Austria

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Austria

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A landlocked country of central Europe. Settled by Celtic tribes, the region was conquered (15 B.C.-A.D. 10) by the Romans and later (8th century) by Charlemagne, who made it a border state of the Carolingian Empire. In the 13th century, Austria passed to the Hapsburg family and remained the core of their vast holdings until the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918, when Austria became a republic. Annexed by Adolf Hitler in 1938, Austria regained full sovereignty in 1955. Vienna is the capital and the largest city. Population: 8,200,000.

Austrian Aus'tri·an adj. & n.

 

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The country's principal contributions to the history of photography were made in the 19th and early 20th centuries, after which, for a long time, it became something of a backwater. The Viennese physicist and mathematician Andreas von Ettingshausen attended the session of the French Academy of Sciences on 19 August 1839 at which Daguerre's process was explained. Afterwards he received personal instruction from Daguerre, took a daguerreotype outfit with him back to Vienna and made sample pictures which were presented to the emperor. He and other enthusiasts belonged to the Fürstenhofrunde, effectively Austria's first photographic society, founded by the painter Karl Schuh. (Later Schuh's Fürstenhof studio became a photo-studio run by Franz and Thomas Streczek, early pioneers of stereoscopic photography.) Members of the Circle made important improvements to Daguerre's process. In particular, Josef Petzval's f/3.6 ‘portrait lens’, subsequently manufactured by Voigtländer, reduced daguerreotype exposures from about fifteen minutes to a few seconds in conjunction with faster plates devised by Franz Kratochwilla and others.

Despite these refinements, however, daguerreotype portraiture did not flourish, because of economic depression in the 1840s, and because aristocratic clients still favoured paintings. It was not until the arrival of the wet-plate process and the carte de visite that portraiture boomed, led by entrepreneurs such as Ludwig Angerer (1827-79) and Emil Rabending (1823-86); between 1859 and 1865 the total number of studios in Vienna surged from 38 to 161. Meanwhile the Imperial Printing Office, which had opened a photographic department under Paul Pretsch (1808-73) in 1850, had begun producing large-format architectural and landscape calotypes, some of which were shown at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. Later Pretsch adopted the wet-plate process for its ability to record finer detail in smaller formats, and between 1857 and 1863 the Office executed an official commission to record Vienna's fortifications prior to their demolition to make way for the city's new boulevard, the Ringstrasse. The year 1861 saw the founding of the Vienna Photographische Gesellschaft, which in 1864 organized Central Europe's first exhibition devoted exclusively to photography; c. 400 cameras and other items and c. 1, 100 photographs were shown, including work by Baldus, Nègre, Poitevin, and Watkins. The Photographische Korrespondenz was founded the same year.

Over the next three-quarters of a century, Austrian citizens produced many more innovations. In the field of photomechanical reproduction, early work by Joseph Berres (1796-1844) and Pretsch was followed by the Czech Karl Klič (or Klietsch) (1841-1926), who in 1879 perfected the photogravure process. Theodor Scheimpflug, in addition to formulating the famous rule relating to camera movements, pioneered advances in aerial photogrammetry and ophthalmic photography. Karl Schinzel (1886-1951) worked on colour processes, and Josef Rheden (d. 1946) on astrophotography. But by far the largest contribution, in a range of fields from sensitometry to instantaneous photography, was by the chemist Josef Maria Eder, who also wrote an authoritative technical history of the medium. Eder also campaigned for an independent research and teaching establishment, which finally opened as the Graphische Lehr-und Versuchsanstalt (Graphic Art Institute) in 1889. Headed by Eder until 1923, and later associated with the pictorialist Rudolf Koppitz, it became, with the Bavarian State Photography School and the Berlin Lette-Verein, one of Europe's leading schools.

The emergence of Austrian pictorialism was preceded by the spread of amateur photography and the foundation, in 1887, of the Vienna Amateur Photographers' Club (later the Vienna Camera Club). At its centre was an informal group, the ‘Vienna Trifolium’, consisting of Hugo Henneberg, Heinrich Kühn, and Hans Watzek (1848-1903). Over a period of about six years, ending with Watzek's death, they criss-crossed Europe making superb coloured gum prints and cultivating links with fellow pictorialists in London, Glasgow, Hamburg, and New York. Some of their work appeared in the Vienna Secession's journal Ver Sacrum. Under Koppitz's leadership, pictorialism in Austria continued to flourish well into the post-war period.

From the late 19th century there was a boom in Austrian photographic publishing, further boosted by the postcard industry from the 1890s. Its subject matter was predictable: landscapes, rural genre, and views of cities like Vienna and Salzburg. In 1887 Vienna's newly founded Museum of Municipal History commissioned the architectural photographer August Stauda (1861-1928) to record historic buildings threatened by redevelopment. Also notable was the use of the camera, as modernisation and immigration gathered pace, to conjure up nostalgic images of a no longer extant - or wholly mythical - ‘Old Vienna’, featuring homespun wiener Typen (cabbies, musicians, washerwomen etc.) often impersonated in contrived studio settings by popular stage performers. Otto Schmidt (b. 1849), Charles Scolik (1853-1928) and the amateur Emil Mayer all contributed to this trend, although Mayer also pioneered unposed street photography. Influenced, perhaps, by the work of Riis and Hine, were documentary images of Viennese poverty and slums, many of them made using magnesium flash, by the amateur Hermann Drawe and the journalist Emil Kläger in 1904. Very different, finally, were the sophisticated society portraits and Wiener Werkstatt fashion studies taken by Dora Kallmus and Arthur Benda at the Atelier d'Ora (f. 1907).

Between the foundation of the First Austrian Republic in 1918 and the country's absorption into Greater Germany in 1938, photography stagnated. Economic troubles and a reduced market led to the closure of many studios. Styles remained conservative, especially by comparison with developments further north, and it was significant that most of Hungary's large and talented band of photographic émigrés settled in Munich, Berlin, or Paris rather than Vienna. Bright spots, however, were the whimsical nude and glamour photography of the Manassé Studio, much of it related to Austria's small but lively film industry; the exploits of the sports photographer Lothar Rübelt; and the historical work of Heinrich Schwarz, notably the exhibition of Hill and Adamson calotypes he organized at Vienna's Belvedere Gallery in 1929.

Not much changed after 1945. Indeed, for several decades Vienna was reputed to be one of Europe's culturally most conservative capitals. The Actionist movement of the 1960s, with its provocative ‘happenings’ - often recorded on photographs and film - involving nudity, body fluids, and sometimes the dismemberment of animal carcases, challenged but did not fundamentally disrupt this situation. Change accelerated in the 1980s, however, and Austria also began to acquire the elements of a modern photographic infrastructure, with salons, galleries, and the establishment of degree-level courses in the capital and elsewhere. In the background was the growing economic importance of cultural tourism and, in tandem, public spending on museums and other facilities. Vienna today is home to …. But from the 1980s Austria began to acquire the elements of a modern photographic infrastructure, with salons, galleries, and a growing number of degree-level courses in both the capital and elsewhere. Vienna today is home to leading journals such as Eikon, Camera Austria, and Fotogeschichte, and is the international headquarters both of the Lomography Movement (founded by two Viennese students in the early 1990s) and, since 2002, of the European Society for the History of Photography. A landmark event was the reopening in 2003, after a long period of renovation, of the Albertina Gallery, with an exhibition that showcased the fine collection of photographs housed there since the 19th century. Other major collections exist at the Army Museum and Vienna Municipal Museum.

— Robin Lenman

Bibliography

• Starl, T. (ed.), Geschichte der Fotografie in Österreich (2 vols., 1983-5).
• ‘Fotografie in Österreich im 19. Jahrhundert’, Fotogeschichte, 81, 83 (2001, 2002).
• Faber, M., and Schröder, K. A. (eds.), Das Auge und der Apparat: Eine Geschichte der Fotografie aus den Sammlungen der Albertina (2003).
• Starl, T., Lexikon zur Fotografie in Österreich 1839 bis 1945 (2005)

Ballets companies are attached to the opera houses of several Austrian cities: Baden bei Wien, Graz, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Linz, Salzburg, and St Pölten, though until recently their prime function has been performing in operas. Historically, the main centre of dance activity has been Vienna. During the 18th century some of the greatest ballet masters came to the Habsburg court including Hilverding, Angiolini, Noverre, and Viganò, instituting a lively tradition of dramatic ballets at the Kärntnertor Theater (the opera house). Dance was also popular at the city's Theater auf der Wieden with Friedrich Horschelt's fairy-tale ballets and Vienna Children's Ballet drawing enthusiastic crowds, and at the Theater in der Leopoldstadt with Rainoldi's pantomimes. During the first half of the 19th century most of the great Romantic ballerinas performed in the city. In the 1820s Vienna's most renowned dancer, Elssler, came to fame while her rival Taglioni made her Viennese debut in 1822. Productions of many popular ballets were danced including La Sylphide (1836), La Fille du Danube (1839), La Gitana (1840), Giselle (1842), and La Péri (1844). After 1853 P. Taglioni made regular vists as guest choreographer and between 1855 and 1856 August Bournonville was ballet master, staging Napoli in 1856. In 1869 P. Taglioni's Sardanapal was the opening production of the Hofopertheater, the newly built Opera House. Karl Telle was in charge of the ballet company here until 1890, staging productions of Coppélia in 1876 and Sylvia in 1877, although ballet was by this time subservient to opera. He was succeeded by Josef Hassreiter whose first ballet The Fairy Doll (1888) achieved considerable success and is still in the repertory. He reigned until 1920 having choreographed 48 ballets, many to music by Josef Bayer. Between 1922 and 1928 Heinrich Kröller was ballet master staging several ballets to music by Richard Strauss including Couperin Suite (1923), the latter being director of the State Opera. Margarete Wallmann, who had studied with Wigman, directed the Opera Ballet and its school from 1934 to 1939. Erika Hanka was appointed in 1942 and choreographed many ballets based in European modern dance techniques, including Homeric Symphony (mus. T. Berger, 1950) and Medusa (mus. von Einem, 1957). She was, however, instrumental in re-introducing the classical repertoire with Gordon Hamilton's staging of Giselle opening the theatre on 29 Nov. 1955, after the re-opening of the Opera House (it had been destroyed in 1945). Standards rose but after Hanka's death in 1958 there was a disruptively rapid turnover of ballet masters and directors—Parlic (1958-61), Milloss (1961-6 and 1971-4), and Orlikowsky (1966-71). There were, however, two outstanding triumphs: Nureyev's 1964 production of Swan Lake and Grigorovich's 1973 production of Nutcracker. In 1976 Gerhard Brunner became director of the State Opera Ballet and its school and the repertoire expanded to include works by van Manen, Cranko, and Massine. A. Woolliams took over the company's direction in 1994 (from Elena Tchernichova) and continued to expand the modern repertoire with new works by Renato Zernatto and Uwe Scholz. Renato Zanella was appointed director in 1995 and has created several works for the company. Recent principals include K. Healey and T. Solymosi. Other ballet performances take place at the Theater an der Wien and the Volksoper. In Salzburg the ballet company has also expanded its modern repertory under the direction of Peter Breuer (who choreographs some of its works) while the company at Graz has works by Spoerli, Smok, and van Manen in its repertory. There are a small but growing number of independent dance companies, such as Eva-Maria Lerchenberg-Thony's Tanztheater Company in Innsbruck, as well as new moves to encourage the profile of dance, such as the biannual dance festival in Vienna and the Austria Dances festival in Graz. Austria's most important school is the State Opera Ballet School.

Country in central Europe that gained independence in 1918 after the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

On March 11, 1938 the German army marched into Austria and annexed the country to the German Reich. Most of the Austrian population happily accepted this move, which was termed the Anschluss, meaning annexation or union. Their enthusiasm for unification with the Reich was also manifested in rampant anti-Jewish rioting. Members of the Austrian Nazi Party quickly began the process of excluding the country's Jews from Austria's economy, culture, and social life.

By March 18 the authorities had closed down the offices of the Jewish community and Zionist organizations in Vienna, and imprisoned their officers. During the first weeks after the Anschluss, Jews were fired from their jobs in theaters, community centers, public libraries, and universities. Throughout Austria, Jews were arrested and imprisoned. In fact, the situation was so miserable for the Jews that from February to March 1938, the number of Jewish suicides multiplied 20 times.

Soon, an office was established in Vienna to implement the confiscation of Jewish property. In late June Jews and all non-Jews married to Jews who worked in the private sector were fired from their jobs. The Germans' immediate goal was to "encourage" the Jews to leave the country. Senior SS officer Adolf Eichmann was in charge of Jewish emigration from Austria. In August 1938 Eichmann established the Central Office for Jewish Emigration (Zentralstelle Fuer Juedische Auswanderung) in the Rothschild palace, which the Nazis had seized from its owners.

During the Kristallnacht pogrom of November 1938, Jews and Jewish businesses were attacked all over Germany and Austria. Many synagogues were desecrated and Jewish homes were vandalized. After Kristallnacht, Eichmann began detaining Austrian Jews in Nazi Concentration Camps in order to blackmail them for money and to convince them to leave the country. When this type of inmate was released, he was given a limited amount of time to get out of the country. If he was still in Austria at the end of his grace period, he was put back in jail. The pogrom also helped speed up the liquidation of Austria's Jewish communities. By May 1939, 27 of 33 Jewish community councils had been dissolved.

Before the war began, 126,445 Jews managed to escape Austria, leaving 58,000 Jews in the country. Of the remaining Jews, some 2,000 were able to emigrate by October 1941, when the Nazis halted all Jewish emigration from the Reich.

In October 1939, 1,584 Austrian Jews were deported to the Lublin district of Poland, as part of a grand plan to concentrate all of Europe's Jews in one area of the Generalgouvernement (see also Nisko and Lublin Plan). In February and March 1941 some 5,000 Austrian Jews were deported to Kielce in Poland; during 1942 they were exterminated in Belzec and Chelmno. In October 1941 the Nazis began deporting the Jews of Austria en mass. Thousands of Jews were sent to Lodz and Ghettos in the Baltic region. After the Wannsee Conference of January 1942, during which steps were taken to better coordinate the murder of Europe's Jews, Deportations from Austria were sped up. Thousands were transported to Riga, Minsk, and Lublin. During the second half of 1942 nearly 14,000 Jews were sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. The Jewish community of Vienna was liquidated in November 1942, leaving only 7,000 Jews in Austria---most of whom were married to non-Jews. All those strong enough to work were made to do Forced Labor. Small-scale deportations continued into 1943; by the end of 1944 only about 6,000 Jews remained in Vienna.

Altogether, including Austrian Jews who had fled to countries the Nazis later occupied, over 65,000 Austrian Jews died in the ghettos and concentration camps of Eastern Europe. After the war, Austria became the center for the Beriha movement.

