AUSTRIA

Capital: Vienna

Population: approx: 8,400,000 (approx. 2 million in Vienna, or 20% of the population - no other city exceeds 1 million)

Currency: Euro

Languages: officially German (also Croatian, Slovene, Hungarian locally)

Borders: Austria is landlocked: Germany and Czech Republic to the North; Slovakia and Hungary to the East; Slovenia and Italy to the South; Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the West

Landscape: The Alps constitute 62% of the nation’s total area (of the total area of Austria, only a quarter can be considered low-lying)

Rivers: Danube (in Vienna); Salzach (Salzburg)

Part of EU?: Yes (since 1995)

-Austria is one of six European countries that have declared permanent neutrality (written into its constitution)

-It is one of the 10 richest countries in the world in terms of GDP

-Vienna is consistently rated first or second most livable city (after Vancouver)
 
 
QUICK HISTORY


The age of the great Austrian Empire really kicked off with two important marriages: 1477, Mary (daughter of the last Duke of Burgundy) and Max (son of Frederick III Habsburg, Holy Roman Emperor); and 1496, their son Philip married Johanna the Mad (daughter of Spain’s Ferdinand and Isabella). Another marriage a few years later (Max’s grandson to the daughter of the King of Bohemia and Hungary) gets them the crown of Hungary too (after the Hungarians are defeated by the Turks at the Battle of Mohacs).

This pretty much gives the titles to Burgundy, Spain, Austria and Germany, i.e. most of the major kingdoms of Europe at the time, to the Habsburgs, making them the most powerful dynasty since the Romans, and all through peaceful means.

The Habsburg marriages of 1477 and 1496 give rise to a much quoted line of Latin poetry: Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube (Let others make war; you, fortunate Austria, marry).

These intermarriages inevitably resulted in disaster and inbreds, but it worked for many years.

The Habsurgs were great patrons of the arts (much like the Medicis). They were the origin of all of the Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, rulers of the Austrian and Spanish Empires, and responsible for bringing the thrones of Burgundy, Spain, Bohemia and Hungary (and others) together. They separated into the Spanish branch and the Austrian branch, and by the 18th century, both died out due to lack of male heirs (their reign began by creating families, and ended with lack of families, probably due to their inter-marriages!). The Spanish branch ended with Charles II in 1700 and was replaced by the house of Bourbon (Philip V). This prompted the War of the Spanish Succession. The Austrian branch ended in 1780 after Maria Theresa died and the new house called itself the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.

They wanted to consolidate their power through marriage, but this resulted in disaster. They married their cousins, their uncles or nieces, and this inbreeding led not only to the famous Habsburg jaw, and to severely disabled leaders such as Charles II, but to their eventual extinction. The last Habsburg on the throne was Charles I, who was deposed in 1919, and because Austria had lost WWI, the Habsburgs were banished from Austria until they renounced all claims to the throne (which Otto von Habsburg subsequently did). But regardless of their dubious sexual preferences, they were great patrons of the art, responsible for Austria’s great history of classical music, and possibly for Kaiser rolls.

But back to the history of Austria ...

In 1556, the capital of the Holy Roman Empire was located in Vienna, and the Holy Roman Emperors ruled places as far away as Belgium. Before the French Revolution, it didn’t matter as much what type of nationality you were, but rather who ruled you (the Turks ruled the Balkans, for example). The French Revolution changed all that, saying that people should be ruled within their own “national” boundaries. Napoleon dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, declared himself Emperor of Austria

After the Congress of Vienna in 1814, which ended the French Revolution, all of the leaders of Europe got together to figure out who controlled what. Austria ended up responsible for Germany and Italy, as well as Hungary, Bohemia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia.

Revolution broke out in 1848,, and Austria lost much of its territory (after the German Prussians revolted). In 1867, Hungary demanded a dual-government, so the kingdom officially changed its name to Austria-Hungary. Their joint parliament would meet one year in Vienna, the next in Budapest. This union worked well; they made good trading partners, and their territories, such as Croatia, managed to get enough concession to keep them happy.

The only ones that weren’t happy were the Serbians. They won their independence from Turkey in 1878, and wanted to establish a large Slav state, with the King of Serbia at its head. To do this, they particularly wanted Bosnia (which still belonged to the Turks, but its population was Serb/Croat/Bosnian). The Russians were happy with this idea, being fellow-Slavs, but Austria-Hungary was not, and in 1908, Austria took over Bosnia for itself.

In 1914, when Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir to the throne) was celebrating his wedding anniversary with his wife in Sarajevo, a Serb terrorist group, lead by Gavrilo Princip, shot the Archduke dead.

Thus began WWI.

The teams were: Austria-Hungary/Germany/Turkey vs. Serbia/Russia/France/Italy/Britain/US.

Once the Americans entered the war, it ended a year later.

The different nationalities (Yugoslavia/Hungary/Czechoslovakia/Poland) declared independence, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed.

Fast-forward to WWII, when Adolf Hitler, from Braunau, Austria, had a vision to re-unite all of the German-speaking people of Europe (the way it was back during the Holy Roman Empire).


STRUDEL


Origins from Turkish burek, probably entered Austria through its ties with Croatia and Bosnia. Austrian cuisine took in a lot of qualities from the territories it posessed during the Austro-Hungarian empire. The oldest strudel recipe dates back to 1656, from the Habsburg empire.


