bundesrat only has an absolute
right of veto in cases in which the rights of the federal states are
encroached upon. Since the Bundesrat is appointed according to party
representation, it is often criticized that voting is not based on the
interests of the federal states but on the interests of the parties. The
members of the Federal Council have a free mandate and enjoy
professional and non-professional immunity.
At federal level, the
head of government is the Federal Chancellor, who is appointed by the
Federal President. Normally, after a National Council election, the top
candidate of the party with the most votes is tasked with forming a
government. But this is not a constitutional rule. As a result, the
federal government, that is, the federal chancellor, vice chancellor and
all other federal ministers as a collegial body, is appointed by the
federal president on the proposal of the federal chancellor (although
the federal president can also reject proposals). The federal government
and its members are dependent on the confidence of the National Council
(political responsibility), which is why minority governments have only
been appointed in exceptional cases.
The state legislation in the federal states is exercised by the
respective state parliament (unicameral system). He is elected by the
over 16-year-old citizens on the basis of equal, direct, personal, free
and secret voting rights according to the principles of proportional
representation. The members of the state parliaments have a free mandate
and enjoy professional and non-professional immunity.
The state
parliament elects the state government, which consists of the state
governor, the required number of deputies and other members (state
councils). The state government is politically accountable to the state
parliament.
A special feature of the political system in Austria are public-law
interest groups with compulsory membership, legally referred to as
chambers, which are often supplemented by private-law associations. The
Austrian Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber for Workers and Employees
(since 1920) and the Chamber of Agriculture are considered to be "big
chambers". There are also associations of the Federation of
Industrialists, the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions, the Bar
Association and the Farmers' Association. If a draft law is drafted as a
government bill, an assessment procedure takes place, in which the
chambers propose amendments, etc.
The major interest groups are
referred to as social partners when they work together to find
compromises on issues; as a result, strikes in Austria have become rare.
Occasionally they are referred to as an unelected subsidiary government,
Austria is criticized as a chamber state. The SPÖ and ÖVP elevated the
chambers to constitutional status in 2007 in order to make changes more
difficult.
Since the founding of the Republic of Austria, politics has been
dominated by two major parties, the Christian-conservative People's
Party ÖVP (until 1934 "Christian Social Party", 1934-1938
"Vaterländische Front") and the social-democratic SPÖ (since 1991,
before that since 1945 "Socialist Party Austria" or 1918 to 1933 "Social
Democratic Workers' Party of German Austria", before that "Social
Democratic Workers' Party"). Both came into being during the monarchy
and were re-founded after the liberation of Vienna at the end of the
Second World War in April 1945. 1945-1966 and 1986-1999 these two
parties governed in a grand coalition despite their ideological
differences. The positive effects of this cooperation were addressed
under the concept of social partnership, the negative as party-political
proportional representation.
The third party-political continuum,
which was much smaller until the 1990s, is the German-national camp,
which in the first republic was primarily in the Greater German People's
Party, in the second republic in the VdU (Association of Independents),
and then in the FPÖ, Austria's Freedom Party , collected. The Communist
Party of Austria (KPÖ) also played a role in the country's politics in
the early years of the Second Republic, but since the 1960s it has been
insignificant as a small party at federal level. In regional elections,
especially in Graz and Styria, it still achieves a considerable share of
the vote.
In the 1980s, the rigid party system, sometimes
referred to as “hyperstable” (with one of the highest densities of party
members in the world), broke up. With the referendum against the
Zwentendorf nuclear power plant and the occupation of the Hainburg Au,
the environmental movement gained strength. The Greens were founded in
1986. The FPÖ, on the other hand, began to reposition itself as a
right-wing populist party. The Liberal Forum split off from it in 1993.
In 2005, the FPÖ experienced its second split with the founding of the
Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ). In the national elections in
Austria in 2008, the FPÖ and BZÖ were roughly as strong as the SPÖ, but
neither the SPÖ nor the ÖVP were eligible as coalition partners. In an
international comparison, party funding in Austria (“democracy costs”),
based on the number of inhabitants, is the second highest after Japan –
in 2014 it totaled 205 million euros.
In October 2012, a new
party was founded under the name NEOS - Das Neue Österreich and ran for
the 2013 national elections in Austria in an electoral alliance with the
Liberal Forum, with which it subsequently merged in January 2014. In the
National Council elections in 2013, the party received five percent of
the votes and was elected to the National Council with nine MPs.
In 2017, some innovations developed in the Austrian party landscape: the
Greens failed to re-enter parliament after a group around Peter Pilz had
split off and managed to get into the National Council. The ÖVP now
appears in turquoise instead of black party color and calls itself “The
People’s Party” (until 2022 “The New People’s Party”). In the 2019
National Council election, the Greens returned to parliament with 13.9%
of the votes and have been in government together with the ÖVP ever
since.
In 2016, the state budget included expenditure equivalent to US$192.6
billion, compared to income equivalent to US$187.3 billion. This
resulted in a budget deficit of 1.3 percent of GDP.
In March
2011, the debt of the general government including social insurance
reached its highest level to date at 210.3 billion euros. In 2008, the
total national debt was still 176.8 billion euros. This rapid increase
is mainly due to the global financial and economic crisis and the
associated government aid and rescue packages for the financial sector
and economic development.
Austria's public debt fell between 2001
and 2007 from 66.8% to 60.2% of GDP. Nonetheless, the Maastricht target
of no more than 60% has never been reached since 1992 – before EU
accession in 1995. In the wake of the global financial and economic
crisis, Austria's debt rose to almost 85%.
In 2011, a so-called
debt brake was passed in the federal budget law, which prescribes
concrete restrictions for the budget balance in the years 2012 to 2016
and from 2017 limits the structural deficit to 0.45% of GDP.
Since the accession of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and
Slovenia to the EU in 2004, Austria, with the exception of Switzerland
and the Principality of Liechtenstein, has only been surrounded by other
EU member states. His security policy therefore focuses on
counter-terrorism and on international operations by the army within the
framework of the EU and the UN.
During the Cold War, Austria saw
itself at the interface between two opposing power blocs – the western
powers and the eastern bloc. In accordance with the neutrality that the
Soviet Union had been assured when it obtained the Austrian State Treaty
in 1955, Austria was formally neutral towards both power blocs, although
it had emphasized a Western form of democracy, economy and politics
towards the Soviet Union from the outset.
The country's foreign
policy has often contributed to the stability of the region and to the
cooperative reshaping of East-West relations. Vienna became attractive
as an international conference location, as the meetings were neither in
a NATO country nor in Warsaw Pact territory. However, this concept
became obsolete with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989.
Austria joined the EU in 1995; Domestically, it was argued that one
would go into the EU “as a neutral country”. (The fact that one can
hardly be neutral towards other EU member states was not publicly
discussed.) Austria later decided to implement the Petersberg tasks and
other decisions within the framework of the common security and defense
policy (CSDP), an EU military assistance pact , as well as the common
foreign and security policy (CFSP) of the EU and only to explicitly
avoid military alliances.
In 2008, the new Article 23 f (since
2010: Article 23 j) of the Federal Constitutional Law established a
legal basis for participation in peacekeeping measures. The federal
army, which was re-established in 1955, thus takes part in the NATO
program Partnership for Peace, which does not include any obligation to
provide assistance. Austria had observer status in the Western European
Union, which was dissolved on March 31, 2010 and merged into the GSDP.
Further developments relating to GSDP and CFSP in the EU are open and
could lead to further challenges for non-aligned EU states such as
Austria.
Austria joined the United Nations in 1955. In 1980,
Vienna became the third seat of the United Nations Secretariat after New
York and Geneva (another seat was later established in Nairobi, Kenya)
and traditionally attaches great importance to this element of foreign
policy. From 1972 to 1981 the later controversial Austrian ex-Foreign
Minister Kurt Waldheim was Secretary General of the United Nations. In
2009 and 2010 Austria held a non-permanent seat on the UN Security
Council. To date, more than 50,000 Austrians have served under the UN
flag as soldiers, military observers, civilian police officers and
civilian experts around the world. In addition to the UN offices, other
international organizations have their offices in Vienna. These include
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, in Vienna since 1957), the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the
headquarters of OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries), founded in Baghdad in 1960, and various non-governmental
organizations (NGOs). .
