Timeline
95-501: The Federal State of Austria ( Austrian German : Bundesstaat Österreich ; colloquially known as the " Ständestaat ") was a continuation of the First Austrian Republic between 1934 and 1938 when it was a one-party state led by the conservative , nationalist , fascist and corporatist Fatherland Front . The Ständestaat concept, derived from the notion of Stände (" estates " or " corporations "),
190-422: A Constitutional Court . It had been established in 1919 and gained the right to revise the laws of the federal states that year. After the new constitution had been adopted in 1920, the court was also entitled to revise national laws according to the constitution. This scheme of a separate constitutional court able to review legislative acts for their constitutionality came to be known as the "Austrian system". After
285-632: A National Council resolution overruling a Federal Council objection merely has to meet a higher quorum than a regular resolution. For this reason, the Federal Council has hardly any real power to prevent the adoption of legislation, the National Council being able to override it easily. The Federal Council is sometimes compared to the British House of Lords , another deliberative body able to stall but usually not to strike down
380-527: A cabinet appointed by its legislature. The federal constitution defines Austria itself as a bicameral parliamentary democracy with near-complete separation of powers . Austria's government structure is thus very similar to that of much larger federal republics such as Germany or the United States . The main practical difference between Austria on one hand and Germany or the United States on
475-400: A cabinet. The list is then submitted to the president by the chancellor-to-be; the president usually adopts it without much argument, although there has been at least one case in recent history where the president did refuse to install a minister. The president retains the right to dismiss the whole cabinet at will, or certain ministers of it at the request of the chancellor. Although elected for
570-600: A directly applicable constitutional law in Austria. Given the fact that the Constitutional Court has begun to interpret the B-VG's equal treatment clause and other constitutional rights rather broadly since at least the early 1980s, civil rights are, as a general matter, relatively well protected. In addition to their legislative capacity, the members of the two houses of parliament have the authority to impeach
665-401: A five-year term, the National Council can dissolve itself at any time, bringing about new elections. The federal chancellor's dual role as executive officeholder and heavyweight party official well connected to the legislature makes the chancellor far more powerful than the formally senior federal president. Actual executive authority thus lies with the chancellor and his or her ministers, while
760-712: A meeting with Wehrmacht commanders. Under the mediation of the German ambassador Franz von Papen , Schuschnigg on 12 February 1938 traveled to Hitler's Berghof residence in Berchtesgaden , only to be confronted with an ultimatum to readmit the Nazi Party and to appoint Seyss-Inquart and Glaise-Horstenau ministers of the Austrian cabinet. Schuschnigg, impressed by the presence of OKW chief General Wilhelm Keitel , gave in and on 16 February Seyss-Inquart became head of
855-532: A member of the European Union , 23 food-related terms were listed in its accession agreement as having the same legal status as the equivalent terms used in Germany, for example, the words for "potato", "tomato", and "Brussels sprouts". (Examples in " Vocabulary ") Austrian German is the only variety of a pluricentric language recognized under international law or EU primary law. In Austria , as in
950-417: A motion supported by at least one-third of the members of the Federal Council. In practice, most bills are proposed by the cabinet and passed after merely token debate. Bills passed by the National Council are sent to the Federal Council for affirmation. If the Federal Council approves of the bill or simply does nothing for a period of eight weeks, the bill has succeeded. Bills passed by both houses (or passed by
1045-568: A parliament. As a practical matter, however, it continues to function as a parliament anyway. Austria's parliament consists of two houses, the National Council and the Federal Council. The 183 members of the National Council are elected by nationwide popular vote under statutes aiming at party-list proportional representation . The currently 64 members of the Federal Council are elected by Austria's nine state legislatures under
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#17327650128621140-477: A proposed law. While the House of Lords occasionally exercises its stalling power, however, the Federal Council hardly ever does. Since the parties controlling the National Council consistently also hold a majority in the Federal Council, the latter gives its blessing to essentially everything the former has adopted. Federal executive authority is shared by the federal president and federal cabinet . The president
1235-533: A provision that had been previously declared unconstitutional by the competent Constitutional Court has subsequently been enacted as constitutional law. Needless to say, the Constitutional Court did and does not like that practice, and has declared that it might, in a not-too-distant future, consider such changes, in their entirety, as "fundamental change" to the Constitution, which would require
