CultureCulture is a term that has different meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
on the territory of what is today
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both 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...
can be traced back to around 1050 B.C. with the
HallstattHallstatt, Upper Austria is a village in the Salzkammergut, a region in Austria. It is located near the Hallstätter See . At the 2001 census it had 946 inhabitants...
and
La TèneThe La Tène culture was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, where a rich trove of artifacts was discovered by Hansli Kopp in 1857....
cultures. However, a
culture of Austria as we know it today began to take shape when the Austrian lands were part of the
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
, with the
Privilegium MinusThe Privilegium Minus is a document issued by Emperor Frederick I on September 17, 1156. It included the elevation of the Margraviate of Austria to a Duchy, which was given as an inheritable fief to the House of Babenberg. Its recipient was Frederick's paternal uncle Markgrave Henry II Jasomirgott...
of 1156, which elevated Austria to the status of a
DuchyA duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era...
, marking an important step in its development. Austrian culture has largely been influenced by its past and present neighbours:
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
,
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
,
HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
and
BohemiaBohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands, currently the Czech Republic...
.
Name
The German name
Österreich can be translated into English as the "eastern realm", which is derived from the
Old GermanOld German could refer to:*Old High German*Old Low German *brands of beer produced by brewing companies, including Pittsburgh Brewing Company and Yuengling...
OstarrîchiThe German name of Austria derives from the Old High German word "eastern realm", first attested in the famous "Ostarrîchi document" of AD 996, where the term refers to the Margraviate ruled by the Babenberg Count Henry I located mostly in what is today Lower Austria and part of Upper...
. The term probably originates in a vernacular translation of the Medieval Latin name for the region: Marchia orientalis, which translates as "eastern border," as it was situated at the eastern edge of the Holy Roman Empire, that was also mirrored in the name Ostmark applied after Anschluss to the Third Reich. The derivation of the Latin name from the original Old German gives rise to the use of "Aust-" for east, rather than south as in Classical Latin (the Classical Latin "Aust-" is the origin of the name for Australia, a
southern land). With the term Austria came the name for its inhabitants, Austrian(s).
Music
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
has long been an important center of musical innovation. Composers of the 18th and 19th centuries were drawn to the city by the patronage of the
HabsburgThe House of Habsburg or Hapsburg was an important royal house of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1452 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian and Spanish Empire and several other countries...
s, and made Vienna the European capital of classical music.
Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as...
,
Ludwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most acclaimed and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, of the Electorate of Cologne and...
, and
Johann Strauss, Jr.Johann Strauss II was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas...
, among others, were associated with the city. During the
BaroqueBaroque is an artistic style prevalent from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. The popularity and success of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church, which had decided at the time of the Council of Trent that the arts should communicate religious themes in...
period,
SlavicThe Slavic Peoples are an ethnic and linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in eastern and central Europe. From the early 6th century they spread from their original homeland to inhabit most of eastern Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Balkans...
and Hungarian folk forms influenced Austrian music. Vienna's status began its rise as a cultural center in the early 1500s, and was focused around instruments including the lute.
Classical music
During the 18th century, the classical-music era dominated European classical music, and the city of Vienna was an especially important place for musical innovation. Three composers arose, making lasting innovations: Ludwig van Beethoven's symphonic patterns, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's balance between melody and form, and
Joseph Haydn Joseph Haydn was an Austrian composer. He was one of the most important, prolific and prominent composers of the classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these genres...
's development of the string quartet and sonata.
Vienna Philharmonic
The Musikverein in Vienna is considered to be one of the three finest concert halls in the world and was opend on January 6, 1870. Since 1939, the famous Vienna New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic is broadcasted from its Golden Hall to an audience of one billion in 44 countries. The members of the Vienna Philharmonic, which is regularly considered one of the finest orchestras in the world, are chosen from the orchestra of the
Vienna State OperaThe Vienna State Opera is an opera house — and opera company — with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera ; in 1920, it was renamed the Vienna State Opera...
.
The Vienna Philharmonic can trace its origins to 1842, when Otto Nicolai formed the Philharmonische Academie. This orchestra took all its decisions by a democratic vote of all its members, and these are principles still hold today.
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera, in German called Staatsoper, is one of the most important opera companies in the world. It employs over 1000 people, and in 2008, the annual operating budget of the Staatsoper was 100 million Euros with slightly more than 50% coming in the form of a state subsidy.
It is also venue for the Vienna Opera Ball, an event that takes place on the Thursday preceding
Ash WednesdayIn the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and occurs forty-six days before Easter. It is a moveable feast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter...
. The Opera Ball was first held 1936, and has seen up to 12,000 visitors. 180 pairs are opening the ball officially, before the command "Alles Walzer", based on a tradition of Johann Strauss Jr., the dance floor is openend for everyone.
Vienna Boys' Choir
The Vienna Boys' Choir (German: Wiener Sängerknaben) is one of the best known boys' choirs in the world. Known for its exceedingly high vocal standard, the choir has worked with musicians including
Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as...
,
Antonio CaldaraAntonio Caldara was an Italian Baroque composer.Caldara was born in Venice , the son of a violinist. He became a chorister at St Mark's in Venice, where he learned several instruments, probably under the instruction of Giovanni Legrenzi...
,
Antonio SalieriAntonio Salieri was an Italian composer and conductor from the Republic of Venice. As the Austrian imperial Kapellmeister from 1788 to 1824, he was one of the most important and famous musicians of his time.-Life:...
and
Anton BrucknerAnton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. His symphonies are often considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
The choir was established by a letter written by
Maximilian IMaximilian I of Habsburg was King of the Romans from 1493 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death, but had ruled jointly with his father for the last ten years of his father's reign, from circa 1483...
of Habsburg on 7 July 1498.
Palais AugartenThe Palais Augarten is a baroque palace in the Viennese district of Leopoldstadt. Despite extensive damage from the Second World War, the palace has been maintained almost in its original appearance, and many of the original furnishings can still be found there....
serves as rehearsal space and boarding school for the boys of the choir.
Schrammelmusik
The most popular form of modern Austrian folk music is Viennese Schrammelmusik, which is played with an accordion and a double-necked guitar. Modern performers include Roland Neuwirth, Karl Hodina, and Edi Reiser.
Yodeling
Yodeling is a type of throat singing that was developed in the Alps. In Austria, it was called
juchazn and featured the use of both nonlexical syllables and yells that were used to communicate across mountains.
Austrian folk dancing
Austrian folk dancing is mostly associated with Schuhplattler, Ländler, Polka, or Waltz. However, there are other dances, such as Zwiefacher, Kontratänze, and Sprachinseltänze.
