Vienna Secession
The Vienna Secession was an art movement formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, housed in the Vienna Künstlerhaus. This movement included painters and architects; the first president of the Secession was Gustav Klimt, Rudolf von Alt was made honorary president. Its official magazine was called Ver Sacrum which featured decorative works representative of the period; the Vienna Secession was founded on 3 April 1897 by artists Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Max Kurzweil, Wilhelm Bernatzik and others. Although Otto Wagner is recognised as an important member of the Vienna Secession he was not a founding member; the Secession artists objected to the prevailing conservatism of the Vienna Künstlerhaus with its traditional orientation toward Historicism. The Berlin and Munich Secession movements preceded the Vienna Secession, which held its first exhibition in 1898; the group's exhibition policy was notable for providing the first dedicated space for contemporary art in the city, with the express aim of making contacts with international art movements and campaigning against nationalism in art.
This helped make others familiar to the Viennese public. The 14th Secession exhibition, designed by Josef Hoffmann and dedicated to Ludwig van Beethoven, was famous. A statue of Beethoven by Max Klinger stood at the center, with Klimt's Beethoven frieze mounted around it; the Klimt frieze can be seen in the gallery today. In 1903, Hoffmann and Moser founded the Wiener Werkstätte as a fine-arts society with the goal of reforming the applied arts. On 14 June 1905 Gustav Klimt and other artists seceded from the Vienna Secession due to differences of opinion over artistic concepts; the movement was as much philosophical as aesthetic. Unlike other movements, there is no one style that unites the work of artists who were part of the Vienna Secession; the Secession building most nearly represents the movement. Above its entrance is the phrase "Der Zeit ihre Kunst. Der Kunst ihre Freiheit.". Secession artists were concerned, above all else, with the possibilities of art outside the confines of academic tradition.
They hoped to create a new style that owed nothing to historical influence, in keeping with the spirit of turn-of-the-century Vienna. Along with painters and sculptors, there were several prominent architects who became associated with the Vienna Secession. During this time, architects focused on bringing purer geometric forms into the designs of their buildings. Though they had their own type of design, the inspiration came from neoclassical architecture, with the addition of leaves and natural motifs; the three main architects of this movement were Josef Hoffmann, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Otto Wagner. Secessionist architects decorated the surface of their buildings with linear ornamentation in a form called whiplash or eel style, although Wagner's buildings tended towards greater simplicity and he has been regarded as a pioneer of modernism. In 1898, the group's exhibition house was built in the vicinity of Karlsplatz. Designed by Joseph Maria Olbrich, the exhibition building soon became known as "the Secession" and became an icon of the movement.
The secession building displayed art from several other influential artists such as Max Klinger, Eugène Grasset, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Arnold Bocklin. Otto Wagner's Majolika Haus in Vienna, part of Vienna Lines houses by Otto Wagner, is a significant example of the Austrian use of line. Other significant works of Otto Wagner include The Karlsplatz Stadtbahn Station in Vienna, Austrian Postal Savings Bank in Vienna. Wagner's way of modifying Art Nouveau decoration in a classical manner did not find favour with some of his pupils who broke away to form the Secessionists. One was Josef Hoffmann. A good example of his work is the Stoclet Palace in Brussels; the Secession movement was selected as the theme for a commemorative coin: the 100 euro Secession commemorative coin minted on 10 November 2004. On the obverse side there is a view of the Secession exhibition hall in Vienna; the reverse side features a small portion of the Beethoven Frieze by Gustav Klimt. The extract from the painting features three figures: a knight in armor representing Armed Strength, one woman in the background symbolizing Ambition and holding up a wreath of victory, a second woman representing Sympathy with lowered head and clasped hands.