The history of psychoanalysis in Austria is practically indistinguishable from that of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society until the end of the Second World War. The group known as the Wednesday Psychological Society, which met regularly after 1902 in Freud's apartment, later renamed itself the Wiener psychoanalytische Vereinigung (Vienna Psychoanalytic Society) and was admitted as a regional group into the International Psychoanalytical Association, which had just been founded. In 1911, following the defection of its first president, Alfred Adler, Freud assumed the presidency. When Carl Gustav Jung and the members of the Zurich society left the psychoanalytic movement, Vienna became the sole center of influence.

After a period of inactivity caused by the First World War, the society resumed its activities and, with its youngest members playing an important role, quickly established a treatment facility in 1922 and a training institute in 1924. Only in 1936, after years of migration, was the Vienna society able to take possession of the premises at Berggasse 7, where it was housed along with its training institute, treatment facility, and publishing house.

Between 1934 and 1938 Austria developed politically into an authoritarian Catholic state. Although most members of the society had shown themselves to be sympathetic to the Social-Democrats, its administration made a conscious decision to abstain from politics. On March 14, 1938, the day after German troops entered Austria and after a number of analysts had already left the country, the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society held its last meeting. Members unanimously decided that those who felt threatened should leave Austria, and that the society's headquarters would be transferred to wherever Freud happened to be. With the exception of Alfred Winterstein and August Aichhorn, the 68 active and honorary members and approximately 36 candidates left the city. Freud left with his family on June 4, 1938. Between 1938 and 1945 a branch of the Deutsches Reichsinstitut für psychologische Forschung und Psychotherapie (State Institute for Research in Psychology and Psychotherapy), directed first by Aichhorn and then by Begsattel, was established in Vienna. Under Aichhorn's presidency a group of analysts and psychologists attempted to free themselves of the command of the Reichsinstitut. In 1944 this secret group had 14 training candidates, 7 of whom later became psychoanalysts.

Following the fall of National Socialism and the end of the Second World War, Austrian analysts did two things during the period of reconstruction: first, they reconstructed the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society and got it readmitted to the International Psychoanalytical Association, and second, they attempted to bring into the fold analysts and organizations that, under the title of depth psychology, held orientations considered marginal or unorthodox.

The inauguration of the new Vienna Psychoanalytic Society took place in 1946, with August Aichhorn as president. With assistance from Anna Freud, international recognition followed shortly, although it would take decades before the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society made any significant contact with the world psychoanalytic movement. After Aichhorn's death in 1949, Alfred Winterstein became the new president, a post he held until 1957. Under the direction of Wilhelm Solms-Rödelheim, the society continued to grow. The 1971 International Psychoanalytic Congress, held in Vienna, helped solidify the society's renewed links to international psychoanalysis.

Meanwhile, the Austrian and international student movement grew, and there was renewed interest in psychoanalysis generally. The Sigmund Freud Gesellschaft (Sigmund Freud Society), founded in 1968, together with the sociopsychiatrist Hans Strotzka and the cofounder of the Sigmund Freud Society Harald Leupold-Löwenthal, did much to make psychoanalysis better known to the population at large. Hans Hoff, professor of psychiatry, also helped establish this receptive climate.

Between 1972 and 1974 the presidents of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society included Alois Becker, Harald Leupold-Löwenthal, Peter Schuster, Wolfgang Berner, and Wilhelm Burian. Krista Placheta became president in 1998. As of 2005, Christine Diercks was president of the society.

In 1986 the society moved to new offices at Gonzagagasse 11. As of 1988 the society had seventy members and approximately a hundred candidates, more than the number of members in the former Vienna society. With the post-1968 generation of psychoanalysts came a relaxation of the older, authoritarian climate of discussion and a broader range of issues. Two central themes for the society in the 1980s were anti-Semitism inside and outside the field of psychoanalysis and its history during and after the war. In addition, the society held debates on the relation between psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. These discussions led to a training seminar on psychoanalytic psychotherapy, which became an integral part of the general training program.

In 1989, at the annual meeting of the Vienna society, the assembled members voted, by a margin of one vote, to join the Dachverband für Psychotherapie (a supervisory organization), and later it voted to join the Psychotherapiebeirat (Psychotherapy Advisory Committee). In 1993 the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society was legally recognized as a training organization for psychotherapy and was a leader in this field.

From 1945 Igor Caruso, an important representative of the various groups associated with psychoanalysis, worked to make psychotherapy more accessible to a greater portion of the population. During the years following the war, he and the discussion circle of which he was a member succeeded in creating a psychoanalytic organization that remained in operation for a number decades. Known as theÖsterreichische Arbeitskreise für Tiefenpsychologie (Austrian Working Group on Depth Psychology) and later renamed the Österreichische Arbeitskreise für Psychanalyse (Austrian Working Group on Psychoanalysis), it initiated throughout the country a series of teaching and clinical initiatives that were Freudian in orientation.

In 1947 Caruso created the Wiener Arbeitskreise für Tiefenpsychologie (Vienna Working Group on Depth Psychology), an autonomous scientific community composed primarily of physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, and theologians, most of whom were close in age. The first candidates were trained privately and without any specific professional requirements, since the group defined itself primarily as a venue for scientific discussion. For this reason an increasing number of members of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society participated in these discussions, although some of them found the intellectual climate overly imbued with Catholicism. Because of the working group's unorthodox approach, the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society was forced to define strict boundaries between the two organizations at the start of the 1950s. These boundaries may have led the Vienna working group, whose training guidelines were largely those used by psychoanalytic societies having a strictly Freudian orientation, to introduce a more formal and systematic structure for itself. The Vienna working group and the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society differed in ideological orientation. In place of psychological analysis, the Vienna working group aimed at an existential synthesis in the form of a universal humanity, blended different trends in depth psychology, and harked to Jung rather than Freud.

With the 1952 publication of Caruso's book Psycho-analyse und Synthese der Existenz (Existential Psychology: From Analysis to Synthesis, 1964), the working group's program became more focused. After 1953 there were no explicit references to Jung's depth psychology and increasingly specific references to psychoanalysis. "Psychoanalysis" was initially understood in its technical sense, and the human aspect inherent in Freudian theory and its offshoots was enlarged in the direction of a personal psychoanalysis.

Caruso's book was translated into six languages, and thus served to spread his ideas internationally, especially in South America, where his ideas where well received. In fact, a number of South American candidates received their training in Vienna. Another example of cross-border activity is the 1954 Brussels symposium on the "Psychology of the Individual," attended by some forty psychoanalysts from several European countries. Presenters included Jacques Lacan, who gave a talk on the internal dialectics of the person in the theory and technique of psychoanalysis. As a result of his talk, Lacan became a corresponding member of the Vienna Working Group on Depth Psychology, a status he maintained until his death.

Theoretically, the working group focused on the concept of symbols and attempted to find a connection between Freudian ego psychology and personal philosophical concepts. There were increasing interdisciplinary attempts to bridge psychiatry, ethology, sociology, group dynamics (especially that of Raoul Schindler), and psychoanalysis. This expansion resulted in the founding, in Innsbruck in 1958, of the International Secretariat of the Working Groups on Depth Psychology, which was replaced in 1966 by the Internationale Föderation der Arbeitskreise für Tiefenpsychologie (International Federation of Working Groups on Depth Psychology) because of the growing number of participant associations.