1330-677: A rump National Council. Direct parliamentary elections were abolished. Instead, deputies were nominated by four non-elective, corporatist-styled councils – the State Council ( Staatsrat ), Federal Culture Council ( Bundeskulturrat ), Federal Economic Council ( Bundeswirtschaftsrat ), and the States' Council ( Länderrat ). In practice, however, all governing power was now in Dollfuss' hands. Dollfuss continued to rule under what amounted to martial law until his assassination on 25 July 1934 during
1425-409: A statute allocating seats roughly proportional to state population size (the largest Bundesland being entitled to twelve members and the others accordingly, but no state to less than three). In theory, the National Council and the Federal Council are peers. As a practical matter, the National Council is decidedly more powerful; the predominance of the National Council is such that Austrians frequently use
1520-640: A system concentrating power in the hands of a single autonomous leader was made in an attempt to appease the para-fascist movements (such as the Heimwehr , or later the Ostmärkische Sturmscharen and the Social Democratic Republikanischer Schutzbund ) thriving in Austria at that time. In 1934, following years of increasingly violent political strife and gradual erosion of the rule of law ,
1615-431: A very traditional form of the language, probably derived from medieval deeds and documents, and has a very complex structure and vocabulary generally reserved for such documents. For most speakers (even native speakers), this form of the language is generally difficult to understand, as it contains many highly specialised terms for diplomatic, internal, official, and military matters. There are no regional variations because
1710-434: Is elected by popular vote for a term of six years and limited to two consecutive terms of office. The president is the head of state and appoints the cabinet, a body consisting of the federal chancellor and a number of ministers. The president also appoints the members of the Constitutional Court and numerous other public officials, represents the republic in international relations, accredits foreign ambassadors, and acts as
1805-422: Is in violation of basic law. Adjudicating upon the constitutionality of the bill itself is the exclusive prerogative of the Constitutional Court. Provided that the bill in question neither amends the constitution such that states' rights are curtailed nor in some other way pertains to the organization of the legislature itself, the National Council can force the bill into law even if the Federal Council rejects it;
1900-402: Is needed is a majority of two-thirds in the National Council. Only in the case of a fundamental change ("Gesamtänderung") of the constitution a confirmation by referendum is required. Austria's accession to EU in 1995 was considered such a change. Over the years, the Austrian legal system became littered with thousands of constitutional provisions, split up over numerous acts. The reason for this
1995-458: Is offered in Markhardt, Heidemarie: Wörterbuch der österreichischen Rechts-, Wirtschafts- und Verwaltungsterminologie (Peter Lang, 2006). Because of German's pluricentric nature, German dialects in Austria should not be confused with the variety of Standard Austrian German spoken by most Austrians, which is distinct from that of Germany or Switzerland . In the field of German dialectology,
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#17327650128622090-589: Is the body of all constitutional law of the Republic of Austria on the federal level . It is split up over many different acts. Its centerpiece is the Federal Constitutional Law ( Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz ) (B-VG), which includes the most important federal constitutional provisions. Apart from the B-VG, there are many other 'federal constitutional laws' ( Bundesverfassungsgesetze , singular Bundesverfassungsgesetz , abbrev. BVG, i.e. without
2185-457: Is the variety of Standard German written and spoken in Austria and South Tyrol . It has the highest sociolinguistic prestige locally, as it is the variation used in the media and for other formal situations. In less formal situations, Austrians use Bavarian and Alemannic dialects , which are traditionally spoken but rarely written in Austria. It has been standardized with the publishing of
2280-527: Is used in Austria, as in Germany but not in Switzerland. Distinctions in vocabulary persist, for example, in culinary terms, for which communication with Germans is frequently difficult, and administrative and legal language because of Austria's exclusion from the development of a German nation-state in the late 19th century and its manifold particular traditions. A comprehensive collection of Austrian-German legal, administrative and economic terms
2375-677: Is very rarely used in Austria, especially in the spoken language , with the exception of some modal verbs ( ich sollte , ich wollte ). There are many official terms that differ in Austrian German from their usage in most parts of Germany . Words used in Austria are Jänner (January) rather than Januar , Feber (seldom, February) along with Februar , heuer (this year) along with dieses Jahr , Stiege (stairs) along with Treppen , Rauchfang (chimney) instead of Schornstein , many administrative, legal and political terms, and many food terms, including