On the obverse side of the Austrian € 0,50 or 50 euro-cent coin, the Vienna Secession Building figures within a circle, symbolising the birth of art nouveau and a new age in the country. National Gallery, London, 2013, Facing the Modern: The Portrait in Vienna 1900 Schorske, Carl E. "Gustav Klimt: Painting and the Crisis of the Liberal Ego" in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture. Vintage Books, 1981. ISBN 978-0-394-74478-0 Borsi and Ezio Godoli. "Vienna 1900 Architecture and Design". New York, NY: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc, 1986. ISBN 978-0-8478-0616-4 Arnanson, Harvard H. "History of Modern Art". Ed. Daniel Wheeler. 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc, 1986. ISBN 978-0-13-390360-7. Kathrin Romberg: Maurizio Cattelan. Text by Francesco Bonami, Wiener Secession, Wien. ISBN 3-900803-87-0 Topp, Leslie. "Architecture and truth in fin-de-siecle vienna". Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2004. ISBN 978-0-521-82275-6 "Architecture
Kunstgewerbeschule
A Kunstgewerbeschule was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was used for these schools. From the 1920s and after World War II, most of them either merged into universities or closed, although some continued until the 1970s. Students started at these schools from the ages of 16 to 20 years old, although sometimes as young as 14, undertook a four-year course, in which they were given a general education and learnt specific arts and craft skills such as weaving, painting, etc; some of the most well known artists of the period had been Kunstgewerbeschule students, including Anni Albers, Peter Behrens, René Burri, Otto Dix, Horst P. Horst, Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele and Oskar Schlemmer. Many students accepted into the renowned Bauhaus art school had studied at Kunstgewerbeschulen. In order of date opened: Berlin. Berlin had two Kunstgewerbeschulen; the teaching institute of the Berlin Museum of Applied Arts, opened on 12 January 1868.
The museum itself was founded in 1866 as an initiative of a private museum association. The school was set up to provide an alternative to academic arts training. From 1881 the school was based in the museum's Martin-Gropius-Bau building in Niederkirchnerstraße in Kreuzberg. In 1885 the Prussian state took over its affiliated school. In 1924, the school was separated from the museum and merged with the Hochschule für die Bildenden Künste, to become the Vereinigten Staatsschulen für Freie und Angewandte Kunst, it is one of the predecessors of the Hochschule der Künste Berlin, founded in 1975, which since 2001 has been the Universität der Künste Berlin. The other Berlin Kunstgewerbeschule, founded in 1899, was integrated into what is now UdK, see below; the Reimann School in Berlin, founded in 1902, was a vocational arts school, but it was funded, rather than being a state-funded Kunstgewerbeschule. München The Königliche Kunstgewerbeschule München was renamed the Staatsschule für angewandte Kunst in 1928, in 1937 renamed again as the Akademie für angewandte Kunst.
In 1946 it was incorporated into the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München. Kassel. Grew from an art academy founded in 1777. Founded as the Werkkunstschule on 24 May 1869. Closed at the beginning of World War II and its premises were used as a military hospital, which stopped operating in May 1943 due to flood damage caused by the bombing of the Edersee Dam, of the Dam Busters fame; the school reopened under the name Schule für Handwerk und Kunst in 1946. After various name changes and changes of premises this merged into the Kunsthochschule Kassel in 1970, which, in 1971, became a faculty of the University of Kassel. Stuttgart; the school was called the Württembergische staatliche Kunstgewerbeschule. In 1946 it became the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart. Kaiserslautern; the school was founded as the Pfälzische kunstgewerbliche Fachschule in 1874, along with the Königliche Kreisbaugewerkschule. About 1938 both schools merged to become the present day Meisterschule für Handwerker Kaiserslautern.