Ländler
The ländler is a folk dance of uncertain origin. Known under several names for a long period, it became known as
Landl ob der Enns, which was eventually shortened to
ländler. The dance became popular in about 1720. It required close contact between members of the opposite sex, and was thus denounced as lustful by some church authorities. Ländlers were brought first to Vienna, and later to places as far away as the
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
. The ländler eventually evolved into what is known as the
waltzThe waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
.
Austropop
DJ ÖtziDJ Ötzi is the stage name of Gerhard Friedle , an Austrian entertainer and singer.- Biography :DJ Ötzi was born Gerhard Friedle in St. Johann in Tirol , where he was raised by foster parents and later by his grandmother...
received the Amadeus Austrian Music Award in 2001 and 2002 for being the Austrian artis most successful internationally. The beatboxing group
BauchklangBauchklang is an Austrian beatboxing group.This "vocal groove project" formed 1996 around the frontman and leadsinger Andreas Fraenzel out of a musical-production "Jesus Christ Superstar" which he and Alex Boeck participated in...
received an Amadeus in 2002 in the category group pop/rock national.
FalcoJohann Hölzel , better known by his stage name Falco, was an Austrian, pop and rock musician and had four #1 Hits - "Der Kommissar", "Rock Me Amadeus", "Jeanny", and "Coming Home ". With "Rock Me Amadeus" he is the first and so far only artist to score a #1 Hit in the U.S. with a German language...
,
Rainhard FendrichRainhard Jürgen Fendrich is an Austrian singer, composer, entertainer, and actor. He is one of the most successful Austropop musicians. His lyrics are written in Viennese German, and he is very popular in Austria, but less in other German-speaking countries, and by far less known in non-German...
,
André HellerFranz André Heller is an Austrian artist, author, singer and actor.Heller was born in Vienna into a wealthy Jewish family of sweets manufacturers ....
,
Georg DanzerGeorg Franz Danzer was an Austrian singer-songwriter. Although he is credited as one of the pioneers of Austropop , he always refused to be part of this genre.Danzer was successful as a solo...
and
Christina StürmerChristina Stürmer is an Austrian pop/rock singer and also the name of her band. After working at a bookshop in Linz and singing in several bands, she reached #2 in Starmania, an Austrian music casting TV show...
all received Amadeus Awards in the category artist pop/rock national.
Austria3Austria3 was a conglomerate of three Austrian quite individualist singer-songwriters Wolfgang Ambros, Georg Danzer and Rainhard Fendrich.The group was initiated by Fendrich in order to give one single charity concert in favour of homeless in 1997...
was a conglomerate of three Austrian quite individualist singer-songwriters
Wolfgang AmbrosWolfgang Ambros is an Austrian singer-songwriter, most famously known for setting the then-new trend in the 1970s known now as Austropop. He is most famous for his song "Da Hofa" and "Schi foan"....
,
Georg DanzerGeorg Franz Danzer was an Austrian singer-songwriter. Although he is credited as one of the pioneers of Austropop , he always refused to be part of this genre.Danzer was successful as a solo...
and
Rainhard FendrichRainhard Jürgen Fendrich is an Austrian singer, composer, entertainer, and actor. He is one of the most successful Austropop musicians. His lyrics are written in Viennese German, and he is very popular in Austria, but less in other German-speaking countries, and by far less known in non-German...
, on stage from 1997 to 2006.
Alpine New Wave
This genre of punk rock, whose name may be shortened to
alpunk originated in the
AlpineThe Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
regions of
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
,
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
, and Austria. Alpunk fuses the chaotic, energetic rhythms of punk music with the accordion-based folk music that the region is famous for.
Misconceptions
Apparently, the musical
The Sound of MusicThe Sound of Music is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
and the film based on it played a role in shaping how mainly the English speaking world sees Austria in terms of music. It has to be said that some of the arrangements in "The Sound of Music" have been done for the purpose of art, rather than for the purpose of giving a realistic view on Austrian music culture. So for example there is the view that the song Edelweiss is actually the national anthem of Austria, which is not the case. Moreover, the Ländler performed in the movie is not a traditional Ländler.
Literature
Austrian literature can be divided into two main divisions, namely the period up until the mid 20th century, and the period subsequent, after both the Austro-Hungarian and German empires were gone. Austria went from being a major European power, to being a small country. In addition, there is a body of literature that some would deem Austrian but is not written in German.
Complementing its status as a land of artists, Austria has always been a country of great poets, writers, and novelists. It was the home of novelists
Arthur SchnitzlerDr. Arthur Schnitzler was an Austrian author and dramatist.- Biography :Arthur Schnitzler, the son of a prominent Hungarian-Jewish laryngologist Johann Schnitzler and Luise Markbreiter , was born in Praterstraße 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, then Vienna was the...
,
Stefan ZweigStefan Zweig was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist and biographer.- Life :...
,
Thomas BernhardThomas Bernhard was an Austrian playwright and novelist. He is widely considered to be one of the most important German-speaking authors of the postwar era.- Life :...
, and
Robert MusilRobert Musil, fully Robert Mathias Edler von Musil was an Austrian writer. His unfinished long novel The Man Without Qualities is generally considered to be one of the most important modernist novels....
, and of poets
Georg TraklGeorg Trakl was a pre-eminent Austrian poet.- Life and work :Trakl was born and lived the first 18 years of his life in Salzburg, Austria...
,
Franz WerfelFranz Werfel was an Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet.- Biography :Born in Prague , Werfel was the first of three children of a wealthy manufacturer of gloves and leather goods. His mother, Albine Kussi, was the daughter of a mill owner...
,
Franz GrillparzerFranz Seraphicus Grillparzer , an Austrian dramatic poet, was born in Vienna.-Early life:His father, severe, pedantic, and a staunch upholder of the liberal traditions of the reign of Joseph II, was an advocate of some standing; his mother, a nervous, high-strung woman, belonged to the well-known...
,
Rainer Maria RilkeRainer Maria Rilke is considered one of the German language's greatest 20th-century poets...
, and
Adalbert StifterAdalbert Stifter was an Austrian writer, poet, painter, and pedagogue. He was especially notable for the vivid natural landscapes depicted in his writing, and has long been popular in the German-speaking world, while almost entirely unknown to English readers.-Life:Born in Oberplan, in Bohemia ,...
. Famous contemporary Austrian playwrights and novelists include
Elfriede JelinekElfriede Jelinek is an Austrian playwright and novelist. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2004 for her "musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that, with extraordinary linguistic zeal, reveal the absurdity of society's clichés and their subjugating power."-...
and
Peter HandkePeter Handke is an avant-garde Austrian novelist and playwright.-Early life:Handke and his mother lived in East Berlin from 1944 to 1948 before resettling in Griffen...
.