The formal repeal of the 1955 federal
constitutional law on perpetual neutrality requires a two-thirds
majority in the National Council, which is generally considered unlikely
to come about since the neutrality law has a symbolic character for
historical reasons. It is therefore not clear to many observers at home
and abroad that Austria is still militarily non-aligned and does not
allow bases and troop movements of foreign armies on its territory, but
that classic neutrality no longer exists. The federal governments of the
last decades chose the way not to make restrictions of the neutrality
regulations in the neutrality law, but to have other, less conspicuous
federal constitutional laws passed.
In the Austrian government,
responsibility for foreign policy lies with the Federal Ministry for
European and International Affairs. The incumbent is Alexander
Schallenberg.
The federal army consists of around 25,000 men in the presence and
around 30,000 men in the militia. The military service lasted eight
months until January 1, 2006 and six months since then. In absolute
figures, the military budget for 2021 is around 2.672 billion euros, the
highest in the history of the armed forces, but at the same time one of
the relatively lowest in the world.
National military defense is
based on general conscription for all male citizens between the ages of
17 and 50. Women can do voluntary military service. Since 1975,
conscripts who refuse military service for reasons of conscience have
been able to do alternative military service. This has lasted nine
months since January 1, 2006 and can also be done in foreign service as
a peace service, memorial service or social service, although it lasts
ten to eleven months.
The regional cooperation of the European regions is a transnational
cooperation with the neighboring countries, especially on an economic
level. The European Union as well as the Austrian federal government and
the respective state governments hope that, in addition to the aspect of
cross-state cooperation, the potentially weaker peripheral regions will
also be strengthened.
European regions with Austrian
participation are:
Euregio Lake Constance
Raetia Nova
euroregion/Nova Raetia
European region Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino
Adria–Alpe–Pannonia European region
Euregio Graz-Maribor
Euregio
West/Nyugat Pannonia
centrope
Euregio Weinviertel-South
Moravia-West Slovakia/Pomoraví-Záhorie-Weinviertel euroregion
Euroregion Silva Nortica
Danube-Moldova European Region
Euregio
Bavarian Forest - Bohemian Forest - Lower Inn / Euroregion Šumava -
Bavorský les - Dolní Inn
Euregio Unterer Inn
Inn-Salzach Euregion
EuRegio Salzburg – Berchtesgadener Land – Traunstein
Euregio Inn
Valley
Euregio Zugspitze-Wetterstein-Karwendel
Euregio via salina
In March 2007, the Council of Ministers decided on the Austrian
climate strategy in order to achieve the goals of the Kyoto Protocol by
2012, which are intended to counteract climate change, which is
particularly affecting the Alpine region. In 2020, 73.6 million tonnes
of carbon dioxide equivalent were emitted in Austria. This is 6.2% less
than in the Kyoto base year 1990. The largest emitters are the energy
and industry, transport, building and agriculture sectors.
As
part of the 2021 Fit for 55 EU legislative package, Austria must reduce
its greenhouse gas emissions outside of emissions trading by 36%
compared to 2005.
The Federal Environment Agency is the Republic
of Austria's specialist agency for environmental protection and
environmental control. In this capacity, the Federal Environment Agency
supports the Federal Government in implementing the climate strategy.
klima:aktiv is the initiative of the Federal Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management (BML) for active
climate protection and part of the Austrian climate strategy. A large
number of klima:aktiv programs actively provide impetus for supply and
demand for climate-friendly technologies and services.
The
Austrian Council on Climate Change (ACCC) is the Austrian climate
advisory board. The ACCC presents itself as an information portal for
national and international climate policy and research in cooperation
with the BML and the Federal Environment Agency.
The aim of the
Austrian Climate Alliance is to support the indigenous peoples. The
Austrian Climate Alliance consists of municipalities and cities, all
nine federal states, schools, educational institutions and companies as
well as COICA, an association of Indian organizations in the Amazon
region.
Renewable energies have been the backbone of electricity
generation in Austria for decades. By 1997, two-thirds of electricity
generation came from hydropower. In 2022, electricity generation from
renewable energies will have reached a rate of 85%.
On September
25, 2019, Austria became the ninth country in the world to declare a
climate emergency with votes from the ÖVP, SPÖ, Neos and Liste Now. This
was a commitment to give the climate crisis and its consequences "top
priority". The application also includes the plan to examine future laws
for their effects on the climate.
In the Climate Protection
Index, an annual evaluation of the climate protection efforts of states
carried out by the organization Germanwatch, Austria achieved 38th place
out of 61 evaluations in 2020 and is thus in the lower middle field
below the EU average.
In 2022, the newly created Federal Ministry
for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and
Technology introduced a "climate bonus" of 500 euros, which is intended
to socially compensate for the costs of the previously decided CO2 tax.
The climate bonus is part of the eco-social tax reform of the governing
coalition of the People's Party and the Greens.
As in at least all wealthy countries in the western world, there has
been a general decline in crime since the early 1990s, especially in the
case of theft and violent crime. In addition, there is increased
security through gun bans, from which women benefit less than men, since
they are usually victims of violence in relationships.
The
homicide rate is used as an index for comparisons of propensity to
violence over long periods of time and over large geographical
distances. Austria had 0.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 2016. A peak
was in 1991 with 1.3 cases. Today's 0.7 cases are below the average in
western Europe, which is one. The average for all of Europe was three
cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the global average was 6.1. East Asian
countries average 0.6 cases, with Singapore just 0.2 cases per 100,000
people.
Detailed, comprehensive data has been published in the
Austrian police crime statistics since 2001. In 2018, less than 500,000
reported offenses were recorded for the first time. The clearance rate
rose to a record 52.5%. The number of reports has fallen significantly
in the main areas of crime, such as burglary in apartments and
residential buildings, motor vehicle theft, and pickpocketing and trick
theft, which are forms of crime that have a significant impact on
people's sense of security.
In addition, an increasing
willingness to report crimes and a decreasing number of unreported cases
is assumed internationally, especially in the case of violence against
women. It can therefore be assumed that overall crime is falling even
more sharply than police statistics indicate. More recently, murders of
women (femicides) have been discussed, but the extent to which this is a
specifically Austrian problem is a matter of controversy.
Austrian federal constitutional law is fragmented because, unlike
other countries, there is no incorporation requirement that all changes
or additions made after the constitution came into force should only be
incorporated directly into the constitutional document itself and not be
enacted in separate constitutional laws. In Austria, therefore,
constitutional rules are found not only in the federal constitutional
law itself, but also in many other constitutional laws and
constitutional provisions contained in simple laws.
From July 1,
2003 to January 31, 2005, a constitutional convention ("Austria
Convention") met, which drew up proposals for a reform of the Austrian
federal constitution. The chairman, Franz Fiedler, drew up his own final
report, since no agreement was reached on the future distribution of
competences between the federal and state governments.
The main
constitutional document is
the federal constitutional law of October
1, 1920 in the 1929 version (B-VG) with the amendments that have been
issued since then, which forms the "core" of federal constitutional law.
A catalog of fundamental rights is missing in the B-VG. It is made
up of several legal texts that have constitutional status:
the basic
law on the general rights of citizens of December 21, 1867, RGBl.
142/1867, in constitutional status according to Art. 149 Para. 1 B-VG,
and
the European Convention on Human Rights (EMRK) of November 4,
1950, ratified in 1958 (BGBl. No. 210/1958), in constitutional status
since 1964 (BGBl. No. 59/1964).
Other important federal
constitutional laws (BVG; to distinguish it from the original
constitution, the B-VG, written without a hyphen) are:
the
Prohibition Act of 1947, which makes National Socialist "re-activation"
a criminal offense (published for the first time on May 8, 1945, StGBl.
No. 13/1945),
the Finance Constitutional Law of January 21, 1948,
BGBl. No. 45/1948, in the current version, which regulates the financial
equalization between “the federal government and the other regional
authorities” (original title),
the Neutrality Act of October 26,
1955, Federal Law Gazette No. 211/1955,
the EU Accession Treaty
approved by Parliament on January 1, 1995 (Federal Law Gazette No.
45/1995),
further ratifications of EU treaties.