Dresden. It was founded as the Königlich-Sächsische Kunstgewerbeschule, it became the Akademie für Kunstgewerbe in 1921, merged with the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in 1950 to become the present day Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden. Leipzig; the Königliche Kunstakademie und Kunstgewerbeschule was established in 1876, from the earlier Zeichnungs-, Malerey- und Architectur-Academie, founded in 1764. The writer Johann Wolfgang Goethe a law student, started attending drawing classes there from Autumn 1765. From 1900 the school was called the Königliche Akademie für graphische Künste und Buchgewerbe. After World War II, in 1947, it became the Akademie für Graphik und Buchkunst - staatliche Kunsthochschule, in 1950 the Hochschule für Graphik und Buchkunst. Today it is known as the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst / Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig. Wien; the Kunstgewerbeschule Wien became a higher education institute in 1941, became the University of Applied Arts Vienna in 1999. Breslau; the Königlichen Kunst und Kunstgewerbeschule Breslau, founded in 1876, had its origins in the provincial art school, Provinzialkunstschule, founded in 1791.
This became the Königlichen Kunst- Bau- und Handwerkerschule in 1816. From 1911 it was the de:Staatliche Akademie für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe Breslau, it was closed on 1 April 1932 in the wake of an emergency decree issued under Article 43 of the Weimar Constitution. A new art school, now called the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Arts in English, was established in Wrocław in March 1946. Pforzheim; the school was founded as the Herzoglichen Kunstgewerbeschule und Fachschule für die Metallindustrie. It merged into the Staatlichen Höheren Wirtschaftsfachschule, a teritary institute for econ
Euro gold and silver commemorative coins (Austria)
Euro gold and silver commemorative coins are special euro coins minted and issued by member states of the Eurozone. They are minted in gold and silver, although other precious metals are used on rare occasions. Austria was one of the first twelve countries in the Eurozone to introduce the euro, on 1 January 2002. Since the Austrian Mint has been minting both normal issues of Austrian euro coins and commemorative euro coins in gold and silver; these commemorative coins are legal tender only in Austria, unlike the normal issues of the Austrian euro coins, which are legal tender in every country of the Eurozone. This means that the commemorative coins made of gold and silver cannot be used as money in other countries. Furthermore, as their bullion value exceeds their face value, these coins are not intended to be used as means of payment at all—although this remains possible where they are legal tender. For this reason, they are named Collectors' coins; such coins commemorate the anniversaries of historical events.
They can draw attention to current events of special importance. Austria mints more than ten of these coins on average per year, in gold and niobium, with face values ranging from €1.50 to €100. As of 3 July 2008, eighty variations of Austrian commemorative coins have been minted: eleven in 2002, twelve in 2003, fourteen in 2004, thirteen in 2005, thirteen in 2006, nine in 2007 and eleven to date in 2008; these special high-value commemorative coins are not to be confused with €2 commemorative coins, which are coins designated for circulation and have legal-tender status in all countries of the Eurozone. The following table shows the number of coins minted per year. In the first section, the coins are grouped by the metal used, while in the second section they are grouped by their face value. See article Vienna Philharmonic The following is the schedule for next year issues
Josef Hoffmann
Josef Hoffmann was an Austrian architect and designer of consumer goods who co-established Wiener Werkstätte. Hoffmann was born in Pirnitz / Brtnice, Austria-Hungary, he studied at the Higher State Crafts School in Brno / Brünn beginning in 1887 and worked with the local military planning authority in Würzburg, Germany. Thereafter he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna with Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer and Otto Wagner, graduating with a Prix de Rome in 1895. In Wagner's office, he met Joseph Maria Olbrich, together they founded the Vienna Secession in 1897 along with artists Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser. Beginning of 1899, he taught at the Kunstgewerbeschule, now University of Applied Arts Vienna. With the Secession, Hoffmann developed strong connections with other artists, he designed installation spaces for Secession exhibitions and a house for Moser, built from 1901-1903. However, he soon left the Secession in 1905 along with other stylist artists due to conflicts with realist naturalists over differences in artistic vision and disagreement over the premise of Gesamtkunstwerk.