Theatre
Architecture
Austria is famous for its castles, palaces, and cemeteries, among other architectural works. Some of Austria's most famous castles include
Festung HohensalzburgHohensalzburg Castle is a castle in the Austrian city of Salzburg. It sits on Festungsberg hill. With a length of 250 meters and a width of 150 meters, it is one of the largest medieval castles in Europe.-History:Construction of the fortress began in 1077 under Archbishop Gebhard von Helfenstein...
,
Burg HohenwerfenBurg Hohenwerfen is a castle approximately 40 km south of the Austrian city of Salzburg. The castle is majestically surrounded by the Berchtesgaden Alps and the Tennengebirge mountain range...
, Castle Liechtenstein, and the Schloß Artstetten. Many of Austria's castles were created during the
HabsburgThe House of Habsburg or Hapsburg was an important royal house of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1452 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian and Spanish Empire and several other countries...
reign.
The Historic Centre of the City of
Salzburg' is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Salzburg's "Old Town" with its world famous baroque architecture is one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The city is noted for its...
was listed as a
World Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list that is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term.A World Heritage Site is a...
in 1996, stating that "Salzburg has managed to preserve an extraordinarily rich urban fabric, developed over the period from the Middle Ages to the 19th century when it was a city-state ruled by a prince-archbishop."
Three years later, the City of
GrazGraz , with a population of 291,574 as of 2009 , is the second-largest city in Austria after Vienna and the capital of the federal state of Styria....
- Historic Centre followed Salzburg, as the "old city is a harmonious blend of the architectural styles and artistic movements that have succeeded each other since the Middle Ages, together with cultural influences from the neighbouring regions."
In 2001, finally the Historic Centre of
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
was listed as World Heritage Site, with the comment that the "historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, as well as the late-19th-century Ringstrasse lined with grand buildings, monuments and parks."
Cathedrals
Austria is rich in Roman Catholic tradition. One of Austria's oldest cathedrals is the Minoritenkirche in Vienna. It was built in the
GothicGothic architecture is a style of architecture which flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
style in the year 1224. One of the world's tallest cathedrals, the 136-meter-tall (446-foot-tall)
StephansdomSt. Stephen's Cathedral is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP...
is the seat of the
Archbishop of ViennaThe Archbishop of Vienna is the prelate of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna who is concurrently the metropolitan bishop of its ecclesiastical province which includes the dioceses of Eisenstadt, Linz and St. Pölten....
; the Stephansdom is 107 meters (351 ft) long and 34 meters (111.5 ft) wide.
Palaces
Two of the most famous Austrian palaces are
the BelvedereThe Belvedere is a baroque palace complex built by Prince Eugene of Savoy in the 3rd district of Vienna, south-east of the city centre. It houses the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere museum.- Lower Belvedere :...
and
SchönbrunnSchönbrunn Palace is a former imperial summer residence in Vienna, Austria. One of the most important cultural monuments in the country, since the 1960s it has been one of the major tourist attractions in Vienna...
. The baroque-style Belvedere palace was built in the period 1714–1723, by
Prince Eugene of SavoyFrançois-Eugène, Prince of Savoy-Carignan , was one of the most prominent and successful military commanders in European history. Born in Paris to aristocratic Savoyard parents, Eugene grew up around the French court of King Louis XIV. He was initially prepared for a career in the church, but by...
, and now is home to the
Österreichische Galerie BelvedereThe Österreichische Galerie Belvedere is a museum housed in the Belvedere palace, in Vienna, Austria.The art collection includes masterpieces from the Middle Ages and Baroque until the 21st century, though it focuses on Austrian painters from the Fin de Siècle and Art Nouveau period...
. Schönbrunn palace was built in 1696 by
Johann Bernhard Fischer von ErlachJohann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach was probably the most influential Austrian architect of the Baroque period.Architectural tastes throughout the Habsburg Empire were profoundly influenced by his ideas, as articulated in A Plan of Civil and Historical Architecture , one of the first and most...
for
Emperor Leopold I| align=right | Leopold I Habsburg , Holy Roman emperor, King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, was the second son of the emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margarita of Austria...
; empress
Maria Theresa of Austria
ordered the palace restyled in
RococoRococo is a style of 18th century French art and interior design. Rococo rooms were designed as total works of art with elegant and ornate furniture, small sculptures, ornamental mirrors, and tapestry complementing architecture, reliefs, and wall paintings...
. In 1996, it was added to the United Nations' World Cultural Heritage list.
Cemeteries
Austria is also known for its cemeteries. Vienna has fifty different cemeteries, of which the
ZentralfriedhofThe Zentralfriedhof is situated in the district of Simmering, Simmeringer Hauptstraße 230–244, Vienna 1110, Austria, and is the largest and most famous cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries....
is the most famous. The Habsburgs are buried in the Imperial Crypt.
Stift Melk
Stift Melk is a Benedictine abbey in the federal state of
Lower AustriaLower Austria is the northeast state of the nine states or Bundesländer in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten , but formerly, the capital of Lower Austria was Vienna, even though Vienna is not properly part of Lower Austria...
, overlooking the
DanubeThe Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg rivers which join at the German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows...
as it flows through the Wachau Valley. The abbey was formed in 1089 on a rock above the city of
MelkMelk is a city of Austria, in the federal state of Lower Austria, next to the Wachau valley along the Danube. Melk has a population of 5,222 ....
.
Semmering Railway
The Semmering Railway, a famous engineering project constructed in the years 1848–1854, was the first European mountain railway built with a standard-gauge track. Still fully functional, it is now part of the Austrian Southern Railway. It was appointed a
World Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list that is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term.A World Heritage Site is a...
in 1998.
Visual art
Vienna Secession
The Vienna Secession was part of a varied movement around 1900 that is now covered by the general term
Art NouveauArt Nouveau is an international movement and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that peaked in popularity at the turn of the 20th century . The name 'Art nouveau' is French for 'new art'...
.
Major figures of the Vienna Secession were
Otto WagnerOtto Koloman Wagner was an Austrian architect.Wagner was born in Penzing, a district in Vienna. He studied in Berlin and Vienna. In 1864, he started designing his first buildings in the historicist style...
,
Gustav KlimtGustav Klimt was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. His major works include paintings, murals, sketches, and other art objects, many of which are on display in the Vienna Secession gallery...
,
Egon SchieleEgon Schiele was an Austrian painter. A protégé of Gustav Klimt, Schiele was a major figurative painter of the early 20th century....
, and
Koloman MoserKoloman Moser was an Austrian artist who exerted considerable influence on twentieth-century graphic art and one of the foremost artists of the Vienna Secession movement and a co-founder of Wiener Werkstätte....
.