In addition,
there are more than 1,300 purely formal constitutional laws and legal
rules referred to as constitutional provisions in simple laws (these
protect otherwise unconstitutional exceptional regulations) as well as
state treaties with constitutional status. On January 4, 2008, the First
Federal Constitutional Law Settlement Act (BVRBG), Federal Law Gazette I
No. 2/2008, was published. As a result, 71 federal constitutional laws,
167 constitutional provisions and 6 constitutional treaties were
repealed or found to be no longer valid, 24 federal constitutional laws
were downgraded to simple federal laws and 225 other provisions were
stripped of their constitutional status.
In 1995, the acquis communautaire was adopted, the common body of law
of the EU, which was enacted by the EC directives (framework laws) and
EU regulations (directly applicable laws) and final decisions of the
European Court of Justice (ECJ) enacted since joining the EU with the
participation of Austria. is constantly being further developed. In case
of doubt, Community law takes precedence. Business, company and capital
law are particularly affected, only the basic guidelines of the
constitution, the so-called building laws, which require a referendum to
be amended, are assumed to have higher priority than Austrian law.
Like 17 of the 27 member states, Austria has ratified the EU
Constitutional Treaty; Since the necessary unanimity of all member
states could not be achieved, the Treaty of Lisbon was concluded in
autumn 2007, which contains the most important “constitutional
provisions” without designating them as such and which dispenses with
symbols of EU statehood. Austria has also ratified this.
Jurisdiction in Austria is predominantly a federal matter. In civil
and criminal matters, it is exercised by district courts, regional
courts, higher regional courts and the Supreme Court (OGH) as the
highest instance, all of which are federal courts. Administrative
jurisdiction has been organized in two tiers since January 1, 2014 and
is exercised by eleven administrative courts, of which each state has
one court (state administrative court) and the federal government has
two courts (federal administrative court and federal finance court), and
the administrative court (VwGH).
For constitutional jurisdiction
there is only one court, the Constitutional Court (VfGH). As far as
matters belonging to the competences of the EU are concerned, the
European Court of Justice (ECJ) is the final instance over the Austrian
courts in accordance with the EU Treaty; in human rights issues
according to the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Court
of Human Rights (ECtHR).
The central code of private law in Austria, the General Civil Code (ABGB) of June 1, 1811 (entered into force on January 1, 1812), is a natural law code that was extensively amended between 1914 and 1916 under the influence of the historical school of law. Far-reaching changes did not take place until 1970, especially in family law. However, large areas of private law are regulated outside of the ABGB, whereby many of these special laws were introduced in Austria in the course of the “annexation” to Germany in 1938 and were retained after 1945 in a possibly denazified version; such as the Marriage Act (EheG), the Business Code (UGB) and the Stock Corporation Act (AktG).
Austrian criminal law is regulated in modern codifications such as
the Criminal Code (StGB) of January 23, 1974 or the Code of Criminal
Procedure (StPO) of December 31, 1975, 2004, which came into force on
January 1, 2008. In addition to penalties, the Criminal Code also
recognizes “preventive measures”. Both penalties and measures may only
be imposed for an act that was already threatened with punishment at the
time it was committed (implementation of the prohibition of retroactive
effect in criminal law: Nulla poena sine lege, § 1 StGB). The death
penalty has been abolished in ordinary proceedings since 1950 and in
extraordinary proceedings since 1968.
State goals
State
objectives in the Austrian Federal Constitution
permanent neutrality
Ban on Nazi activities (since 1955)
broadcasting as a public task
(since 1974)
comprehensive national defense (since 1975)
comprehensive environmental protection (since 1984)
the equal
treatment of disabled people (since 1997)
equality between men and
women (since 1998)
The following updated state goals have also
been in effect since 2013, and the Republic (federal, state and local
authorities) is responsible for ensuring that they are met:
sustainability
animal welfare
comprehensive environmental
protection
Securing the water and food supply
Research
With a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of 39,990 euros,
Austria is one of the most prosperous countries in the EU - for
comparison: Germany 37,900 euros (2016). The total GDP is nominally 352
billion euros. Of this, agriculture, forestry and fisheries account for
1.2%, manufacturing, mining, energy and water supply and construction
for 28% and market and market-related services for 70.7%. In tourism,
which in contrast to many countries takes place all year round, there
were a total of 141 million overnight stays in 2016 (residents and
foreigners, around 52 million of which were overnight stays by guests
from Germany). The high proportion of industry in Austria in an
international comparison is characterized by highly developed mechanical
engineering, numerous automotive suppliers and a number of large
medium-sized companies, which are highly specialized and some of them
are world market leaders in their segment.
In 2016, the Austrian
economy grew by 1.5%. Growth of 1.64% is expected for 2017. At 50.7%
(2016), the state ratio is above the average for the EU countries. In
the Global Competitiveness Index, which measures the competitiveness of
a country, Austria ranks 18th out of 137 countries (as of 2017). The
country ranked 32nd out of 180 countries in the 2018 Economic Freedom
Index.
In Austria, 4,167,164 people were employed in 706,817
workplaces in 2011. The largest stock exchange in Austria is the CEE
Stock Exchange Group with its subsidiary Wiener Börse, whose most
important index for Austria is the ATX.
The richest federal state
is the capital, Vienna, with a GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing
power of 155% of the EU average. Burgenland, on the other hand, achieves
the lowest value, which at 86% is the only Austrian federal state to be
below the EU average.
Austrian banks have been heavily involved in the countries of the
former Eastern bloc since 1989 and are among the most important lenders
there. Since the international financial crisis struck in September
2008, the credit risk taken by Austria and the associated effects on the
relationship between government debt and the country's economic
performance have been viewed particularly critically.
Austrian
banks still benefit today from strict Austrian banking secrecy. After
joining the EU, the anonymity of savings accounts was abolished. What
remains true, however, is that accounts may not be opened by authorities
without an express judicial order.
Larger banks in Austria are
BAWAG P.S.K., Raiffeisen, Erste Bank and Sparkasse and Bank Austria.
Mining has become less important over the past few decades. Lead
mining in Bad Bleiberg was discontinued and in 2006 the centuries-long
mining of coal also ended.
The mining of rock salt is important.
The production volume here is greater than domestic consumption. Salt is
a federal mineral raw material, i.e. owned by the Republic of Austria.
The dismantling is carried out by the privatized company Salinen
Austria.
Crude oil and natural gas are extracted in the foothills of
the Alps and in the Vienna Basin. Up until the 1960s, Austria was still
self-sufficient in oil, but today (as of 2017) around 90% has to be
imported. The proven reserves have halved in the last ten years and now
only amount to seven annual productions. The same applies to natural
gas. Here the proven reserves have decreased from 34 billion cubic
meters in 2007 to 9 billion m³ in 2016.
Iron ore is still mined in
small quantities in Styria (Erzberg) and iron mica in Carinthia
(Wolfsberg district).
The mining of tungsten in Mittersill celebrated
its 40th anniversary in 2016.
Magnesite is mined in Styria and
Carinthia.
In 2016, around 5000 people were employed in mining,
the majority of them in stone, gravel and sand pits. 250 people worked
underground, about half of them in salt mines and 50 each in tungsten
and magnesite mining.
In 2007, around 38% of Austria's area was used for agriculture.
Compared to most European countries, Austria is ecologically well
equipped, which also explains Austria's strength in agriculture and
forestry. Its biocapacity (or biological natural capital) is more than
twice the world average. In 2016, Austria had 3.8 global hectares of
biocapacity per person within its borders, compared to the world average
of 1.6 global hectares per person. Biocapacity utilization, on the other
hand, in the same year was 6.0 global hectares per capita. This is
Austria's consumption-related ecological footprint. This means that
Austrians use around 60 percent more biocapacity than the country
contains. As a result, Austria has a biocapacity deficit.
Austria
has a small-scale agriculture. This is trying to specialize more on
quality products, as the pressure of competition is increasing due to
the expansion of the EU. Austrian farmers are increasingly focusing on
organic farming: in 2020, 24,000 organic farmers will work around 26% of
Austria's agricultural area. With a total share of almost 23%, Austria
has the highest density of organic farms in the European Union. The
agriculturally most important area in the cultivation of field crops is
the Marchfeld near Vienna.