With banker Fritz Wärndorfer and Moser he established the Wiener Werkstätte, to last until 1932, designed many of its products. Hoffmann's style became more sober and abstract and it was limited to functional structures and domestic products. In 1906, Hoffmann built his first great work on the outskirts of the Sanatorium Purkersdorf. Compared to the Moser House, with its rusticated vernacular roof, this was a great advancement towards abstraction and a move away from traditional Arts and Crafts and historicism; this project served as a major precedent and inspiration for the modern architecture that would develop in the first half of the 20th century, for instance the early work of Le Corbusier. It had the clarity and logic that foreshadowed Neue Sachlichkeit. Through contacts with Adolphe Stoclet, who sat on the supervisory board of the Austro-Belgischen Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, the Austrian-Belgian railway company, Hoffmann was commissioned to build the Palais Stoclet in Brussels from 1905 to 1911 for the wealthy banker and railway financier Adolphe Stoclet.
This masterpiece of Secession Style, was an example of Gesamtkunstwerk, replete with murals in the dining room by Klimt and four copper figures on the tower by Franz Metzner. In 1907, Hoffmann was co-founder of the Deutscher Werkbund, in 1912 of the Österreichischer Werkbund. After World War II, he took on official tasks, that of an Austrian general commissioner with the Venice Biennale and a membership in the art senate; some of Hoffmann's domestic designs can still be found in production today, such as the Rundes Modell cutlery set, manufactured by Alessi. Produced in silver, the range is now produced in high quality stainless steel. Another example of Hoffmann’s strict geometrical lines and the quadratic theme is the iconic Kubus Armchair. Designed in 1910, it was presented at the International Exhibition held in Buenos Aires on the centennial of Argentinean Independence known as May Revolution. Hoffmann's constant use of squares and cubes earned him the nickname Quadratl-Hoffmann. Although he said little to his students, Hoffmann was a esteemed and admired teacher.
He tried to bring out the best in each member of his class by means of challenging assignments, which were work on real commissions. Where he detected talent among young artists he was eager to promote it. German designer Anni Schaad was another of his students. Le Corbusier was offered a job in his office, Schiele was helped financially and Kokoschka was given work in the Wiener Werkstätte; as a member of the international jury for the competition to design a palace for the League of Nations at Geneva in 1927, Hoffmann belonged to the minority who voted for Le Corbusier’s project, the latter always spoke with admiration of his Viennese colleague. Hoffmann had voted for the union of Austria with Germany and, as noted in Tim Bonyhady's "Good Living Street; the fortunes of my Viennese family", the architect was admired by the Nazis who appointed him a Special Commissioner for Viennese Arts and Crafts and commissioned him to remodel the former German embassy building into the "Haus der Wehrmacht" for army officers.
Following its use by the British Government from 1945 to 1955 it was demolished. Hoffmann died in Vienna, aged 85; the critical reception of Hoffmann’s oeuvre has faithfully mirrored the changing tastes and ideologies in the history of 20th-century architecture. He received favourable attention from the critics early in his career, he was given extensive coverage in the special volume The Art Revival in Austria, published by The Studio in 1906. In France, Art et Décoration published favourable reviews of his mature work, his most extensive and detailed reviews are found in German-language periodicals, in particular Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, where many well-illustrated articles were devoted to his designs. His international exhibition work helped to make his name known, many distinguished contributors to the Festschrift on
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art in which a person uses various drawing instruments to mark paper or another two-dimensional medium. Instruments include graphite pencils and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, charcoal, pastels, various kinds of erasers, markers and various metals. Digital drawing is the act of using a computer to draw. Common methods of digital drawing include a stylus or finger on a touchscreen device, stylus- or finger-to-touchpad, or in some cases, a mouse. There are many digital art devices. A drawing instrument releases a small amount of material onto a surface; the most common support for drawing is paper, although other materials, such as cardboard, plastic, leather and board, may be used. Temporary drawings may be made on a blackboard or whiteboard or indeed anything; the medium has been a fundamental means of public expression throughout human history. It is one of most efficient means of communicating visual ideas; the wide availability of drawing instruments makes drawing one of the most common artistic activities.
