AUSTRIA

Hi there, friend, watcher, Austria-interested and innocent passerby. Inspired by =Hiersein and his amazing Exploring a Country: Germany news articles I decided to take a leaf out of his book and start my own little news article feature. Naturally, this article is about my home country: AUSTRIA.

What you’re going what you can expect from this article are key facts about Austria, its history, culture and of course its landscape and I will illustrate all those things with beautiful and breath-taking photos, taken by fellow deviant-artists. I swear, you won’t even realise that you actually *gasp* learn something while reading this article



Austria –or as we call it “Österreich“– is a landlocked country 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. The capital is the city of Vienna on the Danube River and our official language is German.
The origins of Austria date back to the ninth century, when the territory of Upper and Lower Austria became increasingly populated. The German name Österreich is derived from Old German Ostarrîchi "Eastern Territory".

Austria is one of the 10 richest countries in the world, has a well-developed social market economy, and a high standard of living. Labour movements used to be particularly strong in Austria and had large influence on labour politics, however, there has been a drastic development in politics lately, giving more power to the right-winged parties.
Next to a highly-developed industry, international tourism is the most important part of the national economy. It's the 10th most visited country in the world and just recently the National Geographic Traveller Magazine voted the Wachau and in particular the Melk Abbey “best historic destination” out of 109 places all over the world. If you plan on visiting this place shoot me a note, I’m a tour guide there so I can show you around

HISTORY

Settled in ancient times, the central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes. The Celtic kingdom of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the area was invaded by Bavarians, Slavs and Avars. Charlemagne conquered the area in 788, encouraged colonization, and introduced Christianity. As part of Eastern Francia, the core areas that now encompass Austria were bequeathed to the house of Babenberg.
Soon after the last Babenberg died in the 13th century the house of Habsburg assumed control over the duchies. The Habsburgs led Austria to great power and importance in Europe and were one of the most important royal houses during their time. In 1914, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo was the immediate cause for the outbreak of World War I and led to the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Famous names of the House of Habsburg would be the one of Maria Theresa, the first female empress and one of the most capable rulers the house of Habsburg ever had, and her son Joseph II., who reformed the country in the name of enlightenment, introducing such things as a solid school system, freedom of worship and abolishment of torture and death penalty. There is also Elisabeth or “Sisi” of Austria-Hungary, whose life and death has been portrayed in films, books and the famous musical “Elisabeth”.
Most Austrians nowadays have a quite romanticised view on the Habsburg monarchy. You may find several people telling you life would be better if Francis-Joseph I. still were emperor. Of course, most of them are probably old enough to have witnessed his regency

The Habsburgs also built (among others) the famous castle of Schönbrunn in Vienna and introduced the world’s first zoo (at first only open to the royal family, later also open to the public, as were the gardens of Schönbrunn)

On 12 March 1938 German troops occupied Austria and established a plebiscite confirming union with Germany. Hitler, originally a native of Austria, proclaimed the annexation of Austria by Germany. The country was incorporated into the Third Reich and ceased to exist as an independent state. Whether Austria should be seen as a victim or rather an accomplice of Germany is one of the most disputed questions in present history.

Vienna fell on 13 April 1945 during the Soviet Vienna Offensive just before the total collapse of the Third Reich. Much like Germany, Austria, too, was divided into a British, a French, a Soviet and a U.S. Zone and governed by the Allied Commission for Austria. Largely owing to Karl Renner's action on April 27th in setting up a Provisional Government, however, there was a subtle difference in the treatment of Austria by the Allies. The Austrian Government was recognized and tolerated by the Four Powers. Austria, in general, was treated as though it had been originally invaded by Germany and liberated by the Allies.
On 26 October 1955 Austria was declared "permanently neutral" by an act of Parliament, which remains to this day.



CULTURE

Austria's past as a European power and its cultural environment have generated a broad contribution to various forms of art, most notably among them music. Austria has been the birthplace of many famous composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Johann Strauss, Sr. + Jr. and Gustav Mahler as well as members of the Second Viennese School such as Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg.
Austria has also produced one notable jazz musician, keyboardist Josef Zawinul who helped pioneer electronic influences in jazz as well as being a notable composer in his own right. In recent history, Falco was an internationally acclaimed pop and rock musician and the first and so far only artist to score a #1 Hit in the U.S. with a German language song (it was called “Rock me Amadeus”, by the way).

Among Austrian Artists and architects one can find painters and artists such as Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Gottfried Helnwein and Erwin Wurm, the photographers Inge Morath and Ernst Haas and architects like Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos, and Hans Hollein.

Austria's cuisine is derived from that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Austrian cuisine is mainly the tradition of Royal-Cuisine ("Hofküche") delivered over centuries. Typical Austrian dishes include Wiener Schnitzel, Schweinsbraten, Kaiserschmarren, Knödel, and Tafelspitz.
There is also the "Mehlspeisen" Bakery, which created particular delicacies such as Sachertorte or "ApfelStrudel".

The national sport in Austria is alpine skiing and Austria shows constant dominance in the Nations-Cup. The most popular team sport in Austria is football. However, Austria rarely has international success in this discipline, going out in the first round of the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship which was co-hosted with Switzerland.

GEOGRAPHY

Austria measures almost 600 km in length, extending from Lake Constance (German Bodensee) on the Austrian-Swiss-German border in the west to the Neusiedler See on the Austrian-Hungarian border in the east. The contrast between these two lakes – one in the Alps and the other a typical steppe lake on the westernmost fringe of the Hungarian Plain– illustrates the diversity of Austria's landscape.
Since Austria is landlocked, people usually spend hot and sunny days at the various lakes and rivers.

The country is a largely mountainous country due to its location in the Alps. The Alps of western Austria give way somewhat into low lands and plains in the eastern part of the country. The highest mountain in Austria is the Großglockner with 3,797 metres (12,457 ft)
Historically, high Alpine pastures have been used during the summer for grazing dairy cattle, thus making space available at lower altitudes for cultivating and harvesting fodder for winter.

The most important river of Austria is the Danube, which has its source near Donaueschingen in southwestern Germany and flows through Austria before emptying into the Black Sea. It is the only major European river that flows eastwards, and is the most important inland waterway.

Other important rivers would be the Inn in Tyrol, the Salzach in Salzburg, and the Enns in Styria and Upper Austria, the Gail and Drau rivers in Carinthia and the Mürz and Mur rivers in Styria.
Austria in general is a country full of water – rivers, lakes, beautiful waterfalls, we’ve got them.

Austria is full of charming little villages, one of them providing a great source of entertainment for all English speaking people. Ready? Okay:

It’s an actual village in Upper Austria, they have a hard time with thieves stealing their place-name sing


So, now you know the most basic facts about my home country. Naturally there is much more to see and experience about Austria – Vienna alone is like a whole different planet – and if you happen to get the chance to come by, feel free to shoot me a note ^^
I have found so many great Austria-related photos on deviantart and I may do another news article in the near future (maybe focused on Vienna or with more details about the nine federal states) – so if you’d like to see more, feel free to let me know how you feel about my little collection.

Thank you very much to all the great artists who contributed to this article with their breath-taking photography. I hope I could do you justice in verbally illustrating what you captured with your camera.