The
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
name of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, , derives from the
Old High German
Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050.
There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...
word "
east
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
ern
realm", recorded in the so-called '' Document'' of 996, applied to the
Margraviate of Austria, a
march
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March ...
, or borderland, of the
Duchy of Bavaria
The Duchy of Bavaria ( German: ''Herzogtum Bayern'') was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarian tribes and ruled by dukes (''duces'') under ...
created in 976.
The name is seemingly comparable to ''
Austrasia'', the
early middle age term for the "eastern lands" of
Francia
Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...
, as known from the written records.
11.Dezember 2022 (3.te Advent):= M≈5, 17Msk. Atom, underground.
The Old High German name parallels the Middle Latin name ' ("eastern
borderland"), alternatively called . The shorter Latinized name is first recorded in the 12th century. It has occasionally led to confusion, because, while it renders the Germanic word for "east" it is reminiscent of the native Latin term for "south", .
In the 12th century, the Margraviate was elevated to the status of
duchy, in 1453 to
archduchy and from 1804 claiming
imperial status, all the time retaining both the name ' and the Latin name '.
, a translation of ' into
Standard German, was used officially from 1938, when the country was
incorporated into the
German Reich
German ''Reich'' (lit. German Realm, German Empire, from german: Deutsches Reich, ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty ...
, until 1945.
The contemporary state was created in 1955, with the
Austrian State Treaty
The Austrian State Treaty (german: Österreichischer Staatsvertrag ) or Austrian Independence Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state. It was signed on 15 May 1955 in Vienna, at the Schloss Belvedere among the Allied occupying p ...
, and is officially called the ''Republic of Austria'' (').
German name
is derived from
Old High German
Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050.
There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...
. The term probably originates as a
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
translation of the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
name (eastern borderland). The is related to
Old High German
Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050.
There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...
(eastern), but its exact derivation is unclear. Old High German ''
rihhi'' had the meaning of "realm, domain".
The , also called the Bavarian Eastern March (''
Ostmark
Ostmark is a German term meaning either Eastern march when applied to territories or Eastern Mark when applied to currencies.
Ostmark may refer to:
*the medieval March of Austria and its predecessors ''Bavarian Eastern March'' and ''March of Pann ...
'') and the
March of Austria
The Margraviate of Austria (german: Markgrafschaft Österreich) was a medieval frontier march, centered along the river Danube, between the river Enns and the Vienna Woods (''Wienerwald''), within the territory of modern Austrian provinces of U ...
(), was a prefecture of the
Duchy of Bavaria
The Duchy of Bavaria ( German: ''Herzogtum Bayern'') was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarian tribes and ruled by dukes (''duces'') under ...
. It was assigned to the
Babenberg family in 976. The variant is known from a single usage dated 996. Later Medieval documents record the word as either (official) or as (folk and poetic usage). The variation is first recorded in 998. appears on a deed granted by Emperor
Henry IV and dated 1058.
Friedrich Heer
Friedrich Heer (10 April 191618 September 1983) was an Austrian historian born in Vienna.
Early life
Heer received a PhD at the University of Vienna in 1938. Even as a student, he came into conflict with pan-German historians as a staunch oppone ...
, a 20th-century Austrian historian, stated in his book (''The Struggle Over Austrian Identity''), that the Germanic form was not a translation of the Latin word, but both resulted from a much older term originating in the
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages ( usually , but sometimes ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edwar ...
of ancient Austria: more than 2,500 years ago, the major part of the actual country was called by the Celtic
Hallstatt culture of the land; according to Heer, or meant "east" or "easterns", whereas is related to the modern German , meaning "realm". Accordingly, would essentially mean the same as and , thus ''Austria''. The Celtic name was eventually Latinised to after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern-day Austria, in around 15 BC. later became a
Roman province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
in the mid 1st century AD.
Heer's hypothesis is not accepted by linguists.
An alternative theory, proposed by the Austrian Slavistics professor Otto Kronsteiner, suggests that the term is taken from a Slavic toponym meaning 'pointed hill', taking its popular meaning of 'Eastern realm' at a much later time. This theory was rejected as untenable by Austrian linguist Heinz-Dieter Pohl.
Another remoter possibility is that the name comes from the
Ostrogoths
The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...
, who had a
kingdom
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
in what is now Austria and northern Italy.
Ostarrîchi document
The document was issued by Emperor
Otto III on November 1, 996 in
Bruchsal
Bruchsal (; orig. Bruohselle, Bruaselle, historically known in English as Bruxhall; South Franconian: ''Brusel'') is a city at the western edge of the Kraichgau, approximately 20 km northeast of Karlsruhe in the state of Baden-Württemberg, ...
to Gottschalk von Hagenau,
Bishop of Freising
The following people were bishops, prince-bishops or archbishops of Freising or Munich and Freising in Bavaria:
Bishops of Freising
* St. Corbinian (724–730); founded the Benedictine abbey in Freising, although the diocese was not orga ...
. It is today kept in the in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
.
The historical significance of the document lies in the fact that it is the first time that the name , the linguistic ancestor of , the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
name for
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, is mentioned, even though it applied only to a relatively small territory. The document concerns a donation of the "territory which is known in the vernacular as " ( ), specified as the region of
Neuhofen an der Ybbs (). The emperor donated this land to the abbey of
Freising
Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000.