In addition to its more artistic forms, drawing is used in commercial illustration, architecture and technical drawing. A quick, freehand drawing not intended as a finished work, is sometimes called a sketch. An artist who practices or works in technical drawing may be called a drafter, draftsman or a draughtsman. Drawing is one of the oldest forms of human expression within the visual arts, it is concerned with the marking of lines and areas of tone onto paper/other material, where the accurate representation of the visual world is expressed upon a plane surface. Traditional drawings were monochrome, or at least had little colour, while modern colored-pencil drawings may approach or cross a boundary between drawing and painting. In Western terminology, drawing is distinct from painting though similar media are employed in both tasks. Dry media associated with drawing, such as chalk, may be used in pastel paintings. Drawing may be done with a liquid medium, applied with pens. Similar supports can serve both: painting involves the application of liquid paint onto prepared canvas or panels, but sometimes an underdrawing is drawn first on that same support.
Drawing is exploratory, with considerable emphasis on observation, problem-solving and composition. Drawing is regularly used in preparation for a painting, further obfuscating their distinction. Drawings created. There are several categories of drawing, including figure drawing, cartooning and freehand. There are many drawing methods, such as line drawing, shading, the surrealist method of entopic graphomania, tracing. A quick, unrefined drawing may be called a sketch. In fields outside art, technical drawings or plans of buildings, machinery and other things are called "drawings" when they have been transferred to another medium by printing. Drawing is one of the oldest forms of human expression, with evidence for its existence preceding that of written communication, it is believed that drawing was used as a specialised form of communication before the invention of the written language, demonstrated by the production of cave and rock paintings around 30,000 years ago. These drawings, known as pictograms, depicted abstract concepts.
The sketches and paintings produced by Neolithic times were stylised and simplified in to symbol systems and into early writing systems. Before the widespread availability of paper, 12th-century monks in European monasteries used intricate drawings to prepare illustrated, illuminated manuscripts on vellum and parchment. Drawing has been used extensively in the field of science, as a method of discovery and explanation. In 1609, astronomer Galileo Galilei explained the changing phases of the moon through his observational telescopic drawings. In 1924, geophysicist Alfred Wegener used illustrations to visually demonstrate the origin of the continents. Drawing is used to express one's creativity, therefore has been prominent in the world of art. Throughout much of history, drawing was regarded as the foundation for artistic practice. Artists used and reused wooden tablets for the production of their drawings. Following the widespread availability of paper in the 14th century, the use of drawing in the arts increased.
At this point, drawing was used as a tool for thought and investigation, acting as a study medium whilst artists were preparing for their final pieces of work. The Renaissance brought about a great sophistication in drawing techniques, enabling artists to represent things more realistically than before, revealing an interest in geometry and philosophy; the invention of the first available form of photography led to a shift in the hierarchy of the arts. Photography offered an alternative to drawing as a method for representing visual phenomena, traditional drawing practice was given less emphasis as an essential skill for artists so in Western society. Drawing became significant as an art form around the late 15th century, with artists and master engravers such as Albrecht Dürer and Martin Schongauer, the first Northern engraver known by name. Schongauer came from Alsac
Wiener Werkstätte
The Wiener Werkstätte, established in 1903 by Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann, was a production community of visual artists in Vienna, Austria bringing together architects and designers working in ceramics, silver and the graphic arts. It is regarded as a pioneer of modern design, its influence can be seen in styles such as Bauhaus and Art Deco. Following World War I, the workshop was beset by financial troubles and material shortages. Attempts to expand the workshop's base were unsuccessful, it was forced to close in 1932; the enterprise evolved from the Vienna Secession, founded in 1897 as a progressive alliance of artists and designers. From the start, the Secession had placed special emphasis on the applied arts, its 1900 exhibition surveying the work of contemporary European design workshops prompted the young architect Josef Hoffmann and his artist friend Koloman Moser to consider establishing a similar enterprise. In 1903, with backing from the industrialist Fritz Wärndorfer, the Wiener Werkstätte began operations in three small rooms.