2470-416: The Österreichisches Wörterbuch in 1951. Austrian German has its beginning in the mid-18th century, when Empress Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II introduced compulsory schooling in 1774, and several reforms of administration in their multilingual Habsburg Empire . At the time, the written standard was Oberdeutsche Schreibsprache ( Upper German written language), which was highly influenced by
2565-531: The Allied occupation of Austria . In the 1890s, the founding members of the conservative-clerical Christian Social Party (CS) like Karl von Vogelsang and the Vienna mayor Karl Lueger had already developed anti- liberal views, though primarily from an economic perspective considering the pauperization of the proletariat and the lower middle class. Strongly referring to the doctrine of Catholic social teaching ,
2660-831: The Anschluss with an implausible 99,73% of votes. Hundreds of thousands of "undesirable" Austrians – 18% of the population – were removed from the voter lists due to being Jewish or members of the Social Democratic party, which opposed the Nazis, and were therefore unable to vote. Notes Further reading Austrian German language Austrian German ( German : Österreichisches Deutsch ), Austrian Standard German ( ASG ), Standard Austrian German ( Österreichisches Standarddeutsch ), Austrian High German ( Österreichisches Hochdeutsch ), or simply just Austrian ( Österreichisch ),
2755-533: The Bavarian and Alemannic dialects of Austria. Another option was to create a new standard based on the Southern German dialects, as proposed by the linguist Johann Siegmund Popowitsch . Instead they decided for pragmatic reasons to adopt the already-standardized chancellery language of Saxony ( Sächsische Kanzleisprache or Meißner Kanzleideutsch ), which was based on the administrative language of
2850-631: The Communist Party on 26 May 1933, the Social Democratic Republikanischer Schutzbund paramilitary organization on 30 May and the Austrian branch of the Nazi Party on 19 June. On 20 May 1933 he had established the Fatherland's Front as a unity party of "an autonomous, Christian, German, corporative Federal State of Austria". On 12 February 1934 the government's attempts to enforce the ban of
2945-560: The German-speaking parts of Switzerland and in southern Germany , verbs that express a state tend to use sein as the auxiliary verb in the perfect , as well as verbs of movement. Verbs which fall into this category include sitzen (to sit), liegen (to lie) and, in parts of Styria and Carinthia , schlafen (to sleep). Therefore, the perfect of these verbs would be ich bin gesessen , ich bin gelegen and ich bin geschlafen , respectively. In Germany,
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3040-633: The Matura graduation exams. According to this ideology, Austrians were "better Germans ". In keeping with the regime's Catholicism, the regime elevated the non-communist and non-capitalist teachings of Papal Encyclicals, most prominently Quadragesimo anno of Pope Pius XI . Despite its nominal embrace of corporatism and shunning of liberal capitalism, the Federal State pursued a fiscal conservative monetary policy. Vienna School economist Ludwig von Mises , who had collaborated with Dollfuss before
3135-555: The National Assembly , and decide on the National Council's motion. If a referendum is held, and the President is not removed from office by popular vote, he is automatically considered re-elected for another six-year term (although he may still not serve for more than twelve consecutive years). The National Council will then be dissolved automatically and new general elections must be held. The president may also dissolve
3230-806: The Pillersdorf Constitution in 1848, the "irrevocable" Stadion Constitution from 1848 to 1851, the October Diploma in 1860, the February Patent from 1861 until 1865. The B-VG was based on drafts whose principal author was Hans Kelsen and was first enacted on October 1, 1920. Since political agreement over a bill of rights could not be reached, the Basic Law on the General Rights of Citizens ( Staatsgrundgesetz über die allgemeinen Rechte der Staatsbürger ) of 1867
3325-601: The Roman Empire , implements civil law and therefore lacks the distinction between courts of law and courts of equity sometimes found in common law jurisdictions. Civil courts do not try suits against the federation or its states in their capacity as administrative units, but only when acting in the form of private law . Most cases are tried before District Courts (Bezirksgerichte, abbrev.: BG, singular: Bezirksgericht), with Regional Courts (Landesgerichte, abbrev.: LG, singular: Landesgericht) serving as courts of appeal and
3420-877: The Schutzbund at the Hotel Schiff in Linz sparked the Austrian Civil War . The revolt was suppressed with support by the Bundesheer and right-wing Heimwehr troops under Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg , and ended with the ban of the Social Democratic Party and the trade unions. The path to dictatorship was completed on 1 May 1934, when the Constitution of Austria was recast into a severely authoritarian and corporatist document by
