⌛ Overview

A thousand years in four chapters

This is test area 2 (“Geschichte Österreichs”). Learn the four big chapters first, then the dates in bold. German names are given in brackets, as they appear in the test.

976–1918 · Rulers

The Babenbergs, then the Habsburgs for over 600 years. Ends with the First World War.

1918–1938 · First Republic

A small, poor state (Erste Republik). Party conflict, civil war and dictatorship in 1934.

1938–1945 · Nazi era

The “Anschluss” to Hitler’s Germany. War, persecution and the Holocaust.

since 1945 · Second Republic

Occupation, the State Treaty of 1955 (Staatsvertrag), neutrality, prosperity, EU accession in 1995.

☰ Timeline

The dates that come up in the test

Middle Ages to empire

  1. 976 The Babenbergs become margraves on the Danube.
  2. 996 First written mention of the name “Ostarrîchi” in a deed of Emperor Otto III.
  3. 1156 Privilegium minus: Austria becomes a duchy.
  4. 1282 Rudolf I gives Austria to his sons: start of Habsburg rule (until 1918).
  5. 1529, 1683 Two Ottoman sieges of Vienna (Belagerung) fail.
  6. 1740–1780 Maria Theresa: reforms, 1774 general compulsory schooling (Schulpflicht).
  7. 1781 Joseph II: Patent of Toleration (more religious freedom), abolition of serfdom.
  8. 1804 The Austrian Empire (Kaisertum Österreich) is founded.
  9. 1814–1815 The Congress of Vienna reorganises Europe after Napoleon (State Chancellor Metternich).
  10. 1848 Revolution; peasants are freed. Franz Joseph I becomes emperor (until 1916).
  11. 1867 Austria-Hungary (Doppelmonarchie); Basic Law with fundamental rights (Staatsgrundgesetz).
  12. 1907 Universal, equal suffrage for men.
  13. 1914 Heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand is assassinated in Sarajevo: the First World War begins.

First Republic and Nazi era

  1. 12.11.1918 The Republic of “German-Austria” (Deutschösterreich) is proclaimed. Women get the vote.
  2. 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain: name “Republic of Austria”, union with Germany forbidden.
  3. 1920 Federal Constitutional Act (Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz, key author Hans Kelsen), still in force today.
  4. 1927 The Palace of Justice burns in Vienna; deep divisions between the political camps.
  5. 1933 Chancellor Dollfuss shuts down parliament.
  6. 1934 Civil war (Bürgerkrieg) in February; corporate state (dictatorship). In July Dollfuss is murdered by Nazis.
  7. March 1938 “Anschluss”: German troops march in and Austria becomes part of the National Socialist German Reich.
  8. 1938–1945 Persecution and murder of Jews, Roma and Sinti, political opponents and others. About 65,000 Austrian Jews are murdered in the Holocaust. Mauthausen concentration camp in Upper Austria.

Second Republic

  1. 27.4.1945 Declaration of Independence (Unabhängigkeitserklärung), provisional government under Karl Renner.
  2. 1945–1955 Four occupation zones: USA, Great Britain, France, Soviet Union. Vienna split into four sectors, the centre run jointly.
  3. from 1948 Marshall Plan: US economic aid for reconstruction.
  4. 15.5.1955 State Treaty (Staatsvertrag) signed at Belvedere Palace; Foreign Minister Leopold Figl: “Österreich ist frei!” — “Austria is free!”
  5. 26.10.1955 Law on permanent neutrality (immerwährende Neutralität), today’s National Day. Austria joins the UN in December.
  6. 1956, 1968 Austria takes in refugees from Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
  7. 1970–1983 Chancellor Bruno Kreisky: social and education reforms.
  8. 1978 Referendum: no to the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant.
  9. 1991 Chancellor Franz Vranitzky acknowledges that Austrians share responsibility for Nazi crimes.
  10. 1.1.1995 Austria joins the European Union (1994 referendum: 66.6% yes).
  11. 2002 Euro notes and coins replace the schilling.
Three dates you must never forget

1918 republic · 1945 liberation and Second Republic · 1955 State Treaty and neutrality

9 Federal states

Nine states, nine capitals

Test area 3 is the history of your own federal state. Your authority gives you separate study material for it. The essentials first:

Vienna · Wien

capital: Vienna

Smallest state, most inhabitants. A state of its own since 1922. Both a state and a municipality.

Lower Austria · Niederösterreich

St. Pölten

Largest state. St. Pölten has only been the capital since 1986 (before that, Vienna).

Upper Austria · Oberösterreich

Linz

Industrial state on the Danube. Mauthausen concentration camp memorial.

Styria · Steiermark

Graz

The “green march”, with lots of forest. Graz is Austria’s second-largest city.

Tyrol · Tirol

Innsbruck

Alpine state. 1809 uprising under Andreas Hofer against Bavaria and Napoleon.

Salzburg

Salzburg

Long an ecclesiastical principality of the archbishops. Part of Austria since 1816. Mozart’s birthplace.

Carinthia · Kärnten

Klagenfurt

Plebiscite of 10 October 1920: southern Carinthia stays with Austria. Slovene minority.

Vorarlberg

Bregenz

Westernmost state, on Lake Constance, bordering Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany.

Burgenland

Eisenstadt

Only came to Austria from Hungary in 1921. Croatian and Hungarian minorities.

Vienna in more detail, as most people take the test here

  1. 1857 Emperor Franz Joseph has the city walls torn down; the Ringstrasse is built.
  2. 1873 World Exhibition (Weltausstellung) in Vienna.
  3. 1897–1910 Mayor Karl Lueger: gas, electricity and trams brought into municipal ownership.
  4. 1922 Vienna becomes a federal state of its own, separate from Lower Austria.
  5. 1919–1934 “Red Vienna” (Rotes Wien): municipal housing (Gemeindebauten) such as the Karl-Marx-Hof, baths, kindergartens.
  6. 1945–1955 Four sectors; the 1st district is run jointly by all four powers.
  7. 1979 The UNO City opens: Vienna becomes one of the UN’s headquarters cities.
  8. today 23 districts (Bezirke). The mayor is also the state governor, the city council also the state parliament.