The range of product lines included. The Wiener Werkstätte had a millinery department. Beginning with the 14th Exhibition of the Vienna Sezession in 1902, the radical distinctiveness of certain Viennese artists began to emerge, setting a foundation for the widespread Modernist movement. Among the innovators was the Viennese architect Josef Hoffmann, his cubist sculpture created in 1902 marked a break into independence for many Viennese artists. His works from this period are remarkable when one considers that the term "cubism" only found its way into the art lexicon around 1907 to describe the work of Pablo Picasso. Most of the objects produced in the Wiener Werkstatte were stamped with a number of different marks: the trademark of the Wiener Werkstatte, the monogram of the designer and that of the craftsman, who created it; the Wiener Werkstatte had about 100 employees of whom 37 were masters of their trade. The seat of the venture was in Neustiftgasse 32–34, where a new building was adapted to their requirements.
The project exhausted Wärndorfer's fortune. The circle of customers of the Wiener Werkstatte and Josef Hoffmann consisted of artists and Jewish upper middle class supporters of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Several branches of the workshop were opened in Karlsbad 1909, Marienbad, Zürich 1916/17, New York 1922, Berlin 1929. In architectural commissions such as the Sanatorium Purkersdorf and the Palais Stoclet in Brussels, the Wiener Werkstätte was able to realize its ideal of the Gesamtkunstwerk, a coordinated environment in which everything down to the last detail was consciously designed as an integral part of the whole project. For several years, beginning in 1904, the Wiener Werkstätte had its own carpentry workshop. Josef Hoffmann designed a furniture line noted for its simple forms for the firm of Jacob & Josef Kohn, but only few pieces of furniture were made there. Most of the furniture known as Wiener Werkstätte Furniture were made by cabinet-makers as: Portois & Fix, Johann Soulek, Anton Herrgesell, Anton Pospisil, Friedrich Otto Schmidt and Johann Niedermoser.
Some historians now believe that there are no existing original products of the Wiener Werkstätte Furniture division. From 1905, the Wiener Werkstatte produced printed silks; the Backhausen firm was responsible for the woven textiles. In 1907, the Wiener Werkstätte took over distribution for the Wiener Keramik, a ceramics workshop headed by Michael Powolny and Berthold Löffler, and in the same year Moser, embittered by the financial squabbling, left the Wiener Werkstätte, which subsequently entered a new phase, both stylistically and economically. The founding of textile and fashion divisions in 1909 and 1910 brought a further shift in the Wiener Werkstätte's emphasis—away from the architectural and toward the ephemeral. After a close brush with bankruptcy in 1913, Wärndorfer left to America and the following year Otto Primavesi, a banker from Moravia, took over as chief financier and patron. During and following the First World War the Wiener Werkstatte was influenced by a new generation of artists and craftsmen.
It was Dagobert Peche whose ornamental baroque fancies exerted the most palpable influence. After the war, material shortages encouraged experimentation with less durable, less expensive materials such as wood and papier-mâché. One of the ceramics contributors was Walter Bosse; the original, grand Gesamtkunstwerk vision became diluted and submerged by the Kunstgewerbliches—the artsy-craftsy. At the beginning of the 1920s, Philipp Hausler attempted to eliminate the "bad habits" and "extravagances" which devoured so much money by broadening the workshop's base; the WW artists, insisted upon their accustomed exclusivity, Hausler left in 1925." Attempts to expand the workshop's scope—adding such items as wallpaper to its limited program of industrial licenses, establishing branches in Berlin, New York and Zurich—were not successful. The Werkstätte's financial situation grew desperate due to the effects of the war and the onset of the worldwide Depression in 1929. In the 1932 it closed. With its avant-garde, yet timeless designs, the Wiener-Werkstaette-Stil influenced generations of architects and designers in the 20th century.
