Upper Austria is one of the nine
statesAustria is a federal republic made up of nine states, known in German as Länder . Since Land is also the German word for a country, the term Bundesländer is often used instead to avoid ambiguity. The Constitution of Austria uses both terms...
or
Bundesländer of
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. Its capital is
LinzLinz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
. Upper Austria borders on
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the
Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, as well as on the other Austrian states of
Lower AustriaLower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
,
StyriaStyria is a state or Bundesland, located in the southeast of Austria. In area it is the second largest of the nine Austrian federated states, covering 16,401 km². It borders Slovenia as well as the other Austrian states of Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Burgenland, and Carinthia. ...
, and
SalzburgSalzburg is a state or Land of Austria with an area of 7,156 km2, located adjacent to the German border. It is also known as Salzburgerland, to distinguish it from its capital city, also named Salzburg...
. With an area of 11,980 km² and 1.412 million inhabitants, Upper Austria is the fourth-largest Austrian state by land area and third-largest by population.
Origins
For a long period of the Middle Ages, much of Upper Austria belonged to the
Duchy of StyriaThe history of Styria concerns the region roughly corresponding to the modern Austrian state of Styria and the Slovene region of Styria from its settlement by Germans and Slavs in the Dark Ages until the present...
. In the mid 13th century the Traungau was removed from it by King
Ottokar II of BohemiaOttokar II , called The Iron and Golden King, was the King of Bohemia from 1253 until 1278. He was the Duke of Austria , Styria , Carinthia and Carniola also....
, and it became known as the Principality above the
Enns RiverThe Enns is a southern tributary of the Danube River, joining northward at Enns, Austria. The Enns River spans , in a flat-J-shape. It flows from its source near the towns of Gasthofalm and Flachau, generally eastward through Radstadt, Schladming, and Liezen, then turns north near Hieflau, to flow...
, this name being first recorded in 1264. (At the time the term "Upper Austria" also included Tyrol and various scattered Habsburg possessions in South Germany.)
In 1490, the area was given a measure of independence within the Holy Roman Empire, with the status of a
principalityA principality is a monarchical feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or by a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....
. By 1550 there was a Protestant majority. In 1564, Upper Austria, together with Lower Austria and the Bohemian territories, fell under Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II.
At the start of the 17th century the counter-reformation was instituted under Emperor Rudolf II and his successor Matthias. After a military campaign, the area was under the control of
BavariaBavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
for some years in the early 17th century.
The
InnviertelThe Innviertel is a traditional Austrian region south-east of the Inn river. It forms the western part of the state of Upper Austria and borders the German state of Bavaria...
was ceded from the Duchy of Bavaria to Upper Austria in the
Treaty of TeschenThe Treaty of Teschen was signed on May 13, 1779, in Cieszyn , Austrian Silesia, between Austria and Prussia, which officially ended the War of the Bavarian Succession sparked by the death of Elector Maximilian III Joseph...
in 1779. During the Napoleonic Wars, Upper Austria was occupied by the French army on more than one occasion.
Present day
In 1918, after the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the name
Oberösterreich was used to describe the province of the new Austria. After Austria was annexed by
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, Upper Austria became
Reichsgau OberdonauThe Reichsgau Oberdonau , was an administrative division of Nazi Germany in Upper Austria, Austria and parts of Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic from 1938 to 1945. Parts of the Salzkammergut were annexed from Styria....
, although this also included the southern part of the Sudetenland, annexed from Czechoslovakia, and a small part of Styria. In 1945, Upper Austria was partitioned between the American zone to the south and the Soviet zone to the north.
Administrative divisions
Upper Austria is traditionally divided into four regions:
HausruckviertelThe Hausruckviertel is an Austrian region belonging to the state of Upper Austria: it is one of four "quarters" of Upper Austria the others being Traunviertel, Mühlviertel, and Innviertel...
,
InnviertelThe Innviertel is a traditional Austrian region south-east of the Inn river. It forms the western part of the state of Upper Austria and borders the German state of Bavaria...
,
MühlviertelThe Mühlviertel is an Austrian region belonging to the state of Upper Austria: it is one of four "quarters" of Upper Austria, the others being Hausruckviertel, Traunviertel, and Innviertel. It is named for the two rivers and .-Region:...
, and
TraunviertelThe Traunviertel is an Austrian region belonging to the state of Upper Austria: it is one of four "quarters" of Upper Austria the others being Hausruckviertel, Mühlviertel, and Innviertel...
.
Administratively, the state is divided into 15 districts (
BezirkBezirk means "district" in German and can refer to:* The primary Subdivisions of East Germany from 1952* The districts of Austria* Some of the Districts of Switzerland...
e), three Statutarstädte and 444 municipalities.
Districts
- Braunau am Inn
Bezirk Braunau am Inn is a district of the state ofUpper Austria in Austria.-History:While the Bavarian uprising in 1705 and 1706 the country defense congress was held in Braunau...
- Eferding
Bezirk Eferding is a district of the state ofUpper Austria in Austria.- Municipalities :Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.*Alkoven*Aschach an der Donau*Eferding*Fraham*Haibach ob der...
- Freistadt
Bezirk Freistadt is a district of the state ofUpper Austria, in central northern Austria.- Municipalities :Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.*Bad...
- Gmunden
Bezirk Gmunden is a district of the state ofUpper Austria in Austria.- Municipalities :Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.*Altmünster*Bad Goisern*Bad...
- Grieskirchen
Bezirk Grieskirchen is a district of the state ofUpper Austria in Austria.- Municipalities :Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.*Aistersheim *Bad Schallerbach *Bruck-Waasen *Eschenau...
- Kirchdorf an der Krems
Bezirk Kirchdorf an der Krems is a district of the state ofUpper Austria in Austria.- Municipalities :Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.*Edlbach*Grünburg*Hinterstoder*Inzersdorf im...
- Linz-Land
Bezirk Linz-Land is a district of the state ofUpper Austria in Austria.- Municipalities :Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.*Allhaming*Ansfelden*Asten*Eggendorf im...
- Perg
Bezirk Perg is a district of the state ofUpper Austria in Austria.-Municipalities:Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.*Allerheiligen im Mühlkreis*Arbing*Bad...
- Ried im Innkreis
Bezirk Ried im Innkreis is a district of the state ofUpper Austria in Austria.- Municipalities :Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small...
- Rohrbach
Bezirk Rohrbach is a district of the state ofUpper Austria in Austria.-Municipalities:Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.*Afiesl*Ahorn*Aigen im...
- Schärding
Bezirk Schärding is a district of the state ofUpper Austria in Austria.- Municipalities :Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.*Altschwendt*Andorf*Brunnenthal*Diersbach*Dorf an der...
- Steyr-Land
Bezirk Steyr-Land is a district of the state ofUpper Austria in Austria.- Municipalities :Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.*Adlwang*Aschach an der Steyr*Bad...
- Urfahr-Umgebung
Bezirk Urfahr Umgebung is a district of the state ofUpper Austria in Austria. It is named after Urfahr, a borough of Linz, seat of the district's administration .-Municipalities:...
- Vöcklabruck
Bezirk Vöcklabruck is a district of the state ofUpper Austria in Austria.-Municipalities:Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.*Ampflwang im...
- Wels-Land
Bezirk Wels-Land is a district of the state ofUpper Austria in Austria.- Municipalities :Towns are indicated in boldface; market towns in italics; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated in small characters.*Aichkirchen*Bachmanning*Bad...
External links
Upper Austria official website