3515-682: The U.S. and the British Dominions (such as Canada and Australia ), where the regular court system is in charge of judicial review, Austria was one of the earliest countries to have judicial review at all (although the Czechoslovak Constitution came into force earlier, the establishment of the Court's new rights itself predated the Czechoslovak Court by a couple of months ). Many European countries adopted
3610-545: The United States federal judiciary , parties have a statutory right to appeal. Although access to the Supreme Court has been successively restricted to matters of some importance in recent years, higher courts can generally not simply refuse to review a decision reached by subordinate courts. Note that the Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof - OGH), the Constitutional Court (Verfassungsgerichtshof - VfGH) and
3705-506: The history of Austria . The Habsburg Monarchy was elevated as a time of greatness in Austrian history. The Catholic Church played a large role in the nation's definition of Austrian history and identity, alienating German culture. Unlike Hitler's comparatively secular regime, the Catholic Church was given a prominent voice in a variety of issues. The state de-secularized schools in education, requiring religious education to complete
3800-835: The Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof - VwGH) are three separate high courts, none being senior to the other two. Most closely resembling a bill of rights in Austria is the Basic Law on the General Rights of Nationals of the Kingdoms and Länder represented in the Council of the Realm , a decree issued by Emperor Franz Josef on December 21, 1867 in response to pressure by liberal insurgents. A very important part of Austria's canon of constitutional civil liberties thus originated as an imperatorial edict predating
3895-550: The Administrative and Constitutional Court System, a structure essentially consisting of the Constitutional Court and the Administrative Court . The Constitutional Court examines the constitutionality of laws passed by Parliament, the legality of regulations by Federal ministers and other administrative authorities and finally alleged infringements of constitutional rights of individuals through decisions of
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3990-404: The Administrative or the Constitutional Court. In 2014 these administrative tribunals were abolished in favour of eleven administrative courts—one in each state ( Landesverwaltungsgerichte ) and two on the federal level ( Bundesverwaltungsgericht , Bundesfinanzgericht ). The Austrian constitution was the second in the world ( nearly contemporaneous with Czechoslovakia ) to enact judicial review by
4085-801: The Anschluss bill into law. Two days later in his speech on the Heldenplatz in Vienna, Hitler proclaimed the "accession of my homeland to the German Reich" . A highly dubious referendum – organized and implemented by Josef Bürckel , the Nazi Gauleiter of the Pfalz and the Saarland , who was appointed by Hitler to be in charge of the election – was held on 10 April, ratifying
4180-557: The Austrian system of review after World War II . Judicial powers not committed to the Administrative and Constitutional Court System are vested with the Civil and Criminal Court System, a structure consisting of civil courts on the one hand and criminal courts on the other hand. Civil courts try all cases in which both the claimant and the respondent are private citizens or corporations, including but not limited to contract and torts disputes: Austria's legal system, having evolved from that of
4275-826: The CS agitated against the Austrian labour movement led by the Social Democratic Party of Austria . During the Great Depression in the First Austrian Republic of the early 1930s, the CS on the basis of the Quadragesimo anno encyclical issued by Pope Pius XI in 1931 pursued the idea of overcoming the ongoing class struggle by the implementation of a corporative form of government modelled on Italian fascism and Portugal's Estado Novo . The CS politician Engelbert Dollfuss, appointed Chancellor of Austria in 1932, on 4 March 1933 saw an opportunity in
4370-718: The Constitutional Court has the authority to strike down laws. In recent years, an increasing number of tribunals of a judicial nature (article 133 point 4 B-VG) hade been introduced in a number of areas to improve the review of the conduct of administrative authorities. The most important among them were the Länder independent administrative chambers ( Unabhängige Verwaltungssenate - UVS), who decided, amongst other things, on second authority in proceedings relating to administrative contraventions as well as recourses against acts of direct exercise of command and constraint power from administrative authorities. Other such chambers were competent in
4465-437: The Federal State could be considered genuinely fascist is debatable. Although it was authoritarian and used fascist-like symbols, it never achieved broad support among Austrians. Its most prominent policy was an embrace of Catholicism, and its economic and social policies bear only a passing resemblance to those of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany and more of a resemblance to Portugal under Salazar. John Gunther wrote in 1940 that
4560-478: The National Council and ignored by the Federal Council) are ultimately signed into law by the federal president . The president does not have the power to veto bills; a signature is a technical formality notarizing that the bill has been introduced and resolved upon in accordance to the procedure stipulated by the constitution. Legislation may be vetoed only on the ground that its genesis, not its substance,