Wine is an important agricultural
export product in Austria. The main buyers of the wine, in addition to
Switzerland and the USA, are two-thirds from Germany. In 1985,
viticulture was badly affected by the glycol wine scandal, but in the
meantime the winegrowers have improved their quality wines so much that
significantly more wine can be exported than before the scandal.
Around 4 million hectares, i.e. 48% of the national area of Austria, are
forest. Forestry is an important factor, which also supplies the
processing wood and paper industry accordingly. Wood as a raw material
is mainly exported to southern Europe.
In Austria, hunting is a
subjective right associated with property and is organized in a district
hunting system.
Roe deer, red deer, chamois and wild boar are the
most important hunted game in terms of the value of the venison and the
damage caused by game in the forest and open fields. Other game species
that are strongly represented in the Austrian hunting statistics are
e.g. Mallard, pheasant and hare.
Tourism is one of the most important economic sectors in Austria. In
2013, direct added value of 16.94 billion euros was generated from
tourism, which corresponds to 5.3% of gross domestic product. With
indirect value added effects, the area came in at 22.87 billion, 7.1% of
GDP. Tourism is evenly distributed between the summer and winter
seasons, but an east-west divide is visible as the east attracts more
summer tourism and the west more winter tourism. Important sectors are
also culture and city as well as spa, wellness and conference tourism.
According to estimates by the World Tourism Organization, Austria
was visited by 26.7 million tourists in 2015.
Austria has a modern and efficient industry. Around 160 Austrian
companies are currently (2016) world market leaders in their category.
The state-owned industry was largely privatized (OMV AG, Voestalpine
AG, VA Technologie AG, Steyr Daimler Puch AG, Austria Metall AG). Steyr
Daimler Puch was sold to the Magna Group, VA Tech to Siemens AG, and the
Jenbacher works to General Electric.
Other well-known brands and
companies: Manner & Comp. AG, Linz Textil Holding AG, Sanochemia
Pharmazeutika AG etc.
Services make up the largest share of economic output in Austria. This is mainly achieved through tourism, trade and banks. Austrian banks still benefit today from strict Austrian banking secrecy. After joining the EU, the anonymity of savings accounts was abolished. What remains true, however, is that accounts may not be opened by authorities without an express judicial order.
Austria's gross national income in 2011 was 419.2 billion euros. The
gross domestic product (GDP) adjusted for purchasing power was estimated
at 352.0 billion euros in 2011 and corresponds to a GDP of 41,822 euros
per inhabitant.
In 2014, according to Statistics Austria, public
social spending accounted for 30.1 percent of gross domestic product
(GDP). According to the OECD calculation method, it was 28.4 percent.
This put Austria in sixth place in the OECD ranking and above the
average of 21.6%; social spending grew faster than economic growth. The
proportion of social benefits for older people, such as pensions, was 44
percent or 42.9 billion euros. This compares to just 32 percent in 1980.
At the end of May 2015, the number of unemployed (registered
unemployed and trainees) was 395,518. 330,326 unemployed were registered
with the AMS, 65,192 people without a job attended an AMS training
course. The unemployment rate was 8.6 percent. The expanded quota
including training participants corrected by Wifo for seasonal
fluctuations was 10.7%. This is the highest unemployment rate ever
measured in Austria, with the increases being stronger in eastern
Austria than in the west. Almost one in four of the registered
unemployed was over 50 years old. Unemployment among foreigners rose
above average.
distribution of wealth
Despite a balanced
distribution of income, wealth in Austria is very unequally distributed,
so that on average Austrians have less net wealth than Greeks or
Spaniards. The reason for this is that, internationally, many people
rent and only 60 percent own their homes, in Vienna only 18 percent.
Real estate ownership, however, represents the bulk of wealth, being
worth twice as much as equity and three times as much as financial
assets. The largest apartment owner in Austria (and Europe) is the city
of Vienna with 220,000 council apartments. It is also the second largest
landowner after the Austrian Federal Forests.
According to Credit
Suisse, wealth per adult in Austria in 2020 was $290,348 (Switzerland:
$673,962, Germany: $268,681).
The transport infrastructure is characterized on the one hand by the
location in the Alps and on the other hand by the central location in
Central Europe. This applies equally to road and rail connections. The
logistical development of the Alps requires the construction of many
tunnels and bridges that have to withstand extreme weather conditions.
Due to its central location and narrow shape, Austria is considered a
typical transit country, especially in the north-south and
north-southeast direction, and due to the opening of the Iron Curtain
also in the east-west direction. This often means a significantly larger
dimensioning of the traffic routes, even in ecologically sensitive
areas, which often leads to resistance from the population.
In
order to manage this tightrope walk between economy and ecology,
measures were often taken with motor vehicles. In Austria, for example,
it was prescribed by law relatively early on to install a catalytic
converter in every motor vehicle. Likewise, only low-noise trucks were
permitted on certain routes.
The Austrian road network includes (as of January 1, 2021):
2,258
km of motorways and expressways
10,241 km of state roads B (formerly
federal roads)
23,608 km of state roads L
90,250 km of municipal
roads
126,357 km total
In Austria, there is a general speed limit of 130 km/h on motorways,
100 km/h on country roads and 50 km/h in built-up areas. On the Inntal
autobahn in Tyrol, there is a speed limit of 100 km/h from Zirl to the
border with Germany.
The road network is largely in public hands. On
motorways and expressways, ASFINAG charges passenger cars with toll
vignettes and trucks based on kilometers (GO-Box).
Since 2008, from
November 1st to April 15th, winter equipment (M&S tires, carrying snow
chains, etc.) has been mandatory in wintry conditions.
Compulsory
headlights (daytime running lights): Only for single-track vehicles.
From November 15, 2005 to December 31, 2007, the dipped headlights and
daytime running lights also had to be switched on for multi-lane motor
vehicles during the day.
At around 7%, the share of cycling in the total volume of traffic in Austria is in the European midfield (for comparison: the Netherlands 27%, Germany 10%, Switzerland 9%). In the master plan cycling 2015-2025 of the Austrian Ministry of the Environment, the goal is to increase the share of cycling in the modal split to 13% by 2025.
Most of the railway lines are operated by the Austrian Federal
Railways (ÖBB), the largest Austrian railway company. A smaller
proportion are not federally owned railways, some private, some owned by
the federal states.
The most important railway connection in
Austria, the Westbahn, has been expanded into a high-speed line between
Vienna and Salzburg since 1990. Key points here are the Wienerwald
tunnel (the connection between Vienna and St. Pölten) and the Lainzer
tunnel (the Vienna connection of the Westbahn with the Südbahn and
Donauländebahn). The southern runway will also be expanded accordingly.
The planned construction of the Semmering Base Tunnel began in 2012
after years of objections from the Lower Austrian provincial government.
The Koralm tunnel in Carinthia, a new rail connection between Graz and
Klagenfurt, also part of the new southern railway line, has been
underway since 2009.
There are S-Bahn trains in the regions
around Vienna and Salzburg, in Styria, in Tyrol, Carinthia, Vorarlberg
and Linz.
Vienna is the only Austrian city with a classic subway
network. There are trams in the cities of Vienna, Gmunden, Graz,
Innsbruck and Linz. The Dorfbahn Serfaus, an underground air cushion
suspension railway in Serfaus in Tyrol, is sometimes referred to as the
smallest subway in the world.
The most important shipping route, both for passenger and freight
traffic, is the Danube (see Danube shipping). The passenger ship
traffic, which was already promoted in the Habsburg monarchy with the
DDSG as the largest inland shipping company in the world at the time, is
now mainly used for tourism (e.g. DDSG Blue Danube) and also takes place
on the Inn and on the larger lakes. With the Twin City Liner, which
connects Vienna with Bratislava, there is an interesting connection for
commuters. Most of the waters are only navigated in the summer months.
The Danube is almost exclusively used for freight traffic, which was
significantly upgraded by the construction of the Main-Danube Canal and
can thus accommodate a lot of transit traffic from the North Sea to the
Black Sea. Bulk goods are mainly transported. The Austrian freight ports
are Linz, Enns, Krems and Vienna.
With the Barcelona declaration
of 1921 recognizing the flag rights of states without a seacoast,
Austria would also have the option of operating deep-sea shipping under
its own flag, but has not exercised this right since 2012.