During the 1960s different attempts to found a second world association, independent of the orthodox International Psychoanalytical Association, were made at the instigation of the German Psychoanalytic Association. Caruso and his working groups rebuffed these attempts in spite of the number of exchanges and conferences within the Internationale Arbeitsgemeinschaft psychoanalytischer Gesellschaften (Inter-national Working Group of Psychoanalytic Societies), founded in 1962 in Amsterdam. At this time the theoretical orientation of the working groups moved further and further away from fundamental theological concepts of Catholicism. There were increasing references to the Freudian foundations of psychoanalysis and greater emphasis on the psychosociological aspects of the field, which resulted from a growing interest in thinkers like G. W. F. Hegel, Karl Marx, and Herbert Marcuse. In 1972, when Caruso obtained the psychology chair at the University of Salzburg, a number of circles and working groups were formed outside Vienna, and these helped spread awareness of psychoanalysis throughout Austria. In addition to the Linz Circle, created in 1958, these included groups for the study of depth psychology launched in Graz and Linz in 1973 and in Salzburg in 1974, followed by the foundation of the Austrian Society for the Study of Child Psychoanalysis in Salzburg in 1976.

This gathering trend toward orthodoxy found concrete expression when the Vienna Working Group on Depth Psychology renamed itself the Vienna Working Group on Psychoanalysis in 1988. Shortly thereafter all the other depth psychology groups followed its example. Until 1992 these groups were all governed by the Directorate of Austrian Working Groups, which was replaced in 1992 by the Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft der Arbeitskreise für Psychoanalyse inÖsterreich (Scientific Society of Working Groups for Psychoanalysis in Austria). This society produced the journal Texte: Psychoanalyse,Ästhetik, Kulturkritik, the only (quarterly) Austrian journal on psychoanalysis, edited by E. List, Johannes Ranefeld, G. F. Zeilinger, and August Ruhs. Because the society met IPA standards, which the working groups had followed since 1970, it asked to be admitted to the International Psychoanalytical Association in 1997, with Ranefeld as president. A commission of inquiry was established in October 1998.

Between 1985 and 1990 an interdisciplinary group of Viennese scientists, in collaboration with the Institut culturel français, organized a two-year international seminar entitled "Psychoanalysis and Structuralism: Freud and Lacan," which included some of the best known representatives of the Lacan school. This resulted in the formation of the Neue wiener Gruppe/Lacan-Schule, composed of an "aesthetic" section (under the direction of Walter Seitter) and a "clinical" section (under the direction of August Ruhs). It organized regular interdisciplinary conferences, usually followed by one or more publications.

In 1984 a group of students founded the Werkstatt für Psychoanalyse und Gesellschaftskritik (Workshop on Psychoanalysis and Social Criticism) in Salzburg. Until 1996 the organization refused to accept any form of orthodoxy or dogmatism and insisted on maintaining a political focus. The Werkblatt, the organization's publication, is still published, although the organization itself no longer exists.

In 1967 Eric Pakesch, a student of Caruso, created a chair of medical psychology and psychotherapy in the Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz . At the suggestion of Hans Strotzka, a popular psychoanalyst and sociopsychiatrist, the Institute of Depth Psychology and Psychotherapy was founded in 1971 within the School of Medicine of the University of Vienna. It was intended to house psychoanalysis along with the other generally recognized schools of psychotherapy in a single facility. Eventually, psychoanalysis became its primary focus, and in the current university depth psychology clinic, run by Marianne Springer-Kremser, all practitioners use psychoanalysis or depth psychology, with the exception of one practitioner who uses systemic family therapy. A psychoanalytic focus can also be found at the university institutes of medical psychology (and psychotherapy) in the universities of Graz, Innsbruck, and Vienna (directed by W. Pieringer, G. Schüssler, and G. Sonneck, respectively). The Psychology Institute of the University of Klagenfurt, under the direction of Professor J. Menschik-Bendele, also has a strong psychoanalytic orientation.

Legislation on psychoanalysis instituted in 1992 had important repercussions for the field of psychoanalysis in Austria, for it drastically reduced the autonomy of psychoanalytic societies in their training activities and therapeutic practices. Psychoanalysis became recognized as equivalent to other therapeutic practices, so it had to comply with the general training program for psychotherapists. Before becoming a psychoanalyst, candidates had to complete a two-year program required for all forms of psychotherapy. Since health insurance recognized only some psychoanalytic treatments and reimbursement was partial, the five principal Viennese psychoanalytic and depth-psychology associations decided to create a parent organization in 1997 to make special agreements with insurers for long-term psychoanalytic treatment. For the first time in the history of psychoanalysis in Austria, member and nonmember associations of the International Psychoanalytical Association worked together in an organization to promote their mutual interest. Thanks to the concerted efforts of these societies, the Viennese municipal health service began to offer analyses for fifty citizens, without restriction as to duration or the frequency of treatment. Sixty years after Vienna's Ambulatorium shut down under Nazi administration, this treatment center reopened in 1999 and represented another sign of reawakened interest in psychoanalysis. Finally, plans for the Wiener Arbeitskreis für Psychaonalyse to join the IPA moved forward when it was granted study group status in 2003.

Another important parent organization for psychoanalysis is the Sigmund Freud Society and Sigmund Freud Museum at Berggasse 19 in Vienna. The society, founded in November 1968 with the help of Anna Freud, succeeded in creating a museum where Freud had his consulting room. In addition to supporting research into the history of psychoanalysis and its founders, the society holds discussions on important contemporary clinical, sociocultural, and therapeutic issues in a spirit of interdisciplinary cooperation. Harold Leupold-Löwentahal, president of the Society from 1976 to 1998, was succeeded by Johannes Schülein, who presided until 2003, and Dieter Bogner. The library, with 25,000 volumes, represents one of the major collections of its kind in Europe and includes archives with over 50,000 records of all kind. Since 1997, at the instigation of American artist Josef Kosuth and Austrian art dealer Peter Pakesch, the Sigmund Freud Society has acquired a collection that demonstrates the influence of psychoanalysis on contemporary art. In 2003, under director Inge Scholz-Strasser—albeit against the wishes of many Viennese psychoanalysts—the museum turned into a private foundation. This event led to a noticeable coolness between the administration and the city's psychoanalytic societies.

Bibliography

Caruso, Igor A. (1964). Existential psychology: from analysis to synthesis (Eva Krapf, Trans.). New York: Herder and Herder. (Original work published 1952)

Huber, Wolfgang. (1977). Psychoanalyse inÖsterreich seit 1933. Vienna: Geyer.

Parth, Walter. (1998). Vergangenheit, die fortwirkt. Texte: Psychoanalyse,Ästhetik, Kulturkritik, 2, 61-75.

Reichmayr, Johannes. (1994). Spurensuche in der Geschichte der Psychoanalyse. Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer.

—AUGUST RUHS

A geographic term used to describe the two "archduchies" of Austria above and below the Enns River, "Austria" is also applied to all of the hereditary possessions of the German Habsburgs that were situated along the southeastern flank of the Holy Roman Empire. In addition, it is a political term for the diverse dynastic conglomerate ruled by the "House of Austria," including Bohemia and Hungary.

Origins

This larger conglomeration of states, or Gesamtstaat, was formed during the lifetime of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (ruled 1493–1519), who forged a series of fortuitous dynastic alliances with the heiresses of Burgundy (1477), Spain (1496), and Hungary-Bohemia (1515). Maximilian's elder grandson succeeded him as Emperor Charles V (ruled 1519–1556) and ceded the Austrian lands to his brother Ferdinand, who was elected king of Bohemia (1526) and Hungary (1527) following the last Jagellon king's death after the Ottoman victory at Mohács (1526). His eventual election as Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I (ruled 1558–1564) completed a division of the Habsburg dominions that left the dynasty's Burgundian, Spanish, Italian, and vast American possessions in the hands of a "Spanish" branch ruled by Charles and his heirs, while a succession of "Austrian" Habsburg emperors ruled the largely contiguous Austro-Hungarian-Bohemian conglomerate.