4655-407: The National Council on a motion by its principal committee. A relatively weak president , who was elected by both houses, was to serve as head of state. In 1929, the constitution underwent a revision significantly broadening the prerogatives of the president. In particular, the president was to be elected directly by the people rather than by the legislature. The president was also to be vested with
4750-471: The National Council, but only once for the same reason during his term of office. Note that the president does not have the power to veto specific acts of legislation: no matter how vehemently he objects to some particular bill, or believes it to be unconstitutional, all he can actually do is threaten to dismiss the government or dissolve the National Council before the bill is actually passed. None of these emergency powers have been exercised thus far. Perhaps
4845-511: The Nazi July Putsch . Although the coup d'état initially had the encouragement of Hitler, it was quickly suppressed and Dollfuss's education minister, Kurt Schuschnigg , succeeded him. Hitler officially denied any involvement in the failed coup , but he continued to destabilise the Austrian state by secretly supporting Nazi sympathisers like Arthur Seyss-Inquart and Edmund Glaise-Horstenau . In turn Austria under Schuschnigg sought
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#17327650128624940-507: The Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, abbrev.: OGH) serving as the court of last resort. In cases considered particularly grave or technically involved, the Regional Courts serve as courts of first instance and specialized Regional Courts of Appeal (Oberlandesgerichte, abbrev.: OLG, singular: Oberlandesgericht) serve as courts of appeal, the Supreme Court still being the court of last resort. Unlike with court systems such as that of
5035-451: The Tyrol being very characteristic. Speakers from those regions, even those speaking Standard German, can usually be easily identified by their accent, even by an untrained listener. Several of the dialects have been influenced by contact with non-Germanic linguistic groups, such as the dialect of Carinthia, where, in the past, many speakers were bilingual (and, in the southeastern portions of
5130-508: The area of tax law ( Unabhängiger Finanzsenat - UFS), in terms of asylum ( Unabhängiger Bundesasylsenat - UBAS), in relation to environmental matters ( Unabhängiger Umweltsenat ) or in the field of telecommunications ( Unabhängiger Bundeskommunikationssenat ). Although all these tribunals were formally part of the administrative organization, their members had guarantees of independence and irremovability and their powers may thus be compared to jurisdictions. Their rulings could be challenged before
5225-464: The authority to dissolve the parliament, a power typically not held by presidents of parliamentary republics. He also had the authority to formally appoint the chancellor and the cabinet. On paper, the president was vested with powers comparable to those of the President of the United States . However, in practice his role remained mostly ceremonial and representative. For example, his right to appoint
5320-625: The backing of its southern neighbour, the fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini . Tables turned after the Second Italo-Abyssinian War of 1935–36, when Mussolini, internationally isolated, approached Hitler. Though Schuschnigg tried to improve relations with Nazi Germany by amnestying several Austrian Nazis and accepting them in the Fatherland's Front, he had no chance to prevail against the " axis " of Berlin and Rome proclaimed by Mussolini on 1 November 1936. One of
5415-467: The border meeting no resistance. Hitler had originally intended to retain Austria as a puppet state headed by Seyss-Inquart. However, the enthusiastic support for Hitler led him to change his stance and support a full Anschluss between Austria and Nazi Germany. On 13 March Seyss-Inquart formally decreed the Anschluss , though President Miklas avoided signing the law by resigning immediately, only for Seyss-Inquart to take over as acting President and sign
5510-449: The chancellor was constrained by the National Council's power to censure the cabinet or individual ministers, meaning the president was all but required to ensure his choice of chancellor had the confidence of the National Council. He exercised many of his other executive functions on the advice of the chancellor. This move away from a government steered predominantly by a fairly large and (by definition) fractioned deliberative body towards
5605-516: The constitution has been heavily modified and amended since then. In area, the Republic of Austria is slightly smaller than Maine , Scotland , or Hokkaidō and home to a relatively ethnically and culturally homogeneous population of 8.8 million people. Given that more than one fifth of its inhabitants are concentrated in the city of Vienna and its suburbs, the nation is also naturally unipolar in terms of both economic and cultural activity. Austria's constitutional framework nevertheless characterizes