New Media: Ars Electronica
The Prix Ars Electronica is a major award in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music. Since 1987, this award has been given by Ars Electronica, one of the world's major centers for art and technology, which in turn was founded in 1979 in Linz, Austria. The connected museum is the six floor
Ars Electronica CenterThe Ars Electronica Center is a center for electronic arts run by Ars Electronica situated in Linz, Austria, at the northern side of the Danube opposite the city hall of Linz. It has been built on the right side of the Nibelungenbrücke....
Cinema of Austria
In the
silent movieSilent Movie is a 1976 comedy film directed by and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976. The ensemble cast includes Dom DeLuise, Marty Feldman, Bernadette Peters, Sid Caesar, Anne Bancroft, Henny Youngman, Liza Minnelli, Burt Reynolds, James Caan, and Paul...
era, Austria was one of the leading producers of movies. Many of the Austrian directors, actors, authors and cinematographers also worked in
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
. The most famous was
Fritz LangFriedrich "Fritz" Christian Anton Lang was an Austrian-German-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
, the director of
MetropolisA metropolis is a big city, in most cases with over half a million inhabitants in the city proper, and with a population of at least one million living in its urban agglomeration. Big cities belonging to a larger urban agglomeration, but which are not the core of that agglomeration, are not...
. Following the
AnschlussThe ' , also known as the ', was the 1938 de facto annexation of Austria into Greater Germany by the Nazi regime....
, the German annexation of Austria in 1938, many Austrian directors emigrated to the United States, including
Erich von StroheimErich von Stroheim was an Austrian-born star of the silent film age, lauded for his directorial work in which he was a proto-auteur. As an actor, he is noted for his arrogant Teutonic character parts which led him to be described as "not a character actor, but what a character!"...
,
Otto PremingerOtto Ludwig Preminger was an Austrian-born American film director who moved from the theatre to Hollywood, directing over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...
,
Billy WilderBilly Wilder was an Austrian-American journalist, filmmaker, screenwriter and producer, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
,
Hedy LamarrHedy Lamarr was an Austrian-born American actress and scientist. Though known primarily for her acting , she also co-invented an early form of spread spectrum communications technology, a key to modern wireless communication.-Early life and career in Europe:Lamarr was born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler...
, Mia May,
Richard OswaldRichard Oswald was an Austrian director, producer, and screenwriter.Richard Oswald, born in Vienna as Richard W. Ornstein, began his career as an actor on the Viennese stage. He made his film directorial debut at age 24 with Das Eiserne Kreuz...
and
Josef von SternbergJosef von Sternberg aka Jonas Sternberg was an Austrian-American film director. He is one of the earliest examples of 'auteur' filmmakers, and practised many other skills while making his films including cinematographer, writer, and editor...
.
Quantum Physics: From Schrödinger to Zeilinger
Transhumance in the Alps
Alpine pastures amount to a quarter of the farmland in Austria, where around 500,000
cattleCattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
were taken care of by 70,000 farmers at 12,000 sites.
Rearing cattle involving
seasonal migrationTranshumance is the seasonal movement of people with their livestock over relatively short distances, typically to higher pastures in summer and to lower valleys in winter. Herders have a permanent home, typically in valleys. Only the herds travel, with the people necessary to tend them...
between valley and high pastures has shaped a lot of landscape in the Alps, as without it, most areas below 2000 m would be forests.
Pre-Christian Alpine traditions
Some pagan customs survived only in the remote valleys inaccessible to the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
's influence, other customs were actively assimilated over the centuries. One example is the
PerchtaPerchta or Berchta , also commonly known as Percht and other variations, was once known as a goddess in Southern Germanic paganism in the Alpine countries...
, a goddess in Southern Germanic paganism in the Alpine countries, whose name means The Shining One. The Perchta welcome spring time during
FastnachtThe Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht is the pre-Lenten carnival in Alemannic folklore in Switzerland, southern Germany, Alsace and western Austria....
.
Austrian German
Schoolchildren in Austria are taught to read and write in
Standard GermanStandard German is the standard variety of the German language used as a written language, in formal contexts, and for communication between different dialect areas...
(Standartdeutsch, Hochdeutsch) which is the language of business and government in Austria. The Austrian German spoken at home and in local commerce will be one of a number of regional
German dialectsGerman dialect is dominated by the geographical spread of the High German consonant shift, and the dialect continuum that connects the German with the Dutch language.-German dialects vis-à-vis varieties of standard German:...
.
While strong forms of the various dialects are not normally comprehensible to most Germans, there is virtually no communication barrier to those from Bavaria. The Central Austro-Bavarian dialects are more intelligible to speakers of Standard German than the Southern Austro-Bavarian dialects of Tyrol. Viennese, the
Austro-BavarianAustro-Bavarian or Bavarian is a major group of Upper German varieties. Like standard German, Austro-Bavarian is a High German language, but they are not the same language...
dialect of Vienna, is most frequently used in Germany for impersonations of the typical inhabitant of Austria. The people of Graz, the capital of Styria, speak yet another dialect which is not very Styrian and more easily understood by people from other parts of Austria than other Styrian dialects, e.g. from western
StyriaStyria is a state or Bundesland, located in the southeast of Austria. In area, it is the second largest of the nine Austrian states, covering 16,388 km². It borders Slovenia as well as the other Austrian states of Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Burgenland, and Carinthia. The...
.
In western Austria,
VorarlbergVorarlberg is the westernmost and wealthiest state of Austria. Though it is the second smallest in terms of area it borders three countries: Germany , Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The only Austrian federal state that shares a border with Vorarlberg is Tyrol to the east...
, there is an allemanic dialect spoken.
Minority languages spoken in Austria include Slovene,
CroatianCroatian is a South Slavic language which is used primarily in Croatia, by Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Croatian minorities in some neighbouring countries, in the Italian region of Molise, and parts of the Croatian diaspora....
and
HungarianHungarian is a Uralic language unrelated to most other languages in Europe. It is mainly spoken in Hungary and by the Hungarian minorities in the seven neighbouring countries...
.
Food
Austrian cuisine, which is often incorrectly equated with Viennese cuisine, is derived from the cuisine of the
Austro-Hungarian EmpireAustria–Hungary, also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the k.u.k. Monarchy, or Dual State, was a monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in Central Europe...
. In addition to native regional traditions it has been influenced above all by
HungarianHungarian or Magyar cuisine is the cuisine characteristic of the nation of Hungary and its primary ethnic group, the Magyars. Traditional Hungarian dishes are primarily based on meats, seasonal vegetables, fruits, fresh bread, cheeses and honey...
,
CzechCzech cuisine has both influenced and been influenced by the cuisines of surrounding countries. Many of the fine cakes and pastries that are popular in Eastern Europe originated in the Czech lands....
