Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or 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 ...

. Its capital is

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...

. Upper Austria borders

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, as well as the other Austrian states of

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 ...

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered ...

, and

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

. With an area of and 1.49 million inhabitants, Upper Austria is the fourth-largest Austrian state by land area and the third-largest by population.

History

Origins

For a long period of the Middle Ages, much of what would become Upper Austria constituted

Traungau Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, ...

, a region 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 ...

. In the mid-13th century, it became known as the Principality above the Enns River ('), this name being first recorded in 1264. (At the time, the term "Upper Austria" also included Tyrol and various scattered Habsburg possessions in South Germany.)

Early modern era

In 1490, the area was given a measure of independence within the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

, with the status of a

principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall un ...

. By 1550, there was a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

majority. In 1564, Upper Austria, together with Lower Austria and the Bohemian territories, fell under Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II. At the start of the 17th century, the

counter-reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

was instituted under Emperor

Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Ho ...

and his successor Matthias. After a military campaign, the area was under the control of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

for some years in the early 17th century. The

Innviertel The Innviertel (literally German for "Inn Quarter"; officially called the ''Innkreis''; ) is a traditional Austrian region southeast of the Inn river. It forms the western part of the state of Upper Austria and borders the German state of Bava ...

was ceded from the Electorate of Bavaria to Upper Austria in the Treaty of Teschen in 1779. During the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

, Upper Austria was occupied by the

French army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

on more than one occasion.

20th century

In 1918, after the collapse of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, the name ''Oberösterreich'' was used to describe the province of the new Austria. After Austria was annexed by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

, the Nazi dictator, who had been born in the Upper Austrian town of Braunau am Inn and raised in Upper Austria, Upper Austria became

Reichsgau Oberdonau The Reichsgau Upper Danube (German: ''Reichsgau Oberdonau'') was an administrative division of Nazi Germany, created after the Anschluss (annexation of Austria) in 1938 and dissolved in 1945. It consisted of what is today Upper Austria, parts of S ...

, although this also included the southern part of the Sudetenland, annexed from Czechoslovakia, and a small part of Styria. In 1945, Upper Austria was partitioned between the American zone to the south and the Soviet zone to the north. Today, Upper Austria is Austria's leading industrial region. As of 2009, it accounted for approximately a quarter of the country's exports.

Demographics

As of January 1, 2021, 1,495,608 people resided in the state, of which 107,318 (7.17%) were EU/ EEA/ CH/ UK citizens and 96,623 (6.46%) were third-country nationals. The majority of the immigrant population in recent decades has come from

Southeastern Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (a ...

, and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

, with 1.77% from Germany, 1.48% from

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

, 1.19% from

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = ...

, and

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

, and 1.03% from Turkey. Due to the large wave of refugees since the second half of 2015, the number of people from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

has increased to 6,721 (0.45%) and from

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

to 6,023 (0.4%). The Mühlviertel has been inhabited by a few hundred Sinti since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, very few of whom actually profess to belong to their ethnic group in censuses. The majority of Upper Austrians are Christian: in 2001, 79.4% of the people still belonged to the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, about 4.4% were members of the

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

Lutheran Church, 4.0% where

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

and 8.8% were of no confession. By the end of 2020, the proportion of Catholics had fallen to 62%, while the corresponding proportion of Protestants was about 3.1% of the Upper Austrian population.

Population development

The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:30 PlotArea = left:40 bottom:40 top:20 right:20 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:1500 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:100 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:25 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo PlotData= color:skyblue width:22 shift:(-60,-5) fontsize:M anchor:till bar:1527 from:0 till:335 text:335,000 bar:1600 from:0 till:380 text:380,000 bar:1700 from:0 till:450 text:450,000 bar:1754 from:0 till:526 text:526,000 bar:1780 from:0 till:601 text:601,000 bar:1790 from:0 till:623 text:623,000 bar:1800 from:0 till:626 text:626,000 bar:1810 from:0 till:630 text:630,000 bar:1821 from:0 till:652 text:651,911 bar:1830 from:0 till:682 text:682,140 bar:1840 from:0 till:699 text:699,324 bar:1850 from:0 till:706 text:706,316 bar:1857 from:0 till:707 text:707,450 bar:1869 from:0 till:737 text:736,856 bar:1880 from:0 till:760 text:760,091 bar:1890 from:0 till:786 text:786,496 bar:1900 from:0 till:811 text:810,854 bar:1910 from:0 till:854 text:853,595 bar:1923 from:0 till:877 text:876,698 bar:1934 from:0 till:903 text:902,965 bar:1939 from:0 till:928 text:927,583 bar:1951 from:0 till:1109 text:1,108,720 bar:1961 from:0 till:1132 text:1,131,623 bar:1971 from:0 till:1230 text:1,229,972 bar:1981 from:0 till:1270 text:1,269,545 bar:1991 from:0 till:1333 text:1,333,480 bar:2001 from:0 till:1377 text:1,376,797 bar:2011 from:0 till:1413 text:1,412,640 bar:2021 from:0 till:1496 text:1,495,608 TextData= fontsize:M pos:(35,20) text:"Source: Statistik Austria"