WIENER SCHNITZEL

Commonly served with a slice of lemon and potato salad/potatos. The traditional Wiener schnitzel is made of veal, but now also made of pork. There are debates as to whether it originated in Italy, or in Austria. “Wiener” means Viennese in German. Legend has it that a Kaiser in the 9th century liked his meat covered with gold; this practice was a little too expensive, so an alternative was created: yellow-gold bread crumbs. Breading meat soon spread to other countries (through the influence of the Austrian empire). In the 1800s, an Austrian discovered a meal called “Costoletta alla Milanese” in Milan, which was a thick veal cutlet covered in bread crumbs, and he brought it back to Austria.


KAISER ROLLS

Originated in Vienna, thought to have been named to honor Emperor Franz Josef. Franz Josef, incidentally, was the last Emperor of Austro-Hungary before its dissolution in 1918, and the second last from the house of Habsburg-Lorraine (Charles I was last). His heir was his nephew, Franz Ferdinand. Franz Josef is the third-longest reigning leader in Europe (after Louis XIV of France and Johannes II, Prince of Liechtenstein).

PEZ

First marketed as a compressed peppermint candy in 1927 in Vienna. (“PEZ” is derived from the German word for Peppermint: Pfefferminz). The first PEZ dispensers were shaped like cigarette lighters, and were marketed as an alternative to smoking. In 1955, the first heads were put onto the dispensers, and to date, over 1500 varieties have been created. The Pez HQ is still found in Austria. The highest amount ever paid for a Pez dispenser was $7000, for a Mickey Mouse head. They also have Pez conventions.

-SCHNAPPS

COFFEE

The Austrians claim to be the inventors of filtered coffee. Apparently, when the Turks invaded in 1683, they left behind sacks of coffee beens. The King gave the sacks to one of the officers who helped to defeat the Turks, named Jerzy Kulczycki. Jerzy had his choice of booty, but left behind gold and weapons in favour of the beans that others thought was just camel feed; he had visited Turkey, and knew exactly what it was. After a little experimentation, and the addition of sugar and milk, he was able to make it a little more palatable to the Austrians, and opened the first Viennese coffee house. The concept then spread to the other countries of the Austro-Hungarian empire; by 1900, there were 600 coffee shops in Vienna alone. (Paris, however, was the first city to open a coffeehouse in Europe).

The Viennese coffee house became an institution in the 19th century, with writers and artists turning up there to discuss and create their work. The Viennese coffee house is the equivalent to the Parisian cafe.

The popularity of coffee houses waned with the rise of television and chain coffee shops (some old coffee shops are now Starbucks), but there are still some classic examples in Vienna.

A few to try:

Cafe Frauenhuber: Vienna’s oldest cafe and one of Mozart’s favourites

Kleines Cafe: One of the smallest in town, and used in the movie Before Sunrise

Cafe Sperl: Hitler’s preferred cafe


REDBULL

Began in 1987, inspired by Lucozade and other “functional” drinks in Asia. The inventor, an Austrian entrepreneur named Dietrich Mateschitz,, visited Thailand and found that one of their energy drinks cured his jet-lag. He worked for three years to create Redbull, changing the taste a bit and making it more palatable to Westerners (its taste is said to be akin to liquid gummy bears), and it hit the market in Austria (Salzburg), and in 1992, hit its first foreign market in Hungary. In the 1990s, the company was the most highly valued in Austria, and Mateschitz its richest individual. Today, the owners of Redbull are the 260th richest persons in the world (Forbes). In Germany, a small amount of cocaine was found in Rebdull, so six German states have banned the drink until further notice. The Thai drink that Redbull was inspired by – called Krating Daeng, was popular among cab drivers and blue collar workers, but Red Bull markets itself strongly to young, active people, by sponsoring football teams, RedBull Flugtag (a homemade flying competition ... Mateschitz was a flying enthusiast) , racecars, extreme sports, graffiti-style advertising, promotions for young club-goers, Reggie Bush is a sponsor.


SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL

Founded in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski using his expertise at glass-cutting. First factory was built in Wattens, Austria (near Innsbruck). Swarovski was born in Bohemia, and his father was a glass-cutter who owned a small factory (glass-cutting is very popular in the Czech Republic). In 1892, Daniel patented an electric cutting machine that facilitated the process, and with a few partners, founded his company in Austria. The Swarovski theme park, Crystal Worlds, is located in Wattens and was built in 1985 to commemorate the company’s 100th anniversary. Today, the crystals are used for jewellery, Christmas trees (Rockefeller Centre), Bluetooth pieces, chandeliers, figurines (the figurine line was started accidentally in 1973 when a designer built a little mess out of spare chandelier parts).


CLASSICAL MUSIC

In the 18th and 19th centuries, classical musicians were drawn to Vienna due to the patronage of the Habsburgs (much like the Medicis during the Renaissance). This was known as the Classical Period, and Vienna was its capital. Beethoven, Mozart, Strauss, Brahms, Haydn, Schubert, were all there during that time. The Vienna Philarmonic’s New Years concert is still one of Europe’s most important concerts.

In modern times, Falco is Austria’s most famous musician (“Rock me Amadeus”).

The accordion was also invented in Austria.


VIENNA BOYS’ CHOIR

Founded in 1498 by Emperor Maximilian I (a Habsburg, of course) for concerts of the court and private masses. They were privately tutored, which of course had a positive influence on the rest of their lives. Mozart has worked with this choir. Today, there are over 100 members, between the ages of 10 and 14. They are broken up into 4 groups, each of which tours for about 9 to 11 weeks per year and are named after Bruckner, Mozart, Haydn and Schubert.


Other Famous Austrians:
GUSTAV KLIMT
SIGMUND FREUD
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGAR