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>>> Item number 157, dated 96/02/29 12:10:46 -- ALL

Date:         Thu, 29 Feb 1996 12:10:46 -0600
From:         lijpn@pegasus.acs.ttu.edu
Subject:      Re: Osterreichs Geburtstag

Three more contributions...

From Gerhard Rosegger, Case Western Reserve U. <gxr2@po.cwru.edu>:

Recognition of 996 as a significant year probably goes back only to 1946. At that time, when the government was eager to re-establish an Austrian national consciousness, a big fuss was made over "950 Jahre Oesterreich." A special postage stamp was issued, and all sorts of celebrations were held. As far as I can recall, in 1946 no one raised any serious questions about the whole "Ostarrichi" business -- quite a contrast to 1996!

From Sandy Gliboff, Johns Hopkins U. <gliboff@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu>:

It was my impression that 1996 is not "Oesterreichs Geburtstag," but rather "'Oesterreich's Geburtstag," that is, the first documented use of the name of the country (or something close enough to it to be recognizable)

From Perry Tapper, Palacky University <TAPPER@zlin.vutbr.cz>:

Owen Johnson writes that the Czech word for Austria (Rakousko) comes from the Czech word "Rakos" (Reed). I would like to add that Karel Havlicek-Borovsky, famous Czech journalist and poet, wrote in the nineteenth century that the root of "Rakousko" is "Rak" (crayfish, crawdad) because this animal "always walks backwards". He was, it is true, anti-Austria, but his writing had a great influence on the development of Czech political thought (and perhaps linguistic as well).

>>> Item number 160, dated 96/03/01 10:33:24 -- ALL

Date:         Fri, 1 Mar 1996 10:33:24 -0600
From:         lijpn@pegasus.acs.ttu.edu
Subject:      Re: Oesterreichs Geburtstag

        Peter Paul Sint of the Austrian Academy of Sciences writes:

Not wanting to clutter the list with incomplete explanation I sent the following comment to Owen Johnson. But unsatisfied with the even more incomplete interpretation of Havlicek-Borovsky I think it is necessary to post a slightly extended version of it [his text follows the citation]:

> From Perry Tapper, Palacky University <TAPPER@zlin.vutbr.cz>: >
>Owen Johnson writes that the Czech word for Austria (Rakousko) comes >from the Czech word "Rakos" (Reed). I would like to add that Karel >Havlicek-Borovsky, famous Czech journalist and poet, wrote in the >nineteenth century that the root of "Rakousko" is "Rak" (crayfish, >crawdad) because this animal "always walks backwards". He was, it is >true, anti-Austria, but his writing had a great influence on the >development of Czech political thought (and perhaps linguistic as >well).

I am not quite sure about the place: but I think it comes from the city Raabs a.d.Thaya today in Austria near the Czech Austrian border: Austria, the country behind Raabs.

I have no idea about the etymology of Raabs (and its Czech equivalent -- which I don't remember (R. na Dyje?). Both Rakos-reed or Rak-crayfish could explain the place's name - but the explanation is nothing to do with Austria as a country). In any case (like with ostarrich) the name of a small place was taken over for a larger unit.

Possibly Raabs was an important place in the Great Moravian Empire and its name later given to the country beyond?

To two comments of Prof. Rosegger:

Naturally the name Oesterreich was not invented 1946 -- although, I agree, 950 years of the documentation of the name came in handy. The myths of the name were important already in the Third Reich: The name was forbidden (Upper and Lower Austria were renamed Oberdonau, Niederdonau). But when the Burgtheater performed _King Ottokar's Luck and Demise_, by the Austrian classical dramatist Grillparzer (an elogy of Rudolf of Habsburg), the line:

In your camp is Austria
(In Deinem Lager ist Oesterreich)

suddenly led to an unexpected applause (never raised before). After a short while further performances were forbidden by the NSDAP.

And certainly it was important 1804 when Franz took the title Kaiser von Oesterreich (still another candidate for a birth date - so wait for 2004).

The important date in the monarchy was naturally the installation of the Habsburgs in Austria (and earlier, you remember the invented myths of the Privilegium Maius). And the birthday of the Emperor (and the date of his enthronement) was probably more important than the birthday of the Empire.

As far as I understand (but can't document) 'Unterrichtssprache' was chosen because it satisfies the need of the (relatively few) minority schools with non-German 'language of instruction'. In that sense a 'politically correct' term. But possibly this is only an additional explanation to the Anti-German Zeitgeist.

Peter Paul Sint <sint@oeaw.ac.at; http://www.iwe.oeaw.ac.at/sint/> Research Unit for Socio-Economics, Austrian Academy of Sciences Kegelgasse 27, A-1030 Wien (=Vienna), Austria. Phone:(+431) 712 21 40 - 36 Fax: (+431) 712 21 40 - 34

>>> Item number 189, dated 96/03/25 10:34:51 -- ALL

Date:         Mon, 25 Mar 1996 10:34:51 -0600
From:         lijpn@pegasus.acs.ttu.edu
Subject:      Re: Oesterreichs Geburtstag

As an addendum to our recent discussion regarding the Austrian anniversary celebration, Gary Shanafelt of McMurry University of <GSHAN@MCM.ACU.EDU> writes:

I'd like thank those that responded to my question of what the real millennium of Austria is, 976 or 996. I guess when you can trace your history that far back, you get more options for birthdays than we Americans have. The discussion prompted me to do some more reading; I notice that that old standby of Austrian history, Hugo Hantsch's _Geschichte Oesterrichs_ (1969 issue), manages to have it both ways by citing both dates on the same page (p. 46 of vol. I), though without giving any apparent precedence to either. I found the argument for a birthday of 1946 the most interesting of all -- except that one would have to wait a long time for a millennial celebration with a date like that.

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