Economy

The

Gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is of ...

(GDP) of the state was 65.9 billion € in 2018, accounting for 17.1% of the Austria's economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 39,500 € or 131% of the EU27 average in the same year.

Politics

The Upper Austrian state constitution defines Upper Austria as an independent state of the democratic Republic of Austria. In its constitution, Upper Austria also declares its support for a united Europe that is committed to democratic, constitutional, social and federal principles as well as the principle of subsidiarity, preserves the autonomy of the regions and ensures their participation in European decision-making. In its regional constitution, Upper Austria defines its position in Europe as an independent, future-oriented and self-confident region that participates in the further development of a united Europe.https://www.land-oberoesterreich.gv.at/files/publikationen/Verf_schriftenreihe_Nr1.pdf Like Styria, Upper Austria is a swing state that usually has a signal character in nationwide elections. The conservative Austrian People's Party dominates in rural areas, the Social Democratic Party of Austria has its strongholds in the cities of

, Wels and

Steyr Steyr (; Central Bavarian: ''Steia'') is a statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3r ...

or in the Attnang-Puchheim railroad junction, but the

right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establi ...

Freedom Party of Austria has also traditionally had a strong presence, for example in the

Administrative divisions

Administratively, the state is divided into 15 districts ('' Bezirke''), three Statutarstädte and 438 municipalities.

Statutory cities

# Wels

Districts

Braunau am Inn # Eferding #

Freistadt Freistadt (, literally "Freetown") is a small Austrian town in the state of Upper Austria in the region Mühlviertel. With a population of approximately 7,500 residents, it is a trade centre for local villages. Freistadt is the economic centre of ...

# Gmunden #

Grieskirchen Grieskirchen is a town in Austria. It is capital of the Grieskirchen district of Upper Austria, in the Trattnachtal valley. Notable people * Franz Födermayr (1933–2020), musicologist, was born in the town. * Otto Prechtler (1813–1881), dr ...

Kirchdorf an der Krems Kirchdorf an der Krems is a town in the Austrian state of Upper Austria on the river Krems, in the district of Kirchdorf an der Krems. Apparently settled by the year 903, it has 4,104 inhabitants in a relatively small area of 3 km. Population ...

Linz-Land Bezirk Linz-Land is a district of Upper Austria in Austria. Municipalities Towns (''Städte'') are indicated in boldface; market towns (''Marktgemeinden'') in ''italics''; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are indicated ...

# Perg # Ried im Innkreis # Rohrbach # Schärding # Steyr-Land # Urfahr-Umgebung #

Vöcklabruck Vöcklabruck () is the administrative center of the Vöcklabruck district, Austria. It is located in the western part of Upper Austria, close to the A1 Autobahn as well as the B1 highway. Vöcklabruck's name derives from the River Vöckla which ...

# Wels-Land

Historical regions

Historically, Upper Austria was traditionally divided into four ''viertel'' or regions: Hausruckviertel,

, Mühlviertel, and Traunviertel. Today these do not exist as administrative regions, but are often still spoken about and referred to: for instance, as the term for the local language

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...

(e.g. ''Innviertlerisch''), as the term for the local regional cuisine (e.g. ''Innviertler Küche''), or in regional tourism campaigns (e.g
s'Innviertel
.

Notes

External links

Upper Austria official website
{{Authority control NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union States of Austria

History

Origins

Early modern era

20th century

Demographics

Population development

Economy

Politics

Administrative divisions

Statutory cities

Districts

Historical regions

See also

Notes

External links