5700-600: The coup, was made chairman of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce , and with the guidance of Mises and other economists, the Federal State pursued a policy of austerity in reaction to the Great Depression. The Federal State pursued harsh deflationary policies to balance the currency. It also cut spending drastically, and high interest rates were the norm. The budget deficit was slashed from over 200 million shillings to less than 50 million. By 1936, only 50% of
5795-532: The current Constitution of Austria by roughly fifty years, the reason being that the framers of the Constitution in 1920 could not agree on a set of civil liberties to include in the constitution proper: as a lowest common denominator, they resorted to this Basic Law of 1867. Since then, other civil liberties have been set out in other constitutional laws, and Austria is party to the European Convention of Human Rights , which, too, has been implemented as
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#17327650128625890-688: The different accents ( isoglosses ) coincide strongly with the borders of the states and also with the border with Bavaria, with Bavarians having a markedly different rhythm of speech in spite of the linguistic similarities. Constitution of Austria Wöginger • Rendi-Wagner • Kickl • Maurer • Meinl-Reisinger • [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Federal Constitution of Austria ( German : Österreichische Bundesverfassung )
5985-412: The exception of nine state administrative courts. Federal legislative powers are vested in a body the constitution refers to as a parliament . Ever since the somewhat paradoxical 1929 revision of the constitution, which strengthened the formal separation of powers in Austria at the instigation of sympathizers of fascism, Austria's legislature technically bears more resemblance to a congress than to
6080-558: The federal president is a figurehead rather than an actual head of government. Austria's presidents are largely content with their ceremonial role, striving for the role of impartial mediator and dignified elder statesman, and more or less consistently steer clear of the murky waters of hands-on politics. In recent times, however, former president Heinz Fischer was known to comment occasionally on current political issues. Federal and state judicial authority, in particular responsibility for judicial review of administrative acts , lies with
6175-551: The following: There are, however, some false friends between the two regional varieties: In addition to the standard variety, in everyday life most Austrians speak one of a number of Upper German dialects . While strong forms of the various dialects are not fully mutually intelligible to northern Germans , communication is much easier in Bavaria , especially rural areas, where the Bavarian dialect still predominates as
6270-518: The hyphen), as well as individual provisions in statutes and treaties that are designated as constitutional ( Verfassungsbestimmung ). For example, the B-VG does not include a bill of rights , but provisions on civil liberties are split up over various constitutional pieces of legislation. Over time, both the B-VG and the numerous pieces of constitutional law supplementing it have undergone hundreds of minor and major amendments and revisions. Austria has been governed by multiple constitutions, including
6365-420: The lower administrative courts. It also tries disputes between the federation and its member states, demarcation disputes between other courts and impeachments of the federal president (serving as State Court in that matter.) The Administrative Court tries all kinds of cases which involve ex officio decisions by public officials or bodies and which are not dealt with by the Constitutional Court. Note that only
6460-481: The most unusual aspect of Austrian constitutional law is the relative ease with which it can be changed, combined with the fact that a constitutional amendment need not be incorporated into the main text of the B-VG, or for that matter any of the more important parts of the constitutional body, but can be enacted as a separate constitutional act, or even as a simple section within any act, simply designated as "constitutional" (Verfassungsbestimmung). In reality, all that
6555-667: The mother tongue. The Central Austro-Bavarian dialects are more intelligible to speakers of Standard German than the Southern Austro-Bavarian dialects of Tyrol . Viennese , the Austro-Bavarian dialect of Vienna , is seen for many in Germany as quintessentially Austrian. The people of Graz , the capital of Styria , speak yet another dialect which is not very Styrian and more easily understood by people from other parts of Austria than other Styrian dialects, for example from western Styria. Simple words in
6650-400: The nobility of Austria-Hungary . The sociolect, a variety of Standard German, is influenced by Viennese German and other Austro-Bavarian dialects spoken in eastern Austria but is slightly nasalized . For many years, Austria had a special form of the language for official government documents that is known as Österreichische Kanzleisprache , or " Austrian chancellery language". It is
6745-400: The nominal commander in chief of Austria's armed forces. While Austria's federal cabinet is technically not answerable to the legislature (except for a motion of censure ), it would be almost totally paralyzed without the active support of the National Council. Since constitutional convention prevents the president from using his power to dissolve the National Council on his own authority,