The airline with the most connections from Vienna is Austrian
Airlines. Eurowings Europe is closely linked to it within the Lufthansa
Group. The airlines EasyJet Europe and People's also have their home
airport in Vienna.
Other airlines based in Austria existed for
years, but have since been sold abroad or merged into other companies.
Niki Lauda's aviation projects, for example, are very well known. Around
a dozen charter flight companies are active.
The most important
airport is Vienna-Schwechat Airport / VIE, followed by Graz
(Graz-Thalerhof Airport / GRZ), Linz (Linz-Hörsching Airport / LNZ),
Klagenfurt (Klagenfurt Airport / KLU), Salzburg (Salzburg Airport W. A.
Mozart / SZG) and Innsbruck (Innsbruck Airport / INN) international
connections. The international airports Altenrhein (CH) and
Friedrichshafen (D) are available for the state of Vorarlberg.
Of
regional importance are 49 airfields, of which 31 have no paved runway
and of the 18 paved only four have a runway over 914 meters long. Wiener
Neustadt airfield is historically significant, as is the abandoned
Vienna Aspern airport. They were the first airfields in Austria, with
Aspern Airport being the largest and most modern airport in Europe from
its opening in 1912 until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.
In addition, there are still several airfields of the Austrian Air
Force, such as in Wiener Neustadt, Zeltweg, Aigen/Ennstal,
Langenlebarn/Tulln.
In Austria, control for the upper airspace
(above 28,500 feet / 9200 meters) is being combined as part of the
Single European Sky project by currently eight Central European
countries (Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Croatia,
Hungary, Italy, Slovenia and Slovakia). This program, called CEATS
(Central European Air Traffic Services), envisages a control center for
the entire Central European airspace (CEATS Upper Area Control Centre,
CEATS UAC), which will be located in Fischamend, east of
Vienna-Schwechat. The state-owned Austro Control Gesellschaft for civil
aviation, based in Vienna, takes care of the national interests of air
traffic control and civil aviation.
Electrical energy is mainly generated from hydropower (just under
60%), both from run-of-river power plants on the Danube, Enns, Drau and
many smaller run-of-river power plants, as well as from storage power
plants such as the Kaprun power plant or the Malta power plants. In
addition to the storage power plants, gas turbine power plants are also
operated to cover peak loads.
Wind energy is also being greatly
expanded, especially in eastern Austria. At the end of 2022, 1,374 wind
turbines with a total output of 3,586.2 MW were in operation throughout
Austria. In 2022, around 12% of the electricity demand was covered by
wind power. Most of the wind turbines are located in the federal states
of Lower Austria (end of 2022: 1861.0 MW) and Burgenland (1346.0 MW).
Styria also makes a contribution (293.8 MW). Electricity from nuclear
power plants is not produced due to the Nuclear Ban Act. Although the
Zwentendorf nuclear power plant was built in the 1970s, it never went
into operation after a referendum in 1978.
Distribution is mainly
carried out by nine national companies, which also have the last mile to
the end user. There are also a few smaller suppliers, most of which are
also owned by the public sector.
When it comes to natural gas supplies, Austria is largely dependent
on other countries. Although there are natural gas deposits in Austria,
mainly in the Marchfeld and Weinviertel, where there are also
underground buffer storage facilities as safety storage, these only
account for around 20% of Austria's annual natural gas consumption. The
main supply comes from Russia (70% of imports), from which Austria has
been the first European country west of the Iron Curtain to obtain its
natural gas since 1968. Five large natural gas pipelines cross Austria,
which also supply large parts of western and central Europe with natural
gas.
The main oil importing countries in 2011 were Kazakhstan
with 29%, Nigeria with 17.1% and Russia with 16.1% of total imports. The
only refinery is in Schwechat and is operated by OMV AG. The world's
largest inland refinery is also fed by the Transalpine Oil Pipeline and
subsequently by the Adria-Vienna Pipeline.
In Austria, the school system is largely regulated by the federal
government. Apart from school experiments, both school types and
curricula are therefore uniform throughout Austria. In Austria there is
an obligation to teach all children who stay in Austria permanently.
This begins in September following the child's sixth birthday. General
compulsory education lasts nine school years. There is a small number of
private schools in relation to the number of public schools. Those with
public status issue state-valid certificates, the students of schools
without public status take examinations before state examination boards.
After the four-year elementary school – which has occasionally been
criticized as unfavorable in recent years – there is already an
important decision for ten-year-old pupils. They attend either the
four-year Hauptschule/Mittelschule or the eight-year Gymnasium with the
final Matura. After the eighth grade, however, you can switch to a
vocational college (BHS) or to a one-year polytechnic course or continue
from the Hauptschule.
There are state universities in Austria in
the federal capital Vienna (8), in the provincial capitals Graz (4),
Linz (4), Salzburg (3), Innsbruck (3) and Klagenfurt am Wörthersee as
well as in Leoben and Krems. For several years, private universities
with e.g. T. great specialization has also been licensed in other
places. The Fachhochschule is an alternative form of academic training
that has existed in Austria since 1994. The OECD criticizes that Austria
trains too few academics in an international comparison and comes up
with 27.6% according to their definition. According to EU criteria,
however, the proportion of university graduates is above the EU average
at 34.6%.
In the 2015 PISA ranking, Austrian students ranked 20th
out of 72 countries in mathematics, 26th in science and 33rd in reading
comprehension. Austria is in the average of the OECD countries.
Only the three-digit emergency numbers set up by the state, such as those listed below, can be reached free of charge.
In Austria, the European emergency number 112 forwards to the police emergency number 133 (see below).
The Austrian fire brigade system is based almost entirely on
volunteer fire brigades. Fire protection is only carried out by
professional fire brigades in the six largest cities. In some companies,
a company fire brigade is also officially prescribed. Tasks of the fire
brigades are, in particular, fire protection and, via the disaster
relief service, disaster control, which are the responsibility of the
individual federal states.
In 2019, the fire brigade had 341,325
active firefighters nationwide, who worked in 5,399 fire stations and
fire stations, in which 16,509 fire engines and 323 turntable ladders
and telescopic masts were available. The proportion of women is seven
percent. 28,598 children and young people are organized in the fire
brigade youth. In the same year, the Austrian fire brigades were called
out 278,672 times, and 43,370 fires had to be extinguished. The Federal
Fire Brigade Association represents the Austrian fire brigade in the
World Fire Brigade Association CTIF.
In Austria, the area of public safety falls within the legislative sovereignty of the federal government. When it comes to enforcement, too, the security police is predominantly in the hands of the Federal Minister of the Interior, the supreme security authority. An exception are the local security guards, which some municipalities are allowed to set up. In 2005, the federal gendarmerie responsible for rural areas in Austria was merged with the federal security guard corps in the cities and the detective corps to form the new federal police force. The aim of this measure was to eliminate duplication in the organization and increase efficiency. However, community security guards were unaffected by this measure. Tasks of the security police are in particular the first general obligation to provide assistance and the maintenance of public security and order. In addition, the Federal Police guards can also be used for tasks by other authorities.
In Austria, rescue services are the responsibility of the federal
states, but the responsible rescue service is required nationwide.
However, where this emergency call arrives is already different in the
individual federal states. With the exception of the capital Vienna,
only the federal states of Lower Austria and Tyrol have so far had
direct access to all individual aid organizations throughout the state
with a state-wide alarm center. Tasks of the rescue services are in
particular the emergency and qualified patient transport.
In
addition to the Red Cross working throughout Austria, organizations such
as the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund, the Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe, the
Malteser Hospitaldienst Austria and the Green Cross maintain rescue
guards as aid organisations.
Weather stations are located all over the country, in larger cities
and in all state capitals. The national institution for meteorological
and geophysical services is the Central Institute for Meteorology and
Geodynamics (ZAMG) with several branches in the federal states. In
addition, there are the flight weather services or special systems, such
as the ALDIS lightning location system, which also work together with
the ZAMG and exchange data.
In addition to the weather services,
there are avalanche warning services in most federal states due to the
alpine locations, which pass on information from the mostly local
avalanche commissions.
Another service that has become
increasingly important in recent years is the flood warning service,
which warns the affected population of imminent flood events. It is
based in the respective state governments.