,
JewishJewish Cuisine is the collection of cooking traditions of the Jewish people. It is a diverse cuisine that has evolved over many centuries, shaped by Jewish dietary laws and Jewish Festival and Sabbath traditions...
and
ItalianItalian cuisine as a national cuisine known today has evolved through centuries of social and political changes, with its roots traced back to 4th century BC...
cuisines, from which both dishes and methods of food preparation have often been borrowed.
GoulashGoulash is primarily a soup, also existing as stew, originally from Hungary, usually made of beef, red onions, vegetables, spices and ground paprika powder. The name originates from the Hungarian gulyás , the word for a cattle stockman or herdsman.-Gulyás:Gulyás is a typical food of Hungary...
is one example of this. Austrian cuisine is known primarily in the rest of the world for its pastries and sweets. In recent times a new regional cuisine has also developed which is centred on regional produce and employs modern and easy methods of preparation.
Every state in Austria has some specialities: In
Lower AustriaLower Austria is the northeast state of the nine states or Bundesländer in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten , but formerly, the capital of Lower Austria was Vienna, even though Vienna is not properly part of Lower Austria...
they have
poppiesA poppy is any of a number of colorful flowers, typically withone per stem, belonging to the poppy family. They include a number of attractive wildflower species with colorful flowers found growing singularly or in large groups; many species are also grown in gardens...
, in
BurgenlandBurgenland is the easternmost and least populous state or Land of Austria. It consists of two Statutarstädte and seven districts with in total 171 municipalities...
polentaPolenta is a dish made from boiled cornmeal. The word "polenta" is borrowed into English from Italian.-Description:Polenta is made with ground yellow or white cornmeal originally made with Chestnut meal in ancient times. It can be ground coarsely or finely depending on the region and the texture...
, in Styria
pumpkinPumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It is a common name of or can refer to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata. They are typically orange or yellow and have many creases...
, in
Carinthia'sCarinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes....
many lakes they have fish, in
Upper AustriaUpper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...
dumplingDumplings are cooked balls of dough. They are based on flour, potatoes, bread or matzoh meal, and may include meat, fish, or sweets. They may be cooked by boiling, steaming, simmering, frying, or baking. Ingredients may be as a part of a filling, or mixed throughout the dumpling. Dumplings may be...
play a vital role, for
Salzburg' is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Salzburg's "Old Town" with its world famous baroque architecture is one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The city is noted for its...
the Salzburger Nockerln are famous (a
SouffléA soufflé is a light, fluffy, baked cake made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with various other ingredients and served as a savory main dish or sweetened as a dessert...
), Tyrol has their tyrolean bacon, and
VorarlbergVorarlberg is the westernmost and wealthiest state of Austria. Though it is the second smallest in terms of area it borders three countries: Germany , Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The only Austrian federal state that shares a border with Vorarlberg is Tyrol to the east...
is influenced by the close neighbor
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
thus cheese plays a role.
Viennese Cuisine
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
has been the capital of Austria for more than a thousand years. It became the cultural centre of the nation and developed its own regional cuisine; as such, Viennese Cuisine bears the unique distinction of being the only kind of cooking named after a city.
http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/1605/column.htm
The variety of ingredients sold on the famous
NaschmarktThe Naschmarkt is Vienna's most popular market. Located at the Wienzeile over the Wien River it is about 1,5 kilometers long.The Naschmarkt has existed since the 16th century when mainly milk bottles were sold...
might lead to the thought of a broadly varied cooking culture. In fact, dishes heavily depending on meat make up typical Viennese cuisine:
Wiener schnitzelWiener Schnitzel , , is a traditional Austrian dish and is a popular part of Viennese and Austrian cuisine, consisting of a thin slice of veal coated in breadcrumbs and fried.In Austria the dish is traditionally served with a lemon slice, lingonberry jam and either potato salad or potatoes with...
(
vealVeal is the meat of young cattle . Though veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed, most veal comes from male calves of dairy cattle breeds. Compared to beef, veal has a delicate taste and tender texture.-Types:...
coated in breadcrumbs and fried),
TafelspitzTafelspitz is boiled beef in broth Viennese style.- The dish :Tafelspitz - boiled tri-tip - is a typical Austrian dish. The beef is simmered along with root vegetables and spices in the broth...
(boiled
beefBeef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle . Beef is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of Australia, Europe and America, and is also important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia...
), Beuschel (a ragout containing
vealVeal is the meat of young cattle . Though veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed, most veal comes from male calves of dairy cattle breeds. Compared to beef, veal has a delicate taste and tender texture.-Types:...
lungs and heart) and Selchfleisch (smoked meat) with Sauerkraut and dumplings are typical of its cooking.
Some sweet Viennese dishes include
ApfelstrudelApple strudel is a traditional Viennese strudel, a popular pastry in Austria and in many countries in Europe that once belonged to the Austro-Hungarian empire .-History:...
(
strudelA strudel is a type of sweet layered pastry with a filling inside, that became well known and gained popularity in the 18th century through the Habsburg Empire.Strudel is most often associated with the Austrian cuisine, but is also a traditional pastry in...
pastry filled with apples),
KaiserschmarrnKaiserschmarrn is one of the best known Austrian desserts, popular in the former Austria–Hungary as well as in Bavaria...
(shredded pancakes served with fruit compotes) and
SachertorteSachertorte is a chocolate cake, invented by Franz Sacher in 1832 for Klemens Wenzel von Metternich in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the most famous Viennese culinary specialties...
(
cakeCake is a form of food that is usually sweet and often baked. Cakes normally combine some kind of flour, a sweetening agent , a binding agent , fats , a...
of two layers of chocolate cake with
apricotThe Apricot is a species of Prunus, classified with the plum in the subgenus Prunus...
jam in the middle ). These and many other desserts will be on offer at one of the many
KonditoreiKonditorei is the German word for a confectionery shop. A Konditorei typically offers a wide variety of pastries and is like a little café. In Germany and Austria it is a very popular custom to go to a Konditorei to have a cake and some tea or coffee mid-afternoon. Cakes vary from cream cakes to...
of Vienna, where they are generally eaten with coffee in the afternoon.
LiptauerLiptauer is a spicy cheese spread made with sheep's-milk cheese, goat's milk cheese, quark cheese or cottage cheese. It is a part of Slovak cuisine , Hungarian cuisine , Austrian cuisine and Italian cuisine...
as a
spreadA spread is a food that is spread with a knife onto bread, crackers, or other bread products. Spreads are added to bread products to provide flavor and texture, and are an integral part of the dish, i.e., they should be distinguished from condiments, which are optional additions...