6840-630: The non-Austrian area of Meißen and Dresden . Austria High German ( Hochdeutsch in Österreich , not to be confused with the Bavarian Austria German dialects) has the same geographic origin as the Swiss High German ( Schweizer Hochdeutsch , not to be confused with the Alemannic Swiss German dialects). The process of introducing the new written standard was led by Joseph von Sonnenfels . Since 1951,
6935-502: The notion of Standard Austrian German has been both debated and defended by German linguists since the 1970s. A One Standard German Axiom , effectively preventing the development of newer standards of German, has recently been offered as a characteristic of the field but has not been taken up. Until 1918, the spoken standard in Austria was the Schönbrunner Deutsch , a sociolect spoken by the imperial Habsburg family and
7030-542: The official language. Austrian delegates participated in the international working group that drafted the German spelling reform of 1996 and several conferences leading up to the reform were hosted in Vienna at the invitation of the Austrian federal government. Austria adopted it as a signatory, along with Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, of an international memorandum of understanding ( Wiener Absichtserklärung ) signed in Vienna in 1996. The eszett or "sharp s" (ß)
7125-473: The one-party state and legalizing the socialist trade unions. Hitler reacted with the mobilization of Wehrmacht troops at the Austrian border and demanded the appointment of Seyss-Inquart as Austrian chancellor. On 11 March Austrian Nazis stormed the Federal Chancellery and forced Schuschnigg to resign. Seyss-Inquart was sworn in as his successor by Miklas and the next day Wehrmacht troops crossed
7220-421: The other is that Austria's states have comparatively little autonomy: almost all matters of practical importance, including but not limited to defense, foreign politics, criminal law, corporate law, most other aspects of economic law, education, academia, welfare, telecommunications, and the health care system, lie with the federation. The judiciary (including three supreme courts) is almost exclusively federal, with
7315-413: The president is unable to hector the legislature into doing his or her bidding, and the cabinet is for all intents and purposes subject to National Council approval. The cabinet's composition therefore reflects National Council election results rather than presidential election outcomes. After elections, it is customary for the president to ask the leader of the strongest party to become chancellor and form
7410-423: The president, who is then tried before the Constitutional Court, serving as State Court, or call for a referendum to have the federal president removed from office. Exertion of these emergency powers is a two-step process: first the National Council requests the president to be impeached or subjected to referendum, then the members of the National Council and the Federal Council convene in joint session, thus forming
7505-511: The reasons for the failure of the putsch was Italian intervention: Mussolini assembled an army corps of four divisions on the Austrian border and threatened Hitler with a war with Italy in the event of a German invasion of Austria as originally planned, should the coup have been more successful. Support for the Nazi movement in Austria was surpassed only by that in Germany, allegedly amounting to 75% in some areas. The Federal State of Austria glorified
7600-423: The republic as a federation consisting of nine autonomous federal states: Like the federation, each of the nine states of Austria has a constitution defining it to be a republican entity governed according to the principles of representative democracy . The state constitutions congruently define the states to be unicameral parliamentary democracies; each state has a legislature elected by popular vote and
7695-645: The resignation of Social Democrat Karl Renner as president of the Austrian Nationalrat , after irregularities occurred during a voting process. Dollfuss called the incident a "self-elimination" ( Selbstausschaltung ) of the parliament and had the following meeting on 15 March forcibly prorogued by the forces of the Vienna police department. From then onward, Dollfuss governed by emergency decree. His fellow CS party member, President Wilhelm Miklas did not take any action to restore democracy. Chancellor Dollfuss then governed by emergency decree, banning
7790-642: The ruling Christian Social Party , which by then had turned to full-scale Austrofascism , formally replaced the constitution by a new basic law defining Austria as an authoritarian corporate state . The Austrofascist constitution was in force until Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938, ceasing to exist as a sovereign state. The Constitution of Austria was eventually reinstated on May 1, 1945, Austria having reestablished itself as an independent republic shortly before Nazi Germany's definitive collapse. The modifications enacted in 1929 were not then rescinded, and essentially remain in effect until this day, although
7885-403: The special written form has been used mainly by a government that has now for centuries been based in Vienna. Österreichische Kanzleisprache is now used less and less because of various administrative reforms that reduced the number of traditional civil servants ( Beamte ). As a result, Standard Austrian German is replacing it in government and administrative texts. When Austria became