The Austrian media landscape is characterized by a high degree of
concentration on a few corporate conglomerates and by strong state
influence on the Austrian public radio and television company, which
dominates the radio and television market. In the 2021 Press Freedom
Index published by Reporters Without Borders, Austria ranked 31st out of
180 countries.
Public service is the Austrian Broadcasting
Corporation (ORF) with two full programs and two special programs. The
most important private broadcasters in Austria are ATV, Puls 4 and
ServusTV. There are also a number of German channels from the RTL Group,
whose Austrian windows only broadcast regionalized advertising, and the
ProSiebenSat.1 Group, the latter with supplementary programs only for
the Austrian market.
The ORF operates three radio channels Ö2
broadcast throughout Austria and nine regionally in each federal state.
The most important and popular private radio stations are Kronehit (as
the only nationwide station), Energy Wien in Vienna, Radio Soundportal
and the Austria-wide Antenne radio chain with Antenne Steiermark,
Antenne Kärnten, Antenne Vorarlberg, Antenne Tirol and Antenne Salzburg.
The "Mediamil complex", the combination of the "newspaper giant"
Mediaprint and the News publishing group, publishes the
highest-circulation daily newspaper in Austria, the Kronen Zeitung, the
print media NEWS and Profil as well as the daily newspaper Kurier,
making it the most powerful media group in the country. Other daily
newspapers are, for example, Der Standard, Die Presse, Salzburger
Nachrichten, Tiroler Tageszeitung, Vorarlberger Nachrichten,
Oberösterreichische Nachrichten, Kleine Zeitung, Austria and the free
newspaper Heute, which is published Monday to Friday.
Despite the difficult topographical conditions, Austria has a
well-developed telecommunications network. There is practically complete
network coverage in the entire inhabited area of Germany with landline,
mobile telephony and modern data services. The largest providers include
A1 Telekom Austria, Drei and Magenta Telekom. Due to the high density of
providers, the tariffs are cheaper in Austria compared to other
countries.
The complete network coverage in Austria is partly due
to the fact that the country offers ideal conditions for mobile phone
providers for technology and market studies. New technologies in the
field of mobile communications and data transmission are often first
introduced in Austria. Public response is considered a measure of the
success of the technology in other countries, where such a field trial
would create a far greater financial burden.
Broadband Internet
access is available almost everywhere in Austria. When it comes to fiber
optic expansion, however, Austria occupies a lower place in 2021. With
5.7% of households connected to the fiber optic network, Austria is
behind Germany with 7%, behind the OECD average with 35% and behind
frontrunners such as Japan with 87%. The largest Austria-wide network
operator is A1, followed by Drei and Magenta. Regional data networks
exist in metropolitan areas and often also in municipalities or larger
regional associations.
In 2019, 88% of the population of Austria
used the internet.
Austrian culture is multi-layered; there are numerous cultural
monuments and twelve UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the country.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Vienna was a center of musical life.
Many opera houses, theaters and orchestras as well as traditions such as
the New Year's concert of the Vienna Philharmonic and several festivals
still exist today. There is also a lively cabaret scene. In the culinary
field, the Viennese coffee house culture, the Heurige and local dishes
have a long tradition. In 2003 Graz was European Capital of Culture, in
2009 Linz. The Austrian Cultural Forum serves to spread Austrian culture
abroad. Eight buildings or landscapes in Austria are part of the UNESCO
World Heritage.
Regional customs are maintained by clubs throughout Austria. Customs
primarily include music, dance, drama, poetry, carving and embroidery. A
large number of local customs and rites are related to the seasons (e.g.
Aperschnalzen, Glöckler, Kathreintanz, Kufenstechen, Mariae Candlemas,
Carnival).
In addition to music and dance, the traditional
textile industry has a long tradition in Austria. Embroidery is used to
decorate traditional costumes such as dirndls and loden.
Due to the strongly Catholic history, most public holidays at federal
and state level are religious holidays, with the name days of the state
patrons being celebrated as state holidays in the individual federal
states. An exception to this is Carinthia, where the referendum of 1920
was also declared a public holiday. Together with all Sundays, the
holidays are considered days of rest and spiritual uplift.
Common
public holidays are New Year, Epiphany, Good Friday (only for members of
Protestant religions), Easter Monday, May 1st, Ascension Day, Whit
Monday, Corpus Christi, Assumption Day, All Saints' Day, Conception of
Mary, Christmas Day and St. Stephen's Day. Christmas Eve and New Year's
Eve are not public holidays, but are work-free or partially work-free
due to collective agreement regulations. The national holiday takes
place on October 26, the day of the legal resolution of perpetual
neutrality in 1955. Including country-specific holidays, each federal
state has 14 public holidays in 2013 except Carinthia (15 with the day
of the referendum).
In addition, each religious community is free
to celebrate its own holidays and relatives can rest their work on the
day. For example, the Israeli religious communities celebrate Yom Kippur
regardless of the fact that it is not a public holiday.
In
addition to the religiously motivated holidays, there are a large number
of local festivals. Tent festivals are a tradition in summer, especially
in rural areas. Music festivals of high and popular culture that take
place regularly also have a certain degree of festival character. The
ball season, which often begins as early as November with the graduation
balls for secondary schools, plays an important role in the festival
culture, and club balls also take place repeatedly after Ash Wednesday.
The traditional Vienna Opera Ball is a highlight of the ball season.
Composers of the Classical and Romantic eras include Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart from Salzburg and Bonn-born Ludwig van Beethoven, both of whom
worked in Vienna, as well as Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Anton
Bruckner, Franz Liszt and Johann Strauss, dubbed the “King of the
Waltz”. (Son).
The music of the 20th century revolutionized
Gustav Mahler and the composers of the "New Viennese School" Arnold
Schönberg, Alban Berg and Anton Webern, but also Josef Matthias Hauer,
who claims to have actually invented 12-tone music, as well as Ernst
Krenek or Egon Wellesz. This tradition of great composers from the area
of the k. u.k. Monarchy was followed by internationally renowned
conductors such as Arthur Nikisch, Felix Weingartner, Franz Schalk,
Erich Kleiber, Karl Böhm, Hans Rosbaud, Herbert von Karajan, Michael
Gielen, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Franz Welser-Möst. György Ligeti,
Friedrich Cerha and Georg Friedrich Haas, H. K. Gruber and Bernhard Lang
have established themselves in the field of contemporary music.
The New Year's concert of the Vienna Philharmonic has a long tradition
in the "light muse". It is broadcast on radio and television in more
than 40 countries; Waltzes, polkas and marches are played, especially
those by Johann Strauss (son).
The operetta is an art form that
is taken seriously in Austria, and the k. u.k. Monarchy with its
successor states has produced the majority of its best-known
representatives: in addition to the members of the Strauss family, Carl
Millöcker, Oscar Straus, Edmund Eysler, Nico Dostal, Fred Raymond,
Robert Stolz come from the territory of today's Austria, Franz von
Suppè, Franz Lehár, Emmerich Kálmán, Leo Fall, Paul Abraham, Ralph
Benatzky from other parts of the former monarchy.
In the popular
music sector, bands and individual performers from the special Austrian
genre Austropop are extremely successful, particularly performers such
as Wolfgang Ambros, Georg Danzer, Rainhard Fendrich and Stefanie Werger
as well as the bands Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung and S.T.S. Falco
was internationally successful with Rock Me Amadeus, among others. A
successful Austrian on the chart sector was Christina Stürmer. Udo
Jürgens was considered an icon in the field of German-language chansons,
he won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1966, and Conchita Wurst repeated
this success in 2014.
Joe Zawinul, who developed the style of
electric jazz together with the American Miles Davis, is considered to
be the only European musician to date who was of style-defining
importance in the history of jazz. His group Weather Report is
considered by experts and the public to be the most important jazz
formation of the 1970s and 1980s.
Both folk music with its
regional forms and folk music are very popular. Representatives of the
latter genre find an international audience in the successful television
production Musikantenstadl.
In addition to the mainstream,
alternative music groups also developed in the popular music sector,
which are also known throughout Europe. These include, for example, the
Linz electro-swing band Parov Stelar, the Linz hip-hopper Texta, the
downbeat duo Kruder & Dorfmeister, the songwriter Soap&Skin or the metal
bands Belphegor from Salzburg, L'Âme Immortelle or Summoning.
