Name of Austria

Document in which the word "ostarrichi" is first mentioned (red circle). This document, dated 996, marks the founding of Austria, according to the modern Austrian government.

The German name of Austria, Österreich, derives from the Old High German word Osterrîchi. A variant is recorded in the Ostarrîchi Document of 996. This word is thought to be a translation of Latin Marchia Orientalis (eastern borderland) into a local dialect.^[1] This was a march, or borderland, of the Duchy of Bavaria created in 976. Reich also means "realm" or "empire", but this is a false cognate. Ostmark, a translation of Marchia Orientalis into standard German, was used officially when the country was annexed by Nazi Germany.

The name "Austria" is a latinization of Österreich, which was first recorded in the 12th century. This has led to much confusion as German Ost is "east", but Latin auster is "south".

German name

Etymology

Österreich is derived from Old High German Ostarrîchi. The term probably originates as a vernacular translation of the Latin name Marchia orientalis (eastern borderland).^[2] The ostar- is related to Old High German ōstan "eastern", but its exact derivation is unclear.^[3] Old High German rihhi had the meaning of "realm, domain".

The Marchia orientalis, also called the Bavarian Eastern March (Ostmark^[4]) and the March of Austria (Marchiam Austriae), was a prefecture of the Duchy of Bavaria. It was assigned to the Babenberg family in 976. The variant Ostarrîchi is known from a single usage dated 996. Later Medieval documents record the word as either Osterrîche (official) or as Osterlant (folk and poetic usage).^[5] The variation Osterrîche is first recorded in 998. Marcha Osterriche appears on a deed granted by Emperor Henry IV and dated 1058.^[6]

Austrian historian Friedrich Heer stated in his book Der Kampf um die österreichische Identität (The Struggle Over Austrian Identity), that the name has an older history, originating with the Celtic name of Noricum which Heer takes as No- or Nor- meaning "east" or "eastern", and -rig "realm, dominion", so that both the Latin Marchia orientalis and the German Ostarrîchi would ultimately be renditions of the Celtic name.

An alternative theory, proposed by the Austrian slavistics professor Otto Kronsteiner, suggests that the term Ostarrîchi is taken from a Slavic toponym 'Ostravica' meaning 'pointed hill', taking its popular meaning of 'Eastern realm' at a much later time.^{[dubious – discuss][7]} This theory was rejected as untenable by Austrian linguist Heinz-Dieter Pohl.^[8]

Ostarrîchi document

The document was issued by Emperor Otto III on November 1, 996 in Bruchsal to Gottschalk von Hagenau, Bishop of Freising. It is today kept in the Bayrisches Hauptstaatsarchiv in Munich.^[9]

The historical significance of the document lies in the fact that it is the first time that the name Ostarrîchi, the linguistic ancestor of Österreich, the German name for Austria, is mentioned, even though it applied only to a relatively small territory. The document concerns a donation of the "territory which is known in the vernacular as Ostarrichi"(regione vulgari vocabulo Ostarrichi), specified as the region of Neuhofen an der Ybbs (in loco Niuuanhova dicto). The emperor donated this land to the abbey of Freising as a fief. The lands and some other communities in the vicinity, which the abbey acquired later, were held until 1803, when they were incorporated into Austria.

Latin and English

The name "Austria" is a latinization of German Österreich. This has led to much confusion as German Ost is "east", but Latin auster is "south". It is first recorded as Austrie marchionibus (Margrave of Austria) on a deed issued by Conrad III to the Klosterneuburg Monastery in 1147.^[10] On the Privilegium Minus of 1156, the name of the country is given as marchiam Austriae (March of Austria) and as Austriae ducatum (Duchy of Austria).^[11] In English usage, "Austria" is attested since the early 17th century.^[12]

Other languages

All Germanic languages other than English have a name for Austria corresponding to Österreich: Danish Østrig, Dutch Oostenrijk, Frisian Eastenryk, and Icelandic Austurríki. Finnish Itävalta is also derived from the German name: itä means "east" and valta "state". "Austria" was adopted in most other languages, including Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Maltese, Russian, Polish, Slovene, Greek, Estonian, Turkish, and Albanian. French is an exception within the Romance group in adopting the German name, Autriche.

The Czech and Slovak languages have a peculiar name for Austria. Czech Rakousko and Slovak Rakúsko neither derived from German Österreich nor from Latin Austria. The Czech name of Rakousko, previously also Rakúsy and later Rakousy, which is still used for the states of Upper and Lower Austria (Horní a Dolní Rakousy), originates in the name of the Austrian castle and town of Raabs an der Thaya near the Czech-Austrian border, formerly also known as Ratgoz or Ratgos. ^[13]

The Arabic name for Austria is an-Nimsā (النمسا). This is a borrowing (via Ottoman Turkish or Persian "نمچه" – "Nemçe"^{[citation needed]}) from the Slavic name for "Germans", němьci, whence Croatian Njemačka, Serbian Nemačka (Немачка), Slovene Nemčija, Czech has Německo, Slovak Nemecko, etc., all meaning "Germany".

See also

• History of Austria (for a broader historical perspective)
• Austrasia

Notes

1. ^ Online Etymological Dictionary, "Austria"
2. ^ K. Bosl, History of Bavaria, Darmstadt 1965, 346 note 54 Journal of Bavarian history 18 (1955) 158.
3. ^ see Ostara for a detailed discussion of this word.
4. ^ Ostmark is a reconstruction by 19th century scholars and no Medieval example has been found. (Pohl, Heinz-Dieter, "Ostarrîchi 996 – 1996")
5. ^ "Ostarrîchi" AEIOU Encyclopedia.
   Zöllner, Erich, Geschichte Österreichs: von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart (1990), p. 63.
6. ^ Gall, Franz, Urkundenbuch zur Geschichte der Babenberger in Österreich (1997), p. 19. On the basis of this example, Mark Osterriche has been suggested as the German form for the March of Austria, as Ostmark is unattested and has been tainted by Nazi use.
7. ^ [1], Der Standard, 30 Nov. 1996^{[unreliable source?]}
8. ^ [2], Die Presse
9. ^ Kaiserselekt 859
10. ^ Cf. Kastner (2007:239).
11. ^ Reich, Emil, Select Documents Illustrating Mediaeval and Modern History (2004), pp. 620–621.
12. ^ Oxford English Dictionary
13. ^ What do crayfish, reeds and Austria have in common?

References

• Kastner, Hugo (2007). Von Aachen bis Zypern: Geographische Namen und ihre Herkunft. Baden-Baden: Humboldt Verlags GmbH. ISBN 978-3-89994-124-1. 

External links

• AEIOU Encyclopedia
• Historical information in German