AUSTRIA: Austria Turns 1,000

▪ 1997

      In 1996 Austrians marked the 1,000th anniversary of a name—the name Österreich (Austria) itself. On Nov. 1, 996, the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III granted the Bavarian bishopric of Freising 30 “royal hides,” or about 800 ha (2,000 ac), of land in Neuhofen an der Ybbs in what is now Niederösterreich (Lower Austria). The deed was the first recorded use of the name Ostarrîchi (which literally translates as “Eastern Realm”), from which the name Austria is derived. This area evidently had been known as Ostarrîchi for some time, and the emperor's land grant was part of an effort to consolidate control over what was then an insecure eastern borderland of the Holy Roman Empire, subject to periodic raids by warlike Magyar tribes.

      The millennium celebration was partly an attempt by Austrians to salvage a coherent national identity from a turbulent past. The territory of present-day Austria has known many rulers, including the Romans, various Teutonic tribes, Asiatic Avars, the Frankish king Charlemagne, and the Magyars, who were driven out by Otto the Great in 955 at the battle of Augsburg in Bavaria. From 976 to 1246 the Babenberg dynasty ruled. They were followed by the Habsburgs, during whose regime Vienna would become the centre of the mighty Austro-Hungarian Empire.

      Following the collapse of the Habsburg dynasty in 1918, an area roughly synonymous with present-day Austria enjoyed a brief existence as a federal republic before being annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938. Germany's defeat in 1945 was followed by 10 years of Allied occupation; not until 1955 did modern Austria gain full sovereignty as a nation. The anniversary of the Ostarrîchi document was first formally noted in 1946 as the newly liberated nation sought to consolidate its national identity.

      Though Austria's territorial boundaries and political sovereignty may have been problematic often in the past, there is little dispute that Austria, in particular Vienna, has been home to some of the most remarkable achievements of European culture. It was chiefly this rich cultural heritage that the Austrian millennium celebrated in 1996. In Vienna a musical retrospective featuring performances of Mozart, Johann Strauss, Beethoven, Haydn, and Schubert ran from early February through late June. The principal historical exhibition was “The Danube: The Course of a Life,” which took place in the huge underground vaults of the ancient Schotten Monastery in Vienna from May through September and chronicled the history of the great European river. In Lower Austria the exhibit “Ostarrîchi-Österreich: People, Myths, and Landmarks” was on view in Neuhofen an der Ybbs from May until November. This exhibit included a facsimile of the Ostarrîchi document. Dozens of art galleries, museums, monasteries, and restaurants throughout the country also sponsored special events in recognition of the 1,000th anniversary of the Ostarrîchi document. (MICHAEL T. CALVERT)

* * *