Theater as an art form is very popular in Austria and also receives a
lot of public funding: from the Vienna State Opera, one of the most
respected musical theaters in the world, and the Burgtheater, described
as one of the best German-speaking theaters, to the rural theater in the
village.
In addition to the constantly performing stages in
Vienna, Salzburg, Graz, Innsbruck, Linz, Klagenfurt, Bregenz and St.
Pölten, there are theater and opera festivals from the Bregenz Festival
and the Salzburg Festival to the Seespiele in Mörbisch am See in
Burgenland. In Vienna there is also a scene of cabarets, small stages,
cellar theaters and venues dedicated to alternative culture.
A
theater, the Festspielhaus St. Pölten, was also built in St. Pölten
after it was made the state capital in 1986. In Vienna, the musical
stage Theater an der Wien was transformed into an opera theater on the
occasion of Mozart Year 2006 and has since been the third major opera
house in the city; Furthermore, the Ronacher Theater was expanded into a
musical stage by 2008. A new music theater was opened in Linz in 2012.
The Austrian theater literature of the last decades includes u. a.
Peter Handke's now legendary "audience abuse", Wolfgang Bauer's exciting
"New Year's Eve or the Massacre in the Hotel Sacher", Fritz Hochwalder's
Nazi reappraisal "The Raspberry Picker" and Thomas Bernhard's drama
"Heldenplatz", in which he portrayed Catholic-reactionary traits in
Austria from 1988 compared to Hitler's enthusiastic reception on
Vienna's Heldenplatz in 1938. When this play premiered at the
Burgtheater in 1988, directed by Claus Peymann, conservative circles
staged what is still the biggest theater scandal since 1945.
Internationally renowned actors come from Austria: Christoph Waltz,
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Romy Schneider, Oskar Werner, Curd Jürgens, Maria
Schell, O. W. Fischer, Paula Wessely and her daughter Christiane
Hörbiger, Maximilian Schell, Senta Berger and Klaus Maria Brandauer. Max
Reinhardt and Martin Kušej are among the directors who are also
appreciated abroad.
As cabaret artists, Karl Farkas and Helmut
Qualtinger became “classics”.
A fact that is essential for the
theater in Austria is the constant personal and cultural exchange
between the theaters in the German-speaking area, especially with
Germany. This compensates for the limited career opportunities in the
home country for Austria's great talents.
There are a number of internationally renowned Austrian filmmakers, including various award winners. The best-known Austrians in the film business include Christoph Waltz, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Haneke, Fritz Lang, Senta Berger, Franz Novotny and Hundans Weingartner.
Well-known authors of the 19th and 20th centuries were Franz
Grillparzer, Ferdinand Raimund, Johann Nestroy, Leopold von
Sacher-Masoch, Adalbert Stifter, Bertha von Suttner, who was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1905, Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Peter Rosegger,
Peter Altenberg, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Rainer Maria Rilke, Georg Trakl,
Franz Kafka, Karl Kraus, Ödön von Horváth, Joseph Roth, Stefan Zweig,
Robert Musil, Gustav Meyrink, Franz Werfel, Egon Erwin Kisch, Alfred
Kubin, Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando , Leo Perutz, Alfred Polgar, Vicki
Baum, Alexander Lernet-Holenia, Heimito von Doderer, Franz Theodor
Csokor, Ingeborg Bachmann, Christine Lavant, Friedrich Torberg, Fritz
Hochwälder, Jörg Mauthe, Thomas Bernhard, Ernst Jandl, H. C. Artmann,
Hilde Spiel, Albert Drach, Wolfgang Bauer, Johannes Mario Simmel, Gert
Jonke, Gertrud Fussenegger, Gernot Wolfgruber and Franz Innerhofer.
Important living writers are Elfriede Jelinek, Peter Handke (both
Nobel Prize winners), Felix Mitterer, Friederike Mayröcker (Büchner
Prize 2001), Christoph Ransmayr, Barbara Frischmuth, Alois Brandstetter,
Peter Rosei, Norbert Gstrein, Eva Menasse, Robert Menasse, Wolf Haas,
Bettina Balàka , Arno Geiger, Josef Winkler (Büchner Prize 2008),
Gerhard Roth and Daniel Kehlmann.
Write in Slovene e.g. Gustav
Januš, Janko Ferk and Florjan Lipuš, translated into German by Peter
Handke.
Painting in Austria gained greater importance after 1700 with Johann
Michael Rottmayr, Daniel Gran, Paul Troger and Franz Anton Maulbertsch.
It reached a peak around 1900, when Vienna became a center of Art
Nouveau. Among the most important representatives were Gustav Klimt,
Koloman Moser, Oskar Kokoschka and Egon Schiele.
In the second
half of the 20th century, the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism emerged
as a late Surrealist movement. Friedensreich Hundertwasser, with his
abstract, decorative paintings, also belongs in this environment.
In the 1960s, Viennese Actionism developed in the border area
between theater and painting. Its most important representatives
included Valie Export, Arnulf Rainer, Günter Brus, Rudolf Schwarzkogler
and Hermann Nitsch.
Important sculptors were Niclas Gerhaert van
Leyden, Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, Fritz Wotruba, Alfred Hrdlicka and
Bruno Gironcoli and Franz West.
science and technology
Austria
was an important scientific nation in the first three decades of the
20th century. It produced thinkers and researchers like:
the founders
of quantum physics Wolfgang Pauli and Erwin Schrödinger
the
mathematician Kurt Gödel
the physicist: Ernst Mach
the chemists
Carl Josef Bayer, Carl Auer von Welsbach, Max Ferdinand Perutz and
Theodor Wagner-Jauregg
the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud
the psychiatrists Julius Wagner-Jauregg, Alfred Adler and Viktor Frankl
the doctors of the Vienna Medical School
the philosophers of the
Vienna Circle and Ludwig Wittgenstein
the founder of modern empirical
social research, Paul Felix Lazarsfeld
the father of animal
psychology Konrad Lorenz
the philosopher Karl Popper
the
automobile manufacturer Ferdinand Porsche
the inventors Viktor Kaplan
and Josef Ressel
the pioneers of thermodynamics Josef Stefan and
Ludwig Boltzmann
one of the pioneers of the benzene structure Josef
Loschmidt
the discoverer of the blood groups Karl Landsteiner
the
savior of mothers Ignaz Semmelweis
and the economists Carl Menger,
Friedrich August von Hayek and Eugen Böhm von Bawerk
The nuclear
physicist Lise Meitner, together with Otto Frisch, developed the first
theoretical explanation of nuclear fission.
The scientific level
of this time was destroyed under National Socialism. After 1945 only a
few exiled scientists, later recognized as experts in their fields, were
invited to return to Austria. The reservoir of talent in Bohemia,
Moravia and Hungary, which had long been available to Austrian science,
was no longer usable because of the Iron Curtain.
In the 1950s,
voestalpine engineers developed what is known as the Linz-Donawitz
process, which revolutionized steel production worldwide. Also worth
mentioning are the Haflinger and Pinzgauer all-terrain vehicles designed
at Steyr Daimler Puch AG, as well as the Steyr AUG, an assault rifle
used by many armies around the world and even by the US Department of
Homeland Security.
The Glock pistol, developed in Austria, is a
police pistol that is used worldwide (Austria, Germany, USA).
Companies that are economically successful have specialized in product
or application-related research and are now successful in technology
worldwide, e.g. B. Rosenbauer, Wienerberger, Anton Paar, AVL List,
Fronius
Austria had its own Ministry of Science between 1971 and
2013. The Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Austrian Institute of
Technology, the research company Joanneum Research and other
state-funded institutions stimulate and coordinate scientific research.
Private universities have been permitted since the 1990s.
In 1874
the astronomer Johann Palisa discovered an asteroid and named it after
his home country (Asteroid Austria).
Due to Austrian history, culinary arts from Hungary, Bohemia, Italy
and France in particular have had an influence on typical Austrian
dishes today. The offer is supplemented by traditional regional cuisine
from the federal states. Typical dishes are boiled beef, Wiener
Schnitzel, Styrian fried chicken, roast chicken, goulash and fish dishes
such as carp and trout. Desserts such as the Sachertorte, the apple
strudel and the Kaiserschmarrn have gained worldwide fame.