Contemporaries attributed the dynasty's success to Maximilian's marriage policies, immortalized by the words "Let the strong fight wars. Thou, happy Austria, marry. What Mars bestows on others, Venus gives to thee!" But the key factor behind these alliances lay in the widespread appreciation of the Habsburgs' role as a useful counterpoise to the dual threats posed by the Ottomans in the east and France in the west.

Lands and Peoples

The monarchy was linguistically and confessionally diverse. Whereas German dominated the Austrian lands (with Slovene and Italian spoken in the south), it was a close second to Czech in the Bohemian lands, and, in Magyar-speaking Hungary, prevailed only in the towns. Moreover, the reconquest and resettlement of the Hungarian plain and Transylvania that began in the late seventeenth century added many South Slavs and Romanians. The acquisition of the formerly Spanish Netherlands and Italy (1714) added French, Flemish, and Italian, much as the annexation of Galicia (1772) and Bukovina (1775) contributed large numbers of Poles, Ukrainians, and Yiddish-speaking Jews. Whereas this linguistic kaleidoscope changed little over the centuries, the Reformation brought major changes in religion. By the mid-sixteenth century, Protestants constituted a majority in most areas of Habsburg domination. Catholicism reasserted itself during the Counter-Reformation, however, which left a 10–15 percent Lutheran minority in the Austrian and Bohemian lands, while Hungary split evenly between Catholics and a mix of Calvinist Magyars, Orthodox South Slavs, and German Lutherans.

The Austrian economy struck a balance between the prevailing agriculture (and animal husbandry in the Hungarian plain), substantial mining throughout the Alps and Carpathians, and industrial production in Bohemia, Upper Austria, and later in the Austrian Netherlands and northern Italian lands.

Government

Although the Habsburgs valued the imperial title and always visualized themselves as German princes, their inability to assert full sovereignty within the Holy Roman Empire gradually induced them to focus attention on developing their hereditary German (Austrian and Bohemian) lands, while treating Hungary more like a colony, at least until the eighteenth century. Beginning with Ferdinand I, the Habsburgs gradually coopted imperial institutions such as the Aulic Council (Reichshofrat), or shifted functions to competing bodies, including an exchequer (Hofkammer), war council (Hofkriegsrat), and "Austrian" chancery. They were less innovative in dealing with the Estates. Having acquired the Bohemian and Hungarian lands by inheritance and election, the Habsburgs were at pains to respect their corporate privileges and autonomy. Not to do so risked passive resistance or outright rebellion, which could be assisted by foreign adversaries. As a result, the prevailing political culture favored reaching consensus with the Estates on major issues, a policy that helped sustain the Habsburg dominions' separate cultural, linguistic, and constitutional development.

Individual Rulers

Given the contrived construction of this central European Gesamtstaat, its common historical development owed much to the policies of individual rulers. Ferdinand I and his son Maximilian II (ruled 1564–1576) spent much of their reigns resisting the Ottoman seizure of most of Hungary, while attempting to peacefully accommodate the aspirations of the empire's emerging Protestant majority. The Spanish-educated sons of Maximilian II, Rudolf II (ruled 1576–1612) and Matthias (ruled 1612–1619), cautiously embraced the Counter-Reformation, which led to widespread armed resistance, most notably in Bohemia, where the Defenestration of Prague sparked the beginning of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). After Ferdinand II (ruled 1620–1637) and his foreign allies had crushed the Bohemian revolt at White Mountain (1620), he purged much of the kingdom's nobility and constitution to enhance royal authority. Systematic Catholicization was carried out there and in the Austrian lands by him and his son, Ferdinand III (ruled 1637–1657), even as they reluctantly accepted religious compromise in the rest of Germany. Leopold I (ruled 1658–1705) completed the process of creating a mutually reliant, trilateral ruling elite of crown, church, and nobility that found artistic expression in the flamboyant Austrian baroque. Catholic religious persecution, principally by Hungary's magnates, led to a major rebellion that was soon assisted by a massive Ottoman invasion and siege of Vienna (1683). The city was delivered by an Austro-German-Polish relief force commanded by Poland's King John III Sobieski (1629–1696), which crushed the Ottomans at the battle of Kahlenberg. Leopold followed up the city's relief by reconquering Hungary at the head of a Holy League (1684–1699). Hungary was also enjoined to revise its constitution in 1687, eliminating the electoral kingship and the nobility's right to resist royal authority (jus resistendi). Although Leopold reaffirmed Protestant religious freedom, renewed persecution and heavy wartime taxation inspired the Rákóczi Revolt (1703–1711). Joseph I (ruled 1705–1711) eventually pacified the country militarily while granting generous terms in the 1711 treaty at Szatmár that essentially defined Hungary's status for the next two centuries. The martial exploits of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736) permitted Joseph to salvage the Italian and Dutch possessions from the dynasty's extinct senior line in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) and enabled his brother Charles VI (ruled 1711–1740) to round off Hungary's frontiers with the acquisition of the Banat of Temesvár after another Turkish war (1716–1718). With the male line facing extinction, Charles issued the Pragmatic Sanction (1713), which established the monarchy's indivisibility and the right of female succession. His daughter Empress Maria Theresa (ruled 1740–1780) withstood a concerted attempt at partition in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748) but lost the rich Bohemian crownland of Silesia to Prussia. A vain attempt to reconquer it in the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was sandwiched between two great reform periods that marked the monarchy's transition from the ideology of the Counter-Reformation to a more rational governmental system based on the prevailing German fiscal-administrative science of cameralism and select European Enlightenment ideas. Attempts by Joseph II (ruled 1765–1790) to carry out more sweeping changes without the Estates' consent led to widespread resistance that his brother, Leopold II (ruled 1790–1792), quelled by repealing his most radical reforms. Nonetheless, a generation of political and cultural reform had prepared the Habsburg Monarchy for the ensuing tumult caused by the French Revolution. Indeed, the early modern period had witnessed the emergence and consolidation of both the House of Austria and the territorial conglomerate (Gesamtstaat) that it governed as major components of the European world.

Bibliography

Blanning, T. C. W. Joseph II. London and New York, 1994.

Evans, R. J. W. The Making of the Habsburg Monarchy 1550– 1700: An Interpretation. Oxford and New York, 1979.

Fichtner, Paula. Emperor Maximilian II. New Haven, 2001.

——. Ferdinand I of Austria: The Politics of Dynasticism in the Age of the Reformation. New York, 1982.

Ingrao, Charles. The Habsburg Monarchy, 1618–1815. 2nd ed. Cambridge, U.K., and New York, 2000.

——. In Quest and Crisis: Emperor Joseph I and the Habsburg Monarchy. West Lafayette, Ind., 1979.

Macartney, C. A. Maria Theresa and the House of Austria. London, 1969.

Mc Kay, Derek. Prince Eugene of Savoy. London, 1977.

Spielman, John P. Leopold I of Austria. New Brunswick, N.J., 1977.

—CHARLES INGRAO

Mountainous republic in central Europe, bordered by Germany and the former Czechoslovakia to the north, Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. Its capital and largest city is Vienna.

