Austria
Edited by:
Massimo Martini
Access
Austria can be reached from Italy via four main Alpine corridors. The busiest is the motorway (Brennerautobahn), which climbs from Trento to the Brenner Pass (1,374 m) and continues on Austrian territory as the Autobahn [A13] to Innsbruck; the pass is open all year round but subject to severe winter conditions and restrictions for heavy vehicles. The second corridor is the Reschen Pass, which is traversed by the national road as far as the Tyrolean border. To the east, the Tarvisio pass connects Friuli-Venezia Giulia with Carinthia via the motorway, which joins the Austrian Autobahn [A2] in the direction of Klagenfurt and Vienna. The fourth access is the Brenner railway tunnel, served by international trains connecting Verona and Bolzano with Innsbruck and Vienna. The Austrian motorway system requires the purchase of a vignette (Vignette) valid for periods of 10 days to one year, which is compulsory for transit on almost the entire network; some mountain sections, such as the Großglockner Hochalpenstraße and the Alpine tunnels, charge additional tolls. The Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) operate an extensive and punctual rail network, with high-speed Railjet trains connecting Vienna with Innsbruck, Salzburg, Linz and Graz; EC and EN trains serve direct international connections with Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Hungary. The main international airports are Wien-Schwechat (VIE) for Vienna, Salzburg Airport (SZG) and Innsbruck Airport (INN), the latter being strategic for access to the Tyrolean Alps. The local public transport - postal buses, cable cars and regional trains - guarantees capillarity even in the most remote Alpine valleys.
Introduction
Austria is a Central European state and member of the European Union, located in the heart of the Eastern Alps. Approximately 60 per cent of the territory is mountainous: the main chains - Norian Alps, Salzburg Alps, Hohe Tauern, Eastern Rhaetian Alps and Carnic Alps - cross the country from west to east, with more than 240 peaks over 3,000 m in the Hohe Tauern National Park alone. The Danube flows through the country for about 350 km in an easterly direction, passing through the capital Vienna before entering Slovakia. The country borders eight European states: Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. Austria's history is marked by the legacy of the Habsburg Empire, which for centuries exerted a decisive influence on Central Europe: this tradition has resulted in a complex cultural identity, outstanding urban architecture and a musical life that has produced Mozart, Haydn, Schubert and Mahler. A member of the UN since 1955 and of the EU since 1995, Austria has adopted a policy of permanent neutrality enshrined in its constitution, which distinguishes it from the other member states of the Atlantic Alliance.
.Description
The Austrian territory covers 83,871 km² and is divided into nine Länder, each with its own traditions and dialects. The Alps occupy the western and central part of the country, giving way in the east to hills and plains that connect with the Pannonian Basin. The Großglockner (3,798 m), the highest peak in the country in the Hohe Tauern National Park group of the same name, is flanked by other prominent peaks such as the Großvenediger (3,666 m), the Wildspitze (3,774 m) in Tyrol and the Palla Bianca (3,738 m) in South Tyrol. The Pasterze glacier, on the northern slope of the Großglockner, is the largest glacier in the Eastern Alps, although it is in severe retreat. The Danube, with its main tributaries the Inn, Salzach and Mur, drains most of the country to the Black Sea; exceptions are Vorarlberg, which is a tributary of the Rhine and thus of the North Sea.
Human presence in Austria dates back to the Palaeolithic period. The territory was inhabited by Celts before the Roman conquest, which transformed the region in 15 BC into two provinces: Noricum and Pannonia. The founding of the Marquisate of Austria in 976, under the Babenberg dynasty, and then the handover to the Habsburgs in 1278 laid the foundations of a state structure that would dominate central Europe for more than six centuries. The Austro-Hungarian Empire, proclaimed in 1867, dissolved at the end of World War I in 1918. In the following years, the country went through a period of political instability that culminated in the Anschluss of 1938, with the annexation to Nazi Germany. The Second Republic, proclaimed in 1945, is the current form of government, with a constitution that combines the federal system with the permanent neutrality declared in 1955.