Up
until a few years ago, eating was mainly at home. Today, especially in
larger cities, many people often eat in pubs, restaurants, coffee
houses, at sausage stands and kebab shops, in branches of fast food
chains, or on the street or on public transport. Spreading hedonism
since the 1980s has led to increased publication of gastronomic guides,
tips and rankings, media coverage of new restaurant openings and more
gastronomy-related television programs than ever before. The restaurants
covered by this have been “in” for some time and have above-average
visitor numbers. Restaurateurs covered by this achieve considerable
media presence and celebrities, for example Sissy Sonnleitner, Reinhard
Gerer, Toni Mörwald and Heinz Reitbauer. The Styrian chef Johann Lafer
has a strong presence, especially in German television programs.
Traditionally cultivated coffee variations form the range of coffee
houses, which can be found all over Austria today, based on the model of
the Viennese coffee house. The first coffee houses were set up in Vienna
shortly after 1683. Today they are mostly café-restaurants, in which the
coffee house tradition is combined with the offer of the "bourgeois
dining house".
Wine-growing, which is practiced in Vienna, Lower
Austria, Styria and Burgenland, has a great tradition. Austrian wine is
very popular within Europe and overseas, and wine is also drunk in the
country itself, at almost 40 liters per person per year. While
previously it was mainly mass production (in the "Doppler", the
two-liter bottle), many winegrowers have specialized in the production
of quality wines since the 1980s, which do extremely well in
international blind tastings. In the course of this development,
Austrian red wines received much more attention than before. In the 19th
century in the wine-growing federal states, a Heurigen culture developed
that still stands for uncomplicated, informal gastronomy and is also
popular with tourists. Here, the cold and warm buffet dominates the
range of dishes, while young wine from the last harvest dominates the
range of wines.
Beer is hardly noticed in the media, but is
important as an everyday drink in Austria. With almost 109 liters per
capita and yearly consumption and with 140 breweries - including
national traditional brands such as Gösser, Hirter, Ottakringer,
Puntigamer, Schwechater, Stiegl and Zipfer - Austria can call itself a
beer nation.
Sport in Austria was and is often politicized. Austria was the home of the anti-Semitic German Gymnastics Federation and some of the largest working-class gymnastics associations. Since 2008, Austria has provided the chairman of the international workers' sport Confédération Sportive Internationale du Travail (CSIT).
Due to its geography, Austria is one of the world leaders in several
winter sports, such as alpine skiing, ski jumping and snowboarding.
Winter sports enjoy a high status in Austria and its television
broadcasts, especially those of alpine skiing competitions, reach large
parts of the population. Well-known skiers of recent years include
Marcel Hirscher, Benjamin Raich, Anna Veith (née Fenninger), Marlies
Schild and Hannes Reichelt. Successful and well-known skiers of the past
are Toni Sailer, Karl Schranz, Franz Klammer, Stephan Eberharter,
Annemarie Moser-Proell, Petra Kronberger, Hermann Maier, Renate Götschl
and Michaela Dorfmeister. The TV presenter Armin Assinger and the
Schlager star Hansi Hinterseer were once among the world's top ski
racers.
Other successful winter athletes include the tobogganists
Wolfgang and Andreas Linger and the Austrian ski jumping team around
Gregor Schlierenzauer, Thomas Morgenstern and Andreas Kofler, which has
won Olympic and World Cups in recent years. Ski jumping greats who are
no longer active, such as Anton Innauer, Hubert Neuper or Andreas
Goldberger, are now active as coaches and often as TV presenters. Former
tobogganist Markus Prock now works as a manager for active winter sports
enthusiasts.
In summer sports, or sports that can be practiced all year round,
Austria has repeatedly achieved notable successes, but with the
exception of football, these do not by far reach the range of winter
sports, measured by the interest of the population. In the event of
success in the course of major events such as the Olympic Games or World
Championships, these sports naturally still get into the media
limelight. Such sports, in which Austrians are regularly among the
potential contenders, are above all sailing (Roman Hagara, Hans-Peter
Steinacher), judo (Peter Seisenbacher, Ludwig Paischer, Sabrina
Filzmoser, Claudia Heill), triathlon (Kate Allen), boxing (Marcos Nader,
Hans Orsolics), kickboxing (Günter Singer, Fadi Merza), swimming (Mirna
Jukić, Markus Rogan, Dinko Jukić), beach volleyball (European Champion
2003 and 2007) and Formula 1 (ex-racing driver Niki Lauda, Jochen Rindt,
Gerhard Berger and the Red Bull Racing team).
In 1988, Peter
Seisenbacher was the first judoka to repeat his Olympic victory from
1984 in the middleweight division (-86 kg). In 1996, Thomas Muster was
the first Austrian ever to become number 1 in the world tennis rankings,
after winning the title in Paris - the French Open, a Grand Slam
tournament - a year earlier. In 2003 Werner Schlager won the world
championship title in table tennis, in December 2005 Markus Rogan swam a
new world record over 200 m backstroke at the short course swimming
European Championships, the first for Austria since 1912. At the short
course world championships in 2008 he swam over same distance again
world record and became Austria's first swimming world champion ever.
The Austrian Open is a golf tournament of the PGA European Tour
tournament series.
Club sport is very important in Austria. In many municipalities and
cities, more than half of the residents are active in sports clubs.
Football in particular has a long tradition, but lesser-known sports are
also very popular in some places. For example, Austria is one of the
world leaders in fistball (especially clubs from Upper Austria) and
became men's world champion for the first time in 2007. It also has one
of the best American football leagues in the world, and some of the
communities on the Danube or on larger lakes have their own water sports
clubs.
In women's handball, Hypo Niederösterreich is currently
one of the top players in Europe, just like the Vienna Vikings in
American football. Greatest successes in football in the recent past
were reaching the final in the UEFA Cup by SV Austria Salzburg in 1994
and three final appearances in the European Cup of Cup Winners by Wiener
Austria 1978 and SK Rapid Wien in 1985 and 1996.
American Football: Vienna Vikings, Swarco Raiders Tirol, Graz Giants
Ice hockey: today: EC Red Bull Salzburg, Vienna Capitals, EC KAC then:
VEU Feldkirch
Fistball: FG Grieskirchen/Pötting, Union Arnreit
Football: SK Rapid Wien, FK Austria Wien, FC Red Bull Salzburg, SK Sturm
Graz
Handball: Hypo Lower Austria, HC Linz AG, SG Handball West
Vienna
Hockey: AHTC, SV Arminen, WAC, HC Wels
Table tennis: SVS
Lower Austria, Linz AG Froschberg
Volleyball: Hot Volleys Vienna
Austria has been the organizer of the Olympic Games three times
(Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck 1964 and 1976 and 1st Winter Youth
Olympic Games 2012 in Innsbruck). In total, Austrian athletes have won
71 gold, 88 silver and 91 bronze medals in the history of the Winter
Olympics and 27 gold, 40 silver and 47 bronze medals at the Summer
Olympics (as of September 2022).
At the 2018 Winter Olympics in
Pyeongchang, the Austrian team won five gold, three silver and six
bronze medals. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, the sailing team Tanja Frank
and Thomas Zajac won a bronze medal.
The Ice Hockey World
Championships took place in Innsbruck in 1964 and in Vienna in 1967,
1977, 1987, 1996 and 2005. The European Swimming Championships took
place in Vienna in 1950, 1974 and 1995. The first European figure
skating championships in sports history took place in Vienna in 1892,
and eight further European championships were held in Vienna by the year
2000, including the 1981 European Championships in Innsbruck.
From June 7th to 29th, 2008, Austria and Switzerland organized the
European Football Championship 2008. The games played by Austria took
place in Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck and Klagenfurt, the final was in
Vienna.
In 2010 (alone) and 2020 (together with Sweden and
Norway) they were also organizers or co-organisers of the European Men's
Handball Championship. In 2010 they played in Wr. Neustadt, Graz, Linz,
Innsbruck and Vienna, where the finals also took place, in 2020 in Graz
and Vienna (the finals took place in Stockholm).