• Under the Hapsburg dynasty (1278-1918), Austria maintained control of the Holy Roman Empire and became a leading player in European politics.
• After losing control of the German portions of the Holy Roman Empire in the nineteenth century, Austria joined with Hungary to create the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867-1918). Allied with Germany, Bulgaria, and Turkey in World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was devastated by the war.
• Austria was occupied by Nazi forces in 1938 and annexed by Adolf Hitler to Germany. It was reestablished as a republic in 1945 but remained occupied by four Allied powers until it declared neutrality in 1955.
• The picturesque Tyrol region, in the western part of the country, is a favorite year-round tourist spot.

The international dialing code for Austria is:   43

It is 11:18 AM, November 27, in Austria.

Austria - Euro

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Background:

Once the center of power for the large Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was reduced to a small republic after its defeat in World War I. Following annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938 and subsequent occupation by the victorious Allies in 1945, Austria's status remained unclear for a decade. A State Treaty signed in 1955 ended the occupation, recognized Austria's independence, and forbade unification with Germany. A constitutional law that same year declared the country's "perpetual neutrality" as a condition for Soviet military withdrawal. The Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 and Austria's entry into the European Union in 1995 have altered the meaning of this neutrality. A prosperous, democratic country, Austria entered the EU Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. In January 2009, Austria assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2009-10 term.

Location:	Central Europe, north of Italy and Slovenia
Geographic coordinates:	47 20 N, 13 20 E
Map references:	Europe
Area:	total: 83,870 sq km land: 82,444 sq km water: 1,426 sq km
Area - comparative:	slightly smaller than Maine
Land boundaries:	total: 2,562 km border countries: Czech Republic 362 km, Germany 784 km, Hungary 366 km, Italy 430 km, Liechtenstein 35 km, Slovakia 91 km, Slovenia 330 km, Switzerland 164 km
Coastline:	0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:	none (landlocked)
Climate:	temperate; continental, cloudy; cold winters with frequent rain and some snow in lowlands and snow in mountains; moderate summers with occasional showers
Terrain:	in the west and south mostly mountains (Alps); along the eastern and northern margins mostly flat or gently sloping
Elevation extremes:	lowest point: Neusiedler See 115 m highest point: Grossglockner 3,798 m
Natural resources:	oil, coal, lignite, timber, iron ore, copper, zinc, antimony, magnesite, tungsten, graphite, salt, hydropower
Land use:	arable land: 16.59% permanent crops: 0.85% other: 82.56% (2005)
Irrigated land:	40 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:	84 cu km (2005)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):	total: 3.67 cu km/yr (35%/64%/1%) per capita: 448 cu m/yr (1999)
Natural hazards:	landslides; avalanches; earthquakes
Environment - current issues:	some forest degradation caused by air and soil pollution; soil pollution results from the use of agricultural chemicals; air pollution results from emissions by coal- and oil-fired power stations and industrial plants and from trucks transiting Austria between northern and southern Europe
Environment - international agreements:	party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:	landlocked; strategic location at the crossroads of central Europe with many easily traversable Alpine passes and valleys; major river is the Danube; population is concentrated on eastern lowlands because of steep slopes, poor soils, and low temperatures elsewhere

Population:	8,210,281 (July 2009 est.)
Age structure:	0-14 years: 14.5% (male 609,748/female 581,144) 15-64 years: 67.5% (male 2,785,091/female 2,756,402) 65 years and over: 18% (male 612,613/female 865,283) (2009 est.)
Median age:	total: 42.2 years male: 41.1 years female: 43.2 years (2009 est.)
Population growth rate:	0.052% (2009 est.)
Birth rate:	8.65 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death rate:	9.91 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate:	1.85 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Urbanization:	urban population: 67% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: 0.7% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
Sex ratio:	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate:	total: 4.42 deaths/1,000 live births male: 5.39 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.41 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:	total population: 79.5 years male: 76.6 years female: 82.56 years (2009 est.)
Total fertility rate:	1.39 children born/woman (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:	0.2% (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:	9,800 (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:	fewer than 100 (2003 est.)
Nationality:	noun: Austrian(s) adjective: Austrian
Ethnic groups:	Austrians 91.1%, former Yugoslavs 4% (includes Croatians, Slovenes, Serbs, and Bosniaks), Turks 1.6%, German 0.9%, other or unspecified 2.4% (2001 census)
Religions:	Roman Catholic 73.6%, Protestant 4.7%, Muslim 4.2%, other 3.5%, unspecified 2%, none 12% (2001 census)
Languages:	German (official nationwide) 88.6%, Turkish 2.3%, Serbian 2.2%, Croatian (official in Burgenland) 1.6%, other (includes Slovene, official in Carinthia, and Hungarian, official in Burgenland) 5.3% (2001 census)
Literacy:	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: NA female: NA
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):	total: 15 years male: 15 years female: 16 years (2006)
Education expenditures:	5.4% of GDP (2005)

Country name:	conventional long form: Republic of Austria conventional short form: Austria local long form: Republik Oesterreich local short form: Oesterreich
Government type:	federal republic
Capital:	name: Vienna geographic coordinates: 48 12 N, 16 22 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Administrative divisions:	9 states (Bundeslaender, singular - Bundesland); Burgenland, Kaernten (Carinthia), Niederoesterreich (Lower Austria), Oberoesterreich (Upper Austria), Salzburg, Steiermark (Styria), Tirol (Tyrol), Vorarlberg, Wien (Vienna)
Independence:	976 (Margravate of Austria established); 17 September 1156 (Duchy of Austria founded); 11 August 1804 (Austrian Empire proclaimed); 12 November 1918 (republic proclaimed)
National holiday:	National Day, 26 October (1955); note - commemorates the passage of the law on permanent neutrality
Constitution:	1920; revised 1929; reinstated 1 May 1945; note - during the period 1 May 1934-1 May 1945 there was a fascist (corporative) constitution in place
Legal system:	civil law system with Roman law origin; judicial review of legislative acts by the Constitutional Court; separate administrative and civil/penal supreme courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:	16 years of age; universal; note - reduced from 18 years of age in 2007
Executive branch:	chief of state: President Heinz FISCHER (SPOe) (since 8 July 2004) head of government: Chancellor Werner FAYMANN (SPOe) (since 2 December 2008); Vice Chancellor Josef PROELL (OeVP) (since 2 December 2008) cabinet: Council of Ministers chosen by the president on the advice of the chancellor elections: president elected by direct popular vote for a six-year term (eligible for a second term); presidential election last held 25 April 2004 (next to be held in April 2010); chancellor formally chosen by the president but determined by the coalition parties forming a parliamentary majority; vice chancellor chosen by the president on the advice of the chancellor election results: Heinz FISCHER elected president; percent of vote - Heinz FISCHER 52.4%, Benita FERRERO-WALDNER 47.6% note: government coalition - SPOe and OeVP
Legislative branch:	bicameral Federal Assembly or Bundesversammlung consists of Federal Council or Bundesrat (62 seats; members chosen by state parliaments with each state receiving 3 to 12 members in proportion to its population; members serve five- or six-year terms) and the National Council or Nationalrat (183 seats; members elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: National Council - last held 28 September 2008 (next to be held by September 2013) election results: National Council - percent of vote by party - SPOe 29.3%, OeVP 26%, FPOe 17.5%, BZOe 10.7%, Greens 10.4%, other 6.1%; seats by party - SPOe 57, OeVP 51, FPOe 34, BZOe 21, Greens 20
Judicial branch:	Supreme Judicial Court or Oberster Gerichtshof; Administrative Court or Verwaltungsgerichtshof; Constitutional Court or Verfassungsgerichtshof
Political parties and leaders:	Alliance for the Future of Austria or BZOe [Josef BUCHER]; Austrian People's Party or OeVP [Josef PROELL]; Freedom Party of Austria or FPOe [Heinz Christian STRACHE]; Social Democratic Party of Austria or SPOe [Werner FAYMANN]; The Greens [Eva GLAWISCHNIG]
Political pressure groups and leaders:	Austrian Trade Union Federation or OeGB (nominally independent but primarily Social Democratic); Federal Economic Chamber; OeVP-oriented Association of Austrian Industrialists or IV; Roman Catholic Church, including its chief lay organization, Catholic Action other: three composite leagues of the Austrian People's Party or OeVP representing business, labor, farmers, and other nongovernment organizations in the areas of environment and human rights
International organization participation:	ACCT (observer), ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G-9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP, Schengen Convention, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNOMIG, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (observer), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US:	chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Deputy Chief of Mission Andreas RIECKEN chancery: 3524 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008-3035 telephone: [1] (202) 895-6700 FAX: [1] (202) 895-6750 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York
Diplomatic representation from the US:	chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Scott F. KILNER embassy: Boltzmanngasse 16, A-1090, Vienna mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [43] (1) 31339-0 FAX: [43] (1) 3100682
Flag description:	three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and red