Location
Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the ...
as a
fief
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...
. The lands and some other communities in the vicinity, which the abbey acquired later, were held until 1803, when they were incorporated into Austria.
Latin name
The name is a latinization of German (that is, the spelling of the name ''Austria'' approximates, for the benefit of Latin speakers, the sound of the German name ). This has led to much confusion as German is "east", but Latin is "south". That is why the name is similar to
Australia, which is derived from the Latin ("southern land").
The name is first recorded as (Margrave of Austria) on a deed issued by
Conrad III to the
Klosterneuburg Monastery
Klosterneuburg Abbey or Monastery (german: Stift Klosterneuburg) is a twelfth-century Augustinian monastery of the Roman Catholic Church located in the town of Klosterneuburg in Lower Austria. Overlooking the Danube, just north of the Vienna city ...
in 1147.
On the
Privilegium Minus
The is the denotation of a deed issued by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa on 17 September 1156. It included the elevation of the Bavarian frontier march of Austria () to a duchy, which was given as an inheritable fief to the House of B ...
of 1156, the name of the country is given as (
March of Austria
The Margraviate of Austria (german: Markgrafschaft Österreich) was a medieval frontier march, centered along the river Danube, between the river Enns and the Vienna Woods (''Wienerwald''), within the territory of modern Austrian provinces of U ...
) and as (
Duchy of Austria). In English usage, "Austria" is attested since the early 17th century.
Other languages
All Germanic languages other than English have a name for Austria corresponding to : Afrikaans , Danish , Dutch , West Frisian , Icelandic , Faroese , Norwegian (
Bokmål
Bokmål () (, ; ) is an official written standard for the Norwegian language, alongside Nynorsk. Bokmål is the preferred written standard of Norwegian for 85% to 90% of the population in Norway. Unlike, for instance, the Italian language, there ...
) or (
Nynorsk
Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-N ...
) and Swedish . Finnish is also derived from the German name: means "
east
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
" and "state". "Austria" or a phonetic derivative (such as ) was adopted in most other languages, including Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Maltese, Ukrainian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Polish, Slovene, Greek, Estonian, Turkish, and Albanian. French is one of the exceptions within the Romance group in adapting the German name, . Catalan also did the same, though the forms are no longer in use. Apart from the modern-day form of Austria, antiquated forms used in
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
were and , and , which are the forms derived in that language to correspond to German .
The
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
and
Slovak languages have a peculiar name for Austria. Czech and Slovak neither derived from German nor from Latin . The Czech name of , previously also and later , which is still used for the states of
Upper and
Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...
(), originates in the name of the Austrian castle and town of
Raabs an der Thaya
Raabs an der Thaya is a municipality with 3,114 inhabitants in Waidhofen an der Thaya (district) in the Waldviertel of Lower Austria, near the Austrian border with the Czech Republic. About 27.6 percent of the municipality is forested.
The German ...
near the Czech-Austrian border, formerly also known as or . It is worth noting that in his
Geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
the ancient writer
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...
mentions two tribes (of unknown ethnic affiliation) named and which inhabit the areas around the Danube River "up to his bend", roughly corresponding to the region north of Vienna and southwestern Slovakia.
Another possible explanation of Czech and Slovak : The predecessor of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
was Slovene principality
Carantania. The central part of
Carantania (the territory of present-day southern Austria and north-eastern Slovenia) is named in Slovenian (or in the old version ), in Slovak , in German and in English ''Carinthia''. The Old High German name of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
() appeared in written document more than three hundred years later than the name
Carantania, while the shorter Latin name was first mentioned only in 12th century. Therefore is it reasonably to assume that the present-day Czech and Slovak name for
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
(, ) developed from the original Slavic name for
Carantania since in early middle ages and also later the ancestor of the present-day Slovaks and Slovenes were not divided by the wedge of Germanic or Germanized population.
The Arabic name for Austria is (). The Arabic appellation of Austria was first used during the Crusades and was borrowed from the Slavic name for "Germans", whence Russian (), Polish , Croatian and Bosnian , Serbian (), Slovene , Czech has , Slovak , etc.. According to one theory all are derived from the name of the ancient Celtic tribe or . The Arabic name could have also appeared in
Arabic Andalusia and then was spread across much of the Islamic world.
In
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
, Austria was called () (the same name as Arabic) and when the
Turks
Turk or Turks may refer to:
Communities and ethnic groups
* Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages
* Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
* Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...
came to settle in
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
later in the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
era, they used the
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
name of Austria as well and they called the country ''Nemçe''. Currently, the name (), derived from the
French pronunciation, is used.
See also
*
History of Austria
The history of Austria covers the history of Austria and its predecessor states. In the late Iron Age Austria was occupied by people of the Hallstatt Celtic culture (c. 800 BC), they first organized as a Celtic kingdom referred to by the Romans ...
(for a broader historical perspective)
*
Austrasia
Notes
References
*
External links
AEIOU Encyclopedia*
* Die Ostarrichi-Urkunde,
*
Wikisource
Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually re ...
Text of the document of 996(Latin)
* Heinz Dieter Pohl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Name Of Austria
Medieval Austria
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...