7980-609: The standardized form of Austrian German for official governmental use and in schools has been defined by the Österreichisches Wörterbuch ("Austrian Dictionary"), published originally at the behest of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (in the 1950s the "Unterrichtsministerium", under minister Felix Hurdes) with Verlag Jugend & Volk, then by the Österreichischer Bundesverlag. The official Austrian dictionary, Österreichisches Wörterbuch , prescribes spelling rules that define
8075-431: The state "assaulted the rights of citizens in a fantastic manner", noting that in 1934 the police raided 106,000 homes in Vienna and made 38,141 arrests of Nazis, social democrats, liberals and communists. He added, however: But—and it was an important "but"—the terror never reached anything like the repressive force of the Nazi terror. Most of those arrested promptly got out of jail again. Even at its most extreme phase, it
8170-545: The state, many still are even today) with Slovene , and the dialect of Vienna, which has been influenced by immigration during the Austro-Hungarian period, particularly from what is today the Czech Republic . The German dialects of South Tyrol have been influenced by local Romance languages , particularly noticeable with the many loanwords from Italian and Ladin . The geographic borderlines between
8265-510: The strategically important Austrian interior ministry . After the British ambassador to Berlin, Nevile Henderson on 3 March 1938 had stated that the German claims to Austria were justified, Schuschnigg started a last attempt to retain Austrian autonomy by scheduling a nationwide referendum on 13 March. As part of his effort to ensure victory, he released the Social Democratic leaders from prison and gained their support in return for dismantling
8360-500: The term "parliament" to refer to just the National Council instead of to the parliament as a whole. While bicameral legislatures such as the Congress of the United States allow bills to originate in both chambers, Austrian federal legislation always originates in the National Council, never in the Federal Council. In theory, bills can be sponsored by National Council members, by the federal cabinet , by popular initiative , or through
8455-440: The unemployed were receiving unemployment benefits. These policies coincided with a catastrophic economic contraction. According to Angus Maddison's estimates, unemployment peaked at 26% in 1933, failing to fall under 20% until 1937. This can be contrasted with German unemployment, which peaked at 30% in 1932 and had fallen to less than 5% by 1937. Additionally, real GDP collapsed, not returning to pre-1929 levels until 1937. Whether
8550-541: The various dialects are very similar, but pronunciation is distinct for each and, after listening to a few spoken words, it may be possible for an Austrian to realise which dialect is being spoken. However, in regard to the dialects of the deeper valleys of the Tyrol, other Tyroleans are often unable to understand them. Speakers from the different provinces of Austria can easily be distinguished from each other by their particular accents (probably more so than Bavarians), those of Carinthia , Styria, Vienna, Upper Austria , and
8645-402: The words stehen (to stand) and gestehen (to confess) are identical in the present perfect: habe gestanden . The Austrian variant avoids that potential ambiguity ( bin gestanden from stehen , "to stand"; and habe gestanden from gestehen , "to confess": "der Verbrecher ist vor dem Richter gestanden und hat gestanden" ). In addition, the preterite ( simple past )
8740-529: Was advocated by leading regime politicians such as Engelbert Dollfuss and Kurt Schuschnigg . The result was an authoritarian government based on a mix of Italian Fascist and conservative Catholic influences. It ended in March 1938 with the Anschluss , the German annexation of Austria. Austria would not become an independent country again until 1955, when the Austrian State Treaty ended
8835-589: Was difficult to take the Schuschnigg dictatorship completely seriously, although Schutzbunders tried in 1935 got mercilessly severe sentences. This was because of Austrian gentleness, Austrian genius for compromise, Austrian love for cloudy legal abstractions, and Austrian Schlamperei . According to the Hossbach Memorandum , Hitler in November 1937 declared his plans for an Austrian campaign in
8930-402: Was in many cases that the legislature—in particular when the governing coalition possessed a two-thirds majority in the National Council (such as between 1945–1966, 1986–1994, 1995–1999, and 2007–2008)—enacted laws that were considered "constitutionally problematic" as constitutional laws, effectively protecting them from judicial review by the Constitutional Court. There have even been cases where
9025-478: Was left in place and designated as constitutional law. Originally, the B-VG was very parliamentarian in character. The prerogative to enact law was to lie with a comparatively strong parliament, the Federal Assembly composed of two houses, the National Council and the Federal Council . The responsibility for implementing law was to reside with a cabinet headed by a chancellor , who was nominated by
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