Economy - overview:	Austria, with its well-developed market economy and high standard of living, is closely tied to other EU economies, especially Germany's. Its economy features a large service sector, a sound industrial sector, and a small, but highly developed agricultural sector. The global economic downturn led in 2008 to a recession that is widely expected to persist through 2009, following several years of solid demand for Austrian exports and record employment growth in 2008. During the recession, investment is likely to suffer and the Austrian government's economic stabilization measures could drive up the budget deficit from about 0.6% of GDP in 2008 to about 2.8% in 2009 and possibly above 3% in 2010. The Austrian economy has benefited greatly in the past from strong commercial relations, especially in the banking and insurance sectors, with central, eastern, and southeastern Europe, but these sectors have been vulnerable to recent international financial instabilities, and some of Austria's largest banks have required government support. Even after the global economic outlook improves, Austria will need to continue restructuring, emphasizing knowledge-based sectors of the economy, and encouraging greater labor flexibility and greater labor participation to offset its aging population and exceedingly low fertility rate.
GDP (purchasing power parity):	$325 billion (2008 est.) $319.9 billion (2007) $314 billion (2006) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate):	$432.4 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:	1.6% (2008 est.) 3.1% (2007 est.) 3.4% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):	$39,200 (2008 est.) $39,500 (2007 est.) $38,300 (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
GDP - composition by sector:	agriculture: 1.9% industry: 30.6% services: 67.4% (2008 est.)
Labor force:	3.493 million (2008 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:	agriculture: 5.5% industry: 27.5% services: 67% (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate:	3.7% (2008 est.)
Population below poverty line:	5.9% (2004)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:	lowest 10%: 3.3% highest 10%: 22.5% (2004)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:	26 (2007)
Investment (gross fixed):	20.7% of GDP (2008 est.)
Budget:	revenues: $198.6 billion expenditures: $203 billion (2008 est.)
Fiscal year:	calendar year
Public debt:	58.8% of GDP (2008 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):	3.7% (2008 est.)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:	6.3% (31 December 2007)
Stock of money:	NA note: see entry for the European Union for money supply in the euro area; the European Central Bank (ECB) controls monetary policy for the 16 members of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); individual members of the EMU do not control the quantity of money and quasi money circulating within their own borders
Stock of quasi money:	NA
Stock of domestic credit:	$548.5 billion (31 December 2008)
Market value of publicly traded shares:	$228.7 billion (31 December 2007)
Agriculture - products:	grains, potatoes, sugar beets, wine, fruit; dairy products, cattle, pigs, poultry; lumber
Industries:	construction, machinery, vehicles and parts, food, metals, chemicals, lumber and wood processing, paper and paperboard, communications equipment, tourism
Industrial production growth rate:	4.4% (2008 est.)
Electricity - production:	59.31 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - consumption:	62.35 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - exports:	18.47 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - imports:	28.5 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - production by source:	fossil fuel: 29.3% hydro: 67.2% nuclear: 0% other: 3.5% (2001)
Oil - production:	24,920 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - consumption:	289,400 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - exports:	46,300 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - imports:	313,500 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - proved reserves:	50 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)
Natural gas - production:	1.848 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:	8.436 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - exports:	2.767 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - imports:	9.658 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:	16.14 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)
Current account balance:	$10.63 billion (2008 est.)
Exports:	$163.3 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Exports - commodities:	machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, paper and paperboard, metal goods, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs
Exports - partners:	Germany 29.8%, Italy 8.8%, US 4.9%, Switzerland 4.3% (2007)
Imports:	$183.4 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Imports - commodities:	machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal goods, oil and oil products; foodstuffs
Imports - partners:	Germany 45.5%, Italy 7.1%, Switzerland 5%, Netherlands 4.3% (2007)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:	$18.22 billion (2008 est.)
Debt - external:	$752.5 billion (30 June 2007)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:	$276.9 billion (2008 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:	$275.2 billion (2008 est.)
Currency (code):	euro (EUR)
Currency code:	EUR
Exchange rates:	euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6827 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)

Telephones - main lines in use:	3.374 million (2007)
Telephones - mobile cellular:	9.768 million (2007)
Telephone system:	general assessment: highly developed and efficient domestic: fixed-line subscribership has been in decline since the mid-1990s with mobile-cellular subscribership eclipsing it by the late 1990s; the fiber-optic net is very extensive; all telephone applications and Internet services are available international: country code - 43; satellite earth stations - 15; in addition, there are about 600 VSATs (very small aperture terminals) (2007)
Radio broadcast stations:	AM 2, FM 65 (plus several hundred repeaters), shortwave 1 (2001)
Radios:	6.08 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:	10 (plus more than 1,000 repeaters) (2001)
Televisions:	4.25 million (1997)
Internet country code:	.at
Internet hosts:	2.806 million (2008)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):	37 (2000)
Internet users:	4.277 million (2007)

Airports:	55 (2008)
Airports - with paved runways:	total: 25 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 15 (2008)
Airports - with unpaved runways:	total: 30 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 26 (2008)
Heliports:	1 (2007)
Pipelines:	gas 2,721 km; oil 663 km; refined products 157 km (2008)
Railways:	total: 6,383 km standard gauge: 5,924 km 1.435-m gauge (3,772 km electrified) narrow gauge: 371 km 1.000-m gauge; 88 km 0.760-m gauge (25 km electrified) (2006)
Roadways:	total: 107,262 km paved: 107,262 km (includes 1,677 km of expressways) (2006)
Waterways:	358 km (2007)
Merchant marine:	total: 4 by type: cargo 2, container 2 foreign-owned: 2 (Netherlands 2) registered in other countries: 4 (Cyprus 1, Malta 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2) (2008)
Ports and terminals:	Enns, Krems, Linz, Vienna

Military branches:	Land Forces (KdoLdSK), Air Forces (KdoLuSK)
Military service age and obligation:	18-35 years of age for compulsory military service; 16 years of age for male or female voluntary service; service obligation 6 months of training, followed by an 8-year reserve obligation (2008)
Manpower available for military service:	males age 16-49: 1,986,411 females age 16-49: 1,944,834 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:	males age 16-49: 1,607,456 females age 16-49: 1,576,335 (2009 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:	male: 50,540 female: 48,042 (2009 est.)
Military expenditures:	0.9% of GDP (2005 est.)

