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With a formidable line-up of attractions, Austria figures prominently on any Europe-enthusiast’s itinerary. Ski-jump junkies head for the Austrian Alps, while those with a predilection for fabulously ornate castles come to Vienna. Innsbruck, the capital of the picturesque Tyrol Province and Salzburg, where the Sound of Music still catches the gentle breeze, complete the list of top Austrian lures. But there is more to Austria than just prettiness.

Austria’s politics have always been exciting – whether one considers the days of imperial superstardom or these days when it’s battling the image of being Fascist friendly. It has harboured the prodigious talent of musicians like Mozart and Strauss who were nurtured as much by the clean Alpine air as by a cosmopolitan and appreciative audience. This is where the cultural ferment in the 19th and 20th centuries gave birth to the likes of Freud, Gustav Klimt and Schonberg.

The Austria of today is a patriotic and modern but conservative country. Fiercely proud of its past as a fount of culture and intellect, Austria invites you to savour the other stuff its equally proud of - its apple strudel and sausages, schnitzel with noodles, palaces, valleys, music and good old-fashioned charm!

The Austrian flag dates all the way back to 1230 making it the second oldest national flag in the world, the oldest being the Danish flag!

The German name for Austria is Osterreich that means the Eastern Empire.

Did you know that croissants aren't French and neither are Danish pastries from Denmark? They both originated in Austria!

Austrians are a very musically inclined people. Apart from the famous von Trapp family of Sound of Music fame, Austria has also given the world composers like Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Liszt, J. Strauss, Mahler and Bruckner.

Austria is the birth place of Adolf Hitler.

If you are fond of cars then you will be interested to know that the founder of German sports car company ‘Porche’ and the designer of Volkswagen, Ferdinand Porsche, was an Austrian.

Historically Speaking

In earliest recorded history, Austria was periodically overrun by hordes of invaders like the Visigoths, Vandals, Huns and of course, the Romans who found the Danube Valley a convenient stop-over during their adventures. The French emperor Charlemagne established control over a place called Ostmark and this paved the way for Christianity and Germanic tribes establishing themselves in the area.

The year 1278 was momentous as this was the year that the Habsburgs established themselves in Austria, and continued to rule until the First World War. Through a combination of coercion and marriages of convenience, the Habsburgs managed to expand Austrian territory far and wide. This often brought them into conflict with the Ottomans of Turkey and Vienna nearly fell to the Turks in 1683, but was saved from this fate by a combined Christian reinforcement from Poland and Prussia.

The impact of the Reformation was felt by the 16th century. In 1571, the Emperor granted freedom of conscience to Austrians, and the Catholic country promptly converted to Protestantism. The next emperor Rudolf II, however was a supporter of the counter-Reformation and forced his subjects to convert back to Catholicism. Europe remained preoccupied with the wars of religion for the next phase of history, until peace was finally achieved with the Treaty of Westphalia. The last part of the 17th century and the early part of the 18th saw a profusion of building and artistic/musical activity in many Austrian cities, especially Vienna.

The reign of the queen Maria Theresa from 1740-80 is believed to be the period when Austria entered modernity through a series of measures – reformation of the army, economic restructuring and centralization of government control including installing a modern bureaucracy. The late 18th and early 19th centuries were also the time when there emerged a frenzy of experimentation with art movements and ideologies began, mainly in Vienna. The defeat of Austria at the hands of the relentless Napoleon at Austerlitz in 1805 meant serious reverses in its path towards modernity. Europe remained embroiled in conflict for the next decade, until the Congress of Vienna achieved temporary truce in 1814-15. The next serious challenge came from the Prussian General Bismarck, and Austria was defeated in the 1866 Austro-Prussian war. An agreement was reached between Austria and Hungary against the German Confederation led by Bismarck, and thus Austria-Hungary was born in 1867. Austria remained wedded to its imperial ambitions despite its much-reduced power and followed an expansionist policy towards the Balkans.

The same policy became the trigger for the start of the unprecedented carnage that was WWI. In June 1914, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand was murdered in Vienna by a group of Serb nationalists leading to the declaration of war by Austria on Serbia, the declaration of war on Austria by Russia and the following mayhem, with all the Allied and Axis powers jumping onto the aggression bandwagon. The Treaty of Versailles and Brest-Litovsk signed by the victorious Allies at the end of the war forced a massive reduction of territory on Austria – it was forced to recognize the independent states of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, etc. that had been part of the grand Habsburg empire earlier. To add to the humiliation was the reparation burden that would severely strain the Austrian economy and make the country ripe for fascist sentiment. Hitler’s armies moved into Austria in 1938 and annexed the country as a part of the Third Reich, with little resistance from the Austrian government or people. In WWII, Austria fought as an Axis power and was defeated by the Allies.

The immediate postwar period was a time of economic hardship in most of Europe, and this was especially true of Austria. To add to its problems, the Allied powers had divided the country into four occupation zones and remained there for a decade after the war. Austria signed a treaty with the EU to facilitate greater economic cooperation soon after the war. In 1994, Austrians voted overwhelmingly in favour of joining the EU, and this formally took place on the 1st of January 1995. Increased immigration from Yugoslavia and former Soviet Bloc countries since the 1980s has been met with a disturbing rise in neo-Nazi attacks on minorities and extreme right-wing politics. The extreme right Freedom Party came to power in the 1999 elections and confirmed this trend.

Habitat

Austria’s habitat is mostly of the overwhelmingly beautiful, mountains-and-valleys variety. Tourists come here the year round for its clean green meadows, lush mysterious forests, the breathtaking Danube valley and snowcapped peaks. Hiking and its associated pastimes of trekking or rambling and swimming in the lakes are popular in the summer, while winter fare would include skiing on the Alpine peaks – you could take the ski lift or rent a snowboard.