, or
PowidlPowidl is a plum stew. Unlike jam or marmalade, and unlike the German Pflaumenmus , powidl is prepared without additional sweeteners or gelling agents....
also as spread or base for
dumplingDumplings are cooked balls of dough. They are based on flour, potatoes, bread or matzoh meal, and may include meat, fish, or sweets. They may be cooked by boiling, steaming, simmering, frying, or baking. Ingredients may be as a part of a filling, or mixed throughout the dumpling. Dumplings may be...
s are also quite popular.
Viennese café
The culture of coffee houses in the West began in Austria and remains a fixture of its culture. Much of the reputation these achieved during the turn of the nineteenth century resulted when writers like
Peter AltenbergPeter Altenberg was a writer and poet from Vienna, Austria. He was key to the genesis of early modernism in the city.-Biography:...
,
Karl KrausKarl Kraus was an Austrian writer and journalist, known as a satirist, essayist, aphorist, playwright and poet. He is regarded as one of the foremost German-language satirists of the 20th century, especially for his witty criticism of the press, German culture, and German and Austrian...
,
Hermann BrochHermann Broch was a 20th century Austrian writer, considered one of the major Modernists.-Life:Broch was born in Vienna to a prosperous Jewish family and worked for some time in his family's factory, though he maintained his literary interests privately...
and
Friedrich TorbergFriedrich Torberg is the pen-name of Friedrich Kantor, an Austrian writer.-Biography:He worked as a critic and journalist in Vienna and Prague until 1938, when his Jewish heritage compelled him to emigrate to France and, later, after being invited by the New York PEN-Club as one of "Ten...
decided to use them as places of work and socializing. Celeberated Austrian writer Peter Altenberg is rumoured to have given "Wien 1, Café Central" as his private address, as he spent so much time in
Café CentralCafé Central is a coffeehouse in Vienna. It is located in the Innere Stadt district at Herrengasse 14 in the former Bank and Stockmarket Building , today called the Palais Ferstel after its architect Heinrich von Ferstel....
. Artists, thinkers, and political radicals of the period such as
Arthur SchnitzlerDr. Arthur Schnitzler was an Austrian author and dramatist.- Biography :Arthur Schnitzler, the son of a prominent Hungarian-Jewish laryngologist Johann Schnitzler and Luise Markbreiter , was born in Praterstraße 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, then Vienna was the...
,
Stefan ZweigStefan Zweig was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist and biographer.- Life :...
,
Egon SchieleEgon Schiele was an Austrian painter. A protégé of Gustav Klimt, Schiele was a major figurative painter of the early 20th century....
,
Gustav KlimtGustav Klimt was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. His major works include paintings, murals, sketches, and other art objects, many of which are on display in the Vienna Secession gallery...
,
Adolf LoosAdolf Loos was one of the most important and influential Austrian and Czechoslovak architects of European Modern architecture. In his essay Ornament and Crime he repudiated the florid style of the Vienna Secession, the Austrian version of Art Nouveau...
,
Theodor HerzlTheodor Herzl Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl ' onMouseout='HidePop("98596")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Leon_Trotsky">Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Leyba Davidov Bronstein , was a Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist. He was one of the leaders of the Russian October Revolution, second only to Lenin...
were regular coffee house patrons.
Austrian wine
Austria has a long
winemakingWinemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...
tradition and produces both white and red varieties. Evidence of grape seeds in urns in the area of
ZagersdorfZagersdorf is a town in the district of Eisenstadt-Umgebung in Burgenland in Austria....
in
BurgenlandBurgenland is the easternmost and least populous state or Land of Austria. It consists of two Statutarstädte and seven districts with in total 171 municipalities...
dates
viticultureViticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...
back to 700 B.C.
Austria has over 50,000 hectares of vineyard, almost all of it in the east or southeast of the country. Many of the approximately 20,000 small wine-producing estates base their finances on their direct retail of wine. Due to a decree that goes back to the so called
Maria Theresianische
Buschenschankverordnung from 1784, a vintner can sell his own wine in his own house without any dedicated license to do so.
The
Grüner VeltlinerGrüner Veltliner is a variety of white wine grape grown primarily in Austria and in the Czech Republic, but almost nowhere else. It has a reputation of being a particularly food-friendly wine...
is the dominant grape varietal cultivated in Austria, and the dry white wines produced from this grape have gained international recognition.
Austrian beer
There are many different types of Austrian
BeerBeer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cereal grains—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize , and rice are widely...
to be found. One of the most common brands of beer to be found in Austria is Stiegl, founded in 1492.
Sports
Common sports in Austria are association football (soccer),
skiingSkiing is a group of sports using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
, and
ice hockeyIce Hockey is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a puck into the opposing team's goal. It is a fast-paced and physical sport...
. Since Austria straddles the
AlpsThe Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
, it is a prime location for skiing. Austria is the leading nation in the
Alpine Skiing World CupThe alpine skiing World Cup is a circuit of alpine skiing competitions launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France and the USA...
(consistently winning the largest number of points of all countries) and also strong in many other winter sports such as
ski jumpingSki jumping is a sport in which skiers go down an "inrun" with a take-off ramp , attempting to fly as far as possible. In addition to the length that skiers jump, judges give points for style. The skis used for ski jumping are wide and long...
. Austria's national
ice hockey teamThe Austrian men's national hockey team is the national ice hockey team for Austria. The team is controlled by Österreichischer Eishockeyverband. As of 2008 the Austrian team is ranked 16th in the IIHF World Rankings. Austria has not won a medal in a major tournament since 1947, and has not broken...
ranks 13th in the world.
Austria (particularly Vienna) also has an old tradition in
footballAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball...
, even though, since
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the sport has more or less been in decline in the country. The Austrian Championship (originally only limited to Vienna, as there were no professional teams elsewhere), has been held since 1912. The
Austrian CupThe Austrian Cup, in German: ÖFB-Cup is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB.It has been held since 1919, with the exception of the time of the Anschluss between 1939 and 1945 and the period between 1950 and 1958 when the competition was deemed of...
has been held since 1913. The
Austria national football teamThe Austria national football team is the association football team that represents the country of Austria in international competition and is controlled by the Austrian Football Association ....
has qualified for 7 World Cups, but did not qualify for a European Championship, until the 2008 Tournament when it qualified as co-hosts with Switzerland. The governing body for football in Austria is the
Austrian Football AssociationThe Austrian Football Association is the governing body of football in Austria. It organizes the football league, Austrian Bundesliga, the Austrian Cup and the Austrian national team, as well as its female equivalent. It is based in Vienna....
.
The first official world chess champion,
Wilhelm SteinitzWilhelm Steinitz was an Austrian-American chess player and the first undisputed world chess champion from 1886 to 1894. Some contemporaries and later writers described him as world champion since 1866, when he won a match against Adolf Anderssen...
was from the
Austrian EmpireThe Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire founded on a remnant of the Holy Roman Empire centered on what is today's Austria that officially lasted from 1804 to 1867...