Disputes - international:	while threats of international legal action never materialized in 2007, 915,220 Austrians, with the support of the newly elected Freedom Party, signed a petition in January 2008, demanding that Austria block the Czech Republic's accession to the EU unless Prague closed its nuclear power plant in Temelin, bordering Austria
Illicit drugs:	transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and South American cocaine destined for Western Europe; increasing consumption of European-produced synthetic drugs

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The world of wine in Austria is similiar to that of Germany in many ways, but it is also quite different. Austria is generally warmer than Germany; therefore, the grapes ripen more fully, which produces stronger wines. Austrians also generally like their wines drier (see dry) than Germans. Since the wine scandal of 1985, where traces of poison-ous diethylene glycol were found in wines that were supposed to contain only natural sugars, Austria enacted tougher wine-quality laws very similar to those in Germany. The lowest wine-quality category is tafelwein with a subcategory of landwein. The middle category is qualitätswein with a subcategory of kabinett (which in Germany is in the highest category). Austria's highest category is prädikatswein, with the subcategories (lowest to highest) of: spätlese, auslese, strohwein (not a German subcategory), eiswein, beerenauslese, ausbruch (not a German subcategory), and trockenbeerenauslese. In most cases, the Austrian requirements are somewhat stricter-for example, higher required sugar levels. If the name of a ried ("vineyard") is used on the label, 100 percent of the wine used must be from that vineyard location. This is also true for any local or regional name. If a variety or vintage appears on the label, 85 percent of the wine must come from the named grape or vintage. Per capita, Austrians consume over three times the wine of Americans. In fact, they consume more than they produce so imported wines fill the gap. More than 80 percent of the Austrian wine production is white. The most popular white grape is grüner veltliner which produces pale, crisp light- to medium-bodied (see body), slightly spicy wines of good quality. Other popular white varieties are gewürztraminer Muscat-Ottonel (muscat), Rhine Riesling (riesling), müller-thurgau Weissburgunder (pinot blanc), welschriesling Rotgipfler, Zierflander, and Neuburger (a cross of Pinot Blanc and sylvaner). The red wines, which are typically very light, are made from Blauburgunder (pinot noir), portugieser blaufränkisch, and Zweigelt. Austria produces most of its wines in the eastern part of the country-over half in the region of Lower Austria (Niederösterreich), followed by Burgenland, then Styria (Steiermark) and Vienna. Most of Austria's wines are dry, the exceptions being the sweet, botrytised wines from Burgenland, which are sometimes compared to those from sauternes.

(For ancient magic among the Teutonic people of Austria, see the entry on the Teutons; see also Hungary).

Mesmerism

As Spiritualism spread across Europe in the 1860s and 1870s, it also spread into Austria. The movement was first promulgated by Constantine Delby of Vienna, an adherent of the French Spiritism of Allan Kardec. Delby founded a Spiritualist society and started a journal. Despite his efforts, the society found little support and was kept alive primarily by Delby's enthusiasm. Spiritualism never obtained much foothold in Vienna. A number of Austrians, particularly the world-famous mediums and brothers, Willi and Rudi Schneider (from Braunau) began their work in Austria, but received most of their fame outside the country. In fact, experts in Great Britain where much of the investigation into Rudi's abilities were conducted have offered the opinion that had he been allowed to remain in the comfortable world of his native country, his gift might have developed better. Still, he was never caught in any sort of fraud, as was often the case during the seances he conducted.

Two other famous Austrians involved in the world of the paranormal and parapsychology worth mentioning were Erik Jan Hanussen, and Hans Holzer. Hanussen was known as the "Prophet of the Third Reich," who had written a book on stage telepathy, based on his experience in performance since the age of 12. He had successfully defended himself against fraudulent clairvoyance in court by demonstrating his long-practiced techniques well-enough to have the charges dismissed. He reportedly believed in Hitler and his plan to lead Germany so strongly, that while some reports indicate he might have been Jewish, Hanussen donated money to Nazi officials in order to get to meet him. That meeting occured in 1931 and Hanussen spoke to the leader on the occult. By 1933 as a favorite of the Third Reich, he opened his "Palace of the Occult" and presented his vision of the burning of a large public building—only the day before the Reichstag (the seat of the German government) was burned. The day after that, Hitler declared himself dictator. That was in February. One month later, he fell into disfavor and was arrested. On April 7, he was found dead. How much he truly influenced Hitler, another famous Austrian, in his belief in the occult cannot be confirmed.

Holzer who was born in 1920, and a naturalized American, became famous in the 1960s for his work as a "ghost-hunter," appearing on television talk shows and serving as a favorite of celebrities. While he continued to pursue his work, his investigations were considered unreliable, in great part due to his faulty historical data.

It was quite otherwise in Budapest (and at this time Hungary was then part of the larger Austrian Empire). Here a considerable amount of interest was awakened, and many persons of note began to take part in the circles that were being formed there. Among these persons were Anton Prohasker and Dr. Adolf Grunhut. At length a society was formed, and Baron Edmund Vay was elected president. A Mr. Lishner, of Budapest, built a séance room, which the society rented. At that time there were some 110 members, all professing Christians. Vay served as the honorary president, and Grunhut as the active president. The principles of the society, indeed the basis of it, were taken from the Geist Kraft Stoff of Baroness Adelma Vay and the works of Kardec. It never encouraged paid mediumship. All the officers were voluntary and honorary. It had no physical medium, but good trance, writing, and seeing mediums.

Psychical Research

Though Austria has not been a center of parapsychology, there is an Austrian Society for Psychic Research (c/o Prof. Dr. H. Hofman, c/o Technische Hochschule, Gusshausstr. 25, Vienna). Possibly the best known figure in Austrian parapsychology is Andreas Resch, who edited Imago Mundi (former publication of the International Society for Catholic Parapsychologists). Resch has conducted courses in parapsychology at Lateran University in Rome. Resch now edits Grenzgebiete der Wissenschaft as the organ of the Institut für Grenzgebiete der Wissenschaft und von Imago Mundi (Resch Verlag, Maximilianstr. 8. Postfach 8 A-6020 Innsbruck).

There is also an International School for Psycho-Physical Training (Bartlemae 17, 9110 Poertschach/ Woerthersee, Kaernten, Austria) and the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Parapsycholige (Himmelspfortgasse 9/Tür 11, A-1010 Vienna) headed by Gustav Pscholka. Franz Seidl, an electronics engineer from Vienna, has experimented with paranormal taped voices (now generally known as electronic voice phenomenon).

Sources:

Berger, Arthur S., and Joyce Berger. The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology and Psychical Research. New York: Paragon House, 1991.

Noah's Ark Society. "The Mediumship of Rudi Schneider." http://home.freeuk.net/noahsark/schneidr.htm. June 6, 2000.

Institut für Grenzgebiete der Wissenschaft. http://info.uibk.ac.at/c/cb/cb26/. June 6, 2000.

Land der Berge, Land der Ströme,
Land der Äcker, Land der Döme,
Land der Hämmer, zukunftsreich.
Heimat bist du grosser Söhne,
Volk begnadet für das Schöne,
Vielgerühmtes Österreich,
vielgerühmtes Österreich!

Lyrics:Paula von Preradović

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n. - Østrig

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n. - Autriche

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n. - Österreich

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n. - Áustria

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n. - Austria

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奥地利

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n. - 奧地利

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austria	Crystal In Austria