Austrian Culture

Austrian Culture

Austrian Culture dates back to around 1050 BC to the Hallstatt and La Tene cultures. However, today's Austrian Culture began to take shape when the Austria were part of the great Roman Empire, with the Privilegium Minus of 1156, which promoted Austria to the status of a Duchy, a very important step in Austria's development. Austrian culture was largely influenced by its neighbours, Italy, Germany, Hungary and Bohemia.

The German name "Österreich" for Austria can be translated into English as the "Eastern Kingdom". The term probably originates back to the Holy Empire where Austria was an eastern border province of the Empire.

Austrian Literature shall be divided into two main divisions, the period up until the middle of the 20th century, and the period subsequent, after both the Austria-Hungarian and German empires were ended by the 2nd World War. Austria transformed from being a major European power to being a relatively small country. In addition to this, there is a wide body of literature that some would deem Austrian but is not written in German.

Complementing its status as a land of artists, Austria was always a country of great poets, novelists and writers. Most famous literates of Austria are Arthur Schnitzler, Stefan Zweig, Thomas Bernhard, and Robert Musil, and of poets Georg Trakl, Franz Werfel, Franz Grillparzer, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Adalbert Stifter. Famous contemporary Austrian playwrights and novelists include Elfriede Jelinek and Peter Handke.

Austrian Music : Vienna has long been an important center of musical innovation within Austria. Famous composers of the 18th and 19th centuries were drawn to Vienna by the patronage of the Habsburg Dynasty and made Vienna the European capital of classical music. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Johann Strauss, among many others were associated with Vienna.

Classical music of Austria, during the 18th century, dominated the whole European classical music and the city of Vienna became an especially important city for musical innovation. Three composers arose in this period making everlasting innovations: Ludwig van Beethoven's symphonic patterns, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's balance between melody and form, and Joseph Haydn's development of the string quartet and sonata.

Viennese Schrammelmusik is the most well-known Austrian folk music. Schrammelmusik is played with an accordion and a double necked guitar. Modern performers of the Schrammelmusik are Roland Neuwirth, Karl Hodina, and Edi Reiser.

Alpine New Wave, a kind of punk rock, whose name may be shortened to alpunk, was originated in the Alpine regions of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Alpine New Wave merges the chaotic rhythms of punk music with the accordion based folk music of the region.

The landler is an Austrian folk dance of uncertain origin. The Landler dance became popular in about 1750s. Landler dance required close contact between members of the opposite sex and was thus announced as lustful by some church authorities. The landler dance eventually evolved into today's "waltz".

Yodeling is a kind of "throat singing" that actually developed in the Alps. In Austria, yodeling was called juchazn and featured the use of both nonlexical syllables and yells that were used to communicate between people across high mountains.

Austrian folk dancing is usually associated with Schuhplattler, Landler, Polka and Waltz. However, there are also other Austrian folk dances, such as Zwiefacher, Kontratänze, and Sprachinseltänze.

Austrian Architecture: Austria is famous for its castles, cathedrals and palaces among other architectural works. Some of Austria's most famous castles include the Hohensalzburg Castle, Castle Liechtenstein, and the Schloss Artstetten. Most Austria castles were created during the Habsburg Dynasty.

Austrian cathedrals is quite rich in Roman Catholic tradition. One of Austria's oldest cathedrals is the Minoritenkirche in Vienna. It was built in the Gothic style in the year 1224. One of the world's biggest cathedrals, the 136 meters Stephansdom was the seat of the Vienna Archbishop.

Two of the most famous Austrian palaces are the Belvedere and Schönbrunn Palaces. The baroque style built Belvedere Palace was built in the period 1713–1723 by Prince Eugene of Savoy. The Schonbrunn Palace was built in 1696 by Johann Bernhard Fischer. In 1996, the Schonbrunn Palace was added to the United Nations World Cultural Heritage list.

Religion : Approximately 74 % of the Austrian population identify themselves as Roman Catholics while 5 % identify themselves as Protestant. About 3.5% of the population are members of different Muslim communities, about 2% are members of the Eastern Orthodox Church and about 7,300 people are Jewish. Prior to the 2nd World War about 200,000 Jews lived in Austria. About 12% of the Austrian population does not belong to any church or religious community.