.
Also, Vienna is well known for the Spanish Riding school, where skilled riders ride
LipizzanThe Lipizzan or Lipizzaner , is a breed of horse closely associated with the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria where the finest representatives demonstrate the haute ecole or "high school" movements of classical dressage, including the highly controlled, stylized jumps and other movements...
er horses in difficult poses and dances.
Education
Empress
Maria Theresa
instituted the "General School Regulations,in 1774," creating the Austrian educational system. Eight-year compulsory education was introduced in 1869. Currently, compulsory schooling lasts nine years.
Four years of elementary school (
VolksschuleA Volkschule was an 18th century system of state-supported primary schools established in the Habsburg Austrian Empire and Prussia . Attendance was supposedly compulsory, but a 1781 census reveals that only one fourth of the school-age children attended. At the time, this was one of the few...
for ages 6–10) are followed by secondary education in a
HauptschuleA "Hauptschule" is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling. Any student who went to a German elementary school can go to a Hauptschule afterwards, whereas students who want to attend a Realschule or Gymnasium need to have good marks in order to do so...
, or the first four years of
GymnasiumA gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools...
as intermediate school. It has to be noted that in particular in the rural areas, there is quite often no gymnasium available, so everyone attends the hauptschule.
After the age of 14, students have their first real choice to make, no matter which they have attended until then. They can spend a year at the polytechnic school which qualifies them for
vocational schoolA vocational school , providing vocational education, is a school in which students are taught the skills needed to perform a particular job...
as part of a
apprenticeshipApprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
. Or they can go to the
Höhere Technische LehranstaltHöhere Technische Lehranstalten , also called Höhere Technische Bundeslehranstalten or Höhere Technische Bundeslehr- und Versuchsanstalten are technology and crafts orientated higher colleges in Austria...
(HTL), which are technically-orientated higher colleges and a unique feature of the Austrian educational system within Europe. Finalising the HTL permits to use the title "Ing." (
EngineerEngineers are concerned with developing economical and safe solutions to practical problems, by applying mathematics and scientific knowledge while considering technical constraints. The term is derived from the Latin root "ingenium," meaning "cleverness"...
). Another option would be the Handelsakademie with a focus on accounting and business administration. Finally there is the Gymnasium which ends with the Matura exam as the ultimate preparation for a further education at a university. There are a couple of other school types not mentioned here.
An alternative to university is the Austrian
FachhochschuleA Fachhochschule or University of Applied Sciences is a German type of university, sometimes specialized in certain topical areas . Fachhochschulen were founded in Germany and later adopted by Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland...
, which is more practically oriented than a university but also leads to an academic degree. As part of the Bologna process, both the education at universities as well as at the Fachhochschulen changes.
Federal laws enforce uniformity across provinces throughout the educational system.
All state-run schools are free of charge. The largest university is the
University of ViennaThe University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is, therefore, the oldest university in the German-speaking world and one of the largest in Central Europe.-History:...
.
Religion
73.6% of the native population identify themselves as Roman Catholic, while 4.7% consider themselves Protestant. Some 400,000 Austrians are members of diverse
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
communities, about 180,000 are members of the
Eastern Orthodox ChurchThe Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to in English speaking countries as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the world's second largest Christian communion, estimated to number 225 million members...
, and about 7,300 are Jewish. Prior to the Holocaust, about 200,000 Jews lived in Austria.
About 12% of the population does not belong to any church or religious community.
Buddhism in Austria
Although still small in absolute numbers (10,402 at the 2001 census),
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
in Austria enjoys widespread acceptance if not
popularityPopularity is the quality of being well-liked or common. Popularity figures are an important part of many people's personal value systems, and forms a vital component of success in people-oriented fields such as Management, politics, Entertainment Industry among others. Borrowed from the Latin...
. A majority of Buddhists in the country are Austrian nationals (some of them naturalized after
immigrationImmigration is the arrival of new individuals into a habitat or population. It is a biological concept and is important in population ecology, differentiated from emigration and migration.-As a political term:...
from Asia, predominantly from
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
and
VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
), while a considerable number of them are foreign nationals.
Public holidays
As the
Roman Catholic ChristianityThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
is the predominant religion in Austria, most of the public holidays are catholic ones. Nevertheless, Good Friday is a public holiday for those who have that day as a high holiday in their religion. So different compared to for example Switzerland or Germany, this holiday is applied based on one's personal religion, not based on the religion of the majority in the area one lives in.
Although most holidays in Austria are defined in the federal labour law called
Arbeitsruhegesetz, some are days off due to other
sources of lawSources of law are the materials and processes out of which law is developed. In modern nation states, the basic sources of law include a Constitution, statutes, case law, and regulations issued by government agencies. Sources of law for public international law and religious law differ, however,...
, for example the collective contract negotiated between the social partners (see: Austria's "social partnership"). Due to the special emphasis that the Austrian labour law puts on the collective contract, the collective contracts in Austria are not limited to those who are members in the respective employee representation that negotiated the contract. So the collective contract actually applies more in a way a law does, than a contract does. In fact, the contract, and in turn also the public holidays defined in it, apply for all employees in the industry the respective collective was closed for.
Besides these holidays which are defined for the complete country, some are defined on a state basis. Abbreviations for the Austria states are described in
States of AustriaAustria is a federal republic made up of nine states, known in German as Länder . Since Land is also the German word for a sovereign state, the term Bundesländer is often used instead to avoid ambiguity. The Constitution of Austria uses both terms...
.
EasterEaster is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day from his crucifixion...
Sunday and Whit Sunday are not listed below, as these will always be on a Sunday and therefore all the rules for Sundays will already be applied to these two days. Thus there is no need to explicitly define these as public holidays.
| English Name |
Local Name |
Date |
BBurgenland is the easternmost and least populous state or Land of Austria. It consists of two Statutarstädte and seven districts with in total 171 municipalities...
|
KCarinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes....
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NÖLower Austria is the northeast state of the nine states or Bundesländer in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten , but formerly, the capital of Lower Austria was Vienna, even though Vienna is not properly part of Lower Austria...
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OÖUpper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...
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SSalzburg is a state or Land of Austria with an area of 7,154 km 2, located adjacent to the German border. With 529,085 inhabitants it is one of the country's smaller states in terms of population...
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TTyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts – called North Tyrol and East Tyrol – by a 20 km-wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian...
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VVorarlberg is the westernmost and wealthiest state of Austria. Though it is the second smallest in terms of area it borders three countries: Germany , Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The only Austrian federal state that shares a border with Vorarlberg is Tyrol to the east...