The Bauhaus in Germany, Art Deco in Amer
Austria
Austria the Republic of Austria, is a country in Central Europe comprising 9 federated states. Its capital, largest city and one of nine states is Vienna. Austria has an area of 83,879 km2, a population of nearly 9 million people and a nominal GDP of $477 billion, it is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north and Slovakia to the east and Italy to the south, Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The terrain is mountainous, lying within the Alps; the majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects as their native language, German in its standard form is the country's official language. Other regional languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, Slovene. Austria played a central role in European History from the late 18th to the early 20th century, it emerged as a margraviate around 976 and developed into a duchy and archduchy. In the 16th century, Austria started serving as the heart of the Habsburg Monarchy and the junior branch of the House of Habsburg – one of the most influential royal houses in history.
As archduchy, it was a major component and administrative centre of the Holy Roman Empire. Following the Holy Roman Empire's dissolution, Austria founded its own empire in the 19th century, which became a great power and the leading force of the German Confederation. Subsequent to the Austro-Prussian War and the establishment of a union with Hungary, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was created. Austria was involved in both world wars. Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy with a President as head of state and a Chancellor as head of government. Major urban areas of Austria include Graz, Linz and Innsbruck. Austria is ranked as one of the richest countries in the world by per capita GDP terms; the country has developed a high standard of living and in 2018 was ranked 20th in the world for its Human Development Index. The republic declared its perpetual neutrality in foreign political affairs in 1955. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955 and joined the European Union in 1995.
It is a founding member of the OECD and Interpol. Austria signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, adopted the euro currency in 1999; the German name for Austria, Österreich, derives from the Old High German Ostarrîchi, which meant "eastern realm" and which first appeared in the "Ostarrîchi document" of 996. This word is a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local dialect. Another theory says that this name comes from the local name of the mountain whose original Slovenian name is "Ostravica" - because it is steep on both sides. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976; the word "Austria" was first recorded in the 12th century. At the time, the Danube basin of Austria was the easternmost extent of Bavaria; the Central European land, now Austria was settled in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes. The Celtic kingdom of Noricum was claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province. Present-day Petronell-Carnuntum in eastern Austria was an important army camp turned capital city in what became known as the Upper Pannonia province.
Carnuntum was home for 50,000 people for nearly 400 years. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the area was invaded by Bavarians and Avars. Charlemagne, King of the Franks, conquered the area in AD 788, encouraged colonization, introduced Christianity; as part of Eastern Francia, the core areas that now encompass Austria were bequeathed to the house of Babenberg. The area was known as the marchia Orientalis and was given to Leopold of Babenberg in 976; the first record showing the name Austria is from 996, where it is written as Ostarrîchi, referring to the territory of the Babenberg March. In 1156, the Privilegium Minus elevated Austria to the status of a duchy. In 1192, the Babenbergs acquired the Duchy of Styria. With the death of Frederick II in 1246, the line of the Babenbergs was extinguished; as a result, Ottokar II of Bohemia assumed control of the duchies of Austria and Carinthia. His reign came to an end with his defeat at Dürnkrut at the hands of Rudolph I of Germany in 1278. Thereafter, until World War I, Austria's history was that of its ruling dynasty, the Habsburgs.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Habsburgs began to accumulate other provinces in the vicinity of the Duchy of Austria. In 1438, Duke Albert V of Austria was chosen as the successor to his father-in-law, Emperor Sigismund. Although Albert himself only reigned for a year, henceforth every emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was a Habsburg, with only one exception; the Habsburgs began to accumulate territory far from the hereditary lands. In 1477, Archduke Maximilian, only son of Emperor Frederick III, married the heiress Maria of Burgundy, thus acquiring most of the Netherlands for the family. In 1496, his son Philip the Fair married Joanna the Mad, the heiress of Castile and Aragon, thus acquiring Spain and its Italian and New World appendages for the Habsburgs. In 1526, following the Battle of Mohács, Bohemia and the part of Hungary not occupied by the Ottomans came under Austrian rule. Ottoman expansion into Hungary led to frequent conflicts between the two empires evident in the Long War of 1593 to 1606.
The Turks made incursions into Styria nearly 20 times, of which some are c
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