The Austrian economy is among the most developed in the European Union, with a high GDP per capita. Tourism - winter and summer - is a strategic sector, supported by one of the most comprehensive Alpine infrastructures in the world. The manufacturing industry, with excellence in the mechanical, chemical and precision production sectors, coexists with an agricultural sector that has maintained a strong tradition, particularly in cattle breeding, viticulture (regions of Southern Styria, Burgenland and Wachau) and cheese production. The Austrian gastronomic tradition is deeply rooted in Viennese and regional culture: Wiener Schnitzel, Sachertorte, varieties of Knödel (bread dumplings), Tafelspitz (boiled beef) and the white wines of the Wachau are recognisable expressions of this.
Vienna's cultural heritage is of global significance: the historic centre of Vienna is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, with Schönbrunn Palace, the Hofburg, the Belvedere and the Ringstraße as founding elements. The cultural landscapes of the Wachau (UNESCO) and the city of Graz (UNESCO) complete the picture. The Austrian National Park system comprises six protected areas: the Hohe Tauern National Park (1,856 km², the largest in the Alps), the Gesaeuse National Park, the Kalkalpen National Park, the Lake Neusiedl National Park (shared with Hungary), the Bavarian Forest-Böhmerwald National Park (shared with Germany) and the Danube-Auen National Park. The Alpine fauna includes ibex (Capra ibex), chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), marmot (Marmota marmota), golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), and steadily expanding populations of wolf (Canis lupus) and brown bear (Ursus arctos).
Austria has one of the most extensive hiking networks in the Alps. The Hohe Tauern National Park alone offers around 1,200 km of marked trails with more than 80 alpine huts. The High Routes (Höhenwege) run along the main ridges of the Alpine Länder: the Salzburger Höhenweg, the Adlerweg in the Tyrol (400 km from St. Johann in Tirol to the Rofangebirge) and the Mariazeller Weg are among the most popular hiking routes. The Austrian hut network, managed by the Austrian Alpine Club (ÖAV), has hundreds of huts throughout the Alps, with an offer that includes high-altitude huts (Hochgebirgshütten) and mountain huts with restaurants. Snowshoeing is practised on dedicated routes in all Alpine regions, while ski mountaineering finds ideal conditions in the Tyrol, Salzburg and Carinthia groups.
Austrian mountaineering history is closely linked to the founding of the Austro-German Alpine Club (DÖAV) in 1862 and the systematic conquest of the great Alpine peaks. The Großglockner was climbed for the first time in 1800 by an expedition led by Bishop Franz Xaver von Salm, with the decisive contribution of local guides from Heiligenblut. Count Alfred Pallavicini opened the daring route on the north-east gully that bears his name in 1876, one of the technical masterpieces of 19th century ice mountaineering. The Hohe Tauern Group, with its 240 three-thousanders, remains the country's mountaineering terrain par excellence: the traverse from the Großvenediger to the Großglockner is one of the alpine classics of glacial endeavour. The Tyrol, with the Ötztal Group and the Ortles-Cevedale foothills, is the reference area for ice and mixed mountaineering in western Austria.
Austrian trail running has the Grossglockner Ultra-Trail (GGUT) as its international benchmark. The event, which takes place at the end of July in the Hohe Tauern National Park area, offers distances from 16 to 110 kilometres: the main route - the "Glocknerrunde" - covers 110 kilometres with 6,500 metres of positive altitude difference around Austria's highest peak, passing through three federal states, seven valleys, six municipalities and past 14 glaciers. The race is part of the UTMB World Series circuit. In the Tyrol, the Innsbruck Alpine Trailrun Festival and the KAT100 by UTMB (173 km) are further landmark events on the European trail scene, while the Stubai Ultratrail and the Mayrhofen Ultraks complete the summer calendar.
.Information
General Data
Capital: Vienna
Area: 83.871 km²
Minimum elevation: 115m (Hainburg an der Donau)
Maximum elevation: 3,798m - Großglockner
Inhabitants: 9.198,214 (as of 01.01.2025)
Official name: Republik Österreich
Name of inhabitants: Austrians
Länder: Lower Austria - Burgenland - Carinthia - High Austria - Salzburghese - Styria - Tyrol - Vienna - Vorarlberg
Bordering countries: Germany - Italy - Liechtenstein - Czech Republic - Slovakia - Slovenia - Switzerland - Hungary
Institutional website: https://www.austria.gv.at