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WVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
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New YearThe New Year is an event that happens when a culture celebrates the end of one year and the beginning of the next year. Cultures that measure yearly calendars all have New Year celebrations...
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Neujahr |
1 January |
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| Epiphany |
Heilige Drei Könige |
6 January |
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| Saint Joseph Saint Joseph is known from the New Testament as the husband of Mary, mother of Jesus...
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Josef 5) |
19 March |
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| Good Friday Good Friday, also called Holy Friday, Black Friday, or Great Friday, is a holiday observed primarily by adherents to Christianity commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary...
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Karfreitag 1) |
floating holiday (Easter SundayComputus is the calculation of the date of Easter in the Christian calendar. The name has been used for this procedure since the early Middle Ages, as it was one of the most important computations of the age....
- 2 days) |
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EasterEaster is the most important annual religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to Christian scripture, Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day from his crucifixion...
Monday |
Ostermontag |
floating holiday (Easter Sunday + 1 day) |
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National Holiday Labour dayLabour Day or Labor Day is an annual holiday celebrated all over the world that resulted from the labour union movement, to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers...
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Staatsfeiertag (Tag der Arbeit) |
1 May |
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Saint FlorianSaint Florian is a Christian saint, and the patron saint of Poland; Linz, Austria; chimney sweeps; and firefighters. His feast day is May 4. St...
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Florian 4) 5) |
4 May |
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AscensionThe Christian doctrine of the Ascension holds that Jesus ascended to heaven in the presence of his Eleven Apostles following his resurrection, and that in heaven he sits at the right hand of God the Father....
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Christi Himmelfahrt |
floating holiday (Easter SundayComputus is the calculation of the date of Easter in the Christian calendar. The name has been used for this procedure since the early Middle Ages, as it was one of the most important computations of the age....
+ 39 days) |
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| Whit Monday Whit Monday or Pentecost Monday is the holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost, a movable feast in the Christian calendar. It is movable because it is determined by the date of Easter....
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Pfingstmontag |
floating holiday (Easter SundayComputus is the calculation of the date of Easter in the Christian calendar. The name has been used for this procedure since the early Middle Ages, as it was one of the most important computations of the age....
+ 50 days) |
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| Corpus Christi Corpus Christi is a Western Catholic feast. It is also celebrated in some churches of the Anglican Communion. It honours the Eucharist, which believers consider to be the actual body and blood of Christ, and as such it does not commemorate a particular event in Jesus' life...
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Fronleichnam |
floating holiday (Easter SundayComputus is the calculation of the date of Easter in the Christian calendar. The name has been used for this procedure since the early Middle Ages, as it was one of the most important computations of the age....
+ 60 days) |
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Assumption of MaryThe Assumption of Mary is a belief held by Christians of the Catholic Church as well as some Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Anglicans, that the Virgin Mary, at the end of her life, was physically taken up into heaven...
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Mariä Himmelfahrt |
15 August |
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Rupert of SalzburgRupert of Salzburg is a saint in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches and a founder of the Austrian city of Salzburg...
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Rupert 5) |
24 September |
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| Carinthian Plebiscite The Carinthian Plebiscite on 10 October 1920 determined the final southern border between the Republic of Austria and the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after World War I.- History :...
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Tag der Volksabstimmung 5) |
10 October |
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National DayThe National Day is a designated date on which celebrations mark the nationhood of a nation or non-sovereign country. This nationhood can be symbolized by the date of independence, of becoming republic or a significant date for a patron saint or a ruler . Often the day is not called ”National Day”...
(Declaration of NeutralityThe Declaration of Neutrality was a declaration by the Austrian Parliament declaring the country permanently neutral. It was enacted on October 26, 1955 as a constitutional act of parliament, i.e. as part of the Constitution of Austria....
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Nationalfeiertag |
26 October |
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All SaintsAll Saints' Day , often shortened to All Saints, is a solemnity celebrated on November 1 in Western Christianity, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in Eastern Christianity in honor of all the saints, known and unknown.In terms of Western Christian theology, the day...
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Allerheiligen |
1 November |
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| Martin of Tours Saint Martin of Tours , was a Bishop of Tours whose shrine became a famous stopping-point for pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela...
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Martin 5) |
11 November |
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Leopold III, Margrave of AustriaSaint Leopold III was the Margrave of Austria in 1095-1136. He is the patron saint of Austria, of the city of Vienna, of Lower Austria, and, jointly with Saint Florian, of Upper Austria. His feast day is November 15....
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Leopold 3) 5) |
15 November |
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| Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is, according to Roman Catholic Dogma, the conception of the Virgin Mary without any stain of original sin. Under this aspect Mary is sometimes called the Immaculata , particularly in artistic contexts...
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Mariä Empfängnis 2) |
8 December |
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Christmas EveChristmas Eve, December 24, is the night before Christmas Day, which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.-Western Churches:Many Roman Catholics and Anglicans traditionally celebrate a midnight Mass which begins sometime before midnight on Christmas Day; this ceremony, which is held in churches...
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Heiliger Abend (CC) |
24 December |
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ChristmasChristmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. The nativity of Jesus, which is the basis for the anno Domini...
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Christtag |
25 December |
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| St. Stephen's Day St. Stephen's Day, or the Feast of St. Stephen, is a Christian saint's day celebrated on 26 December in the Western Church and 27 December in the Eastern Church. Many Eastern Orthodox churches adhere to the Julian calendar and mark St...
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Stefanitag |
26 December |
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New Year's EveNew Year's Eve or Old Year's Night is on , the final day of the Gregorian year, and the day before New Year's Day.New Year's Eve is a separate observance from the observance of New Year's Day...
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Silvester (CC) |
31 December |
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| Total number of days 6) |
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(CC) day off or partly day off due to collective contract (German: Kollektivvertrag)
1) Holiday according to the federal labor law, but applies only to the followers of the
Reformed churchesThe Reformed churches are a group of Christian Protestant denominations formally characterized by a similar Calvinist system of doctrine, historically related to the churches that first arose especially in the Swiss Reformation led by Huldrych Zwingli and soon afterward appeared in nations...
and
Lutheran ChurchLutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the 16th century German reformer Martin Luther. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
, the
Old Catholic ChurchThe Old Catholic Church is a Christian denomination originating with mainly German-speaking groups that split from the Holy See in the 1870s because they disagreed with the solemn declaration of the doctrine of papal infallibility promulgated by the First Vatican Council . The Old Catholic Church...
and the Methodist Church.
2) If 8 December is a working day, employees may work in shops.
3) Until 2003 it was also a holiday in Upper Austria.
4) A holiday only since 2004.
5) Holidays due to state law, mainly affects schools and state offices.
6) The total amount of holidays that apply for all employees is 13, or 12, if 2) applies.
External links