page_title: Austrians
section_title: Name
hierarchical_section_title: Austrians / Name
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Urkunde von Ostarrichi von Otto III. (996) English: Document written by Otto III (in the year 996). 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 w:Neuhofen an der Ybbs (in loco Niuuanhova dicto). The word "Ostarrichi", the first known mention of the territory called Austria by this name, is circled in red. A transcript in Latin follows, with the source linked below it. Latina: "In nomine sanctae et individuae trinitatis. Otto divina preordinante clementia imperator augustus. Noverint omnium industriae fidelium nostrorum tam praesentium quam et futororum, qualiter nos dignis petitionibus dilectissimi nepotis nostri Baioariorum ducis Heinrici annuentes quasdam nostri iuris res regione vulgari vocabulo Ostarrichi in marcha et in comitatu Heinrici comitis filii Liutpaldi marchionis in loco Niuuanhova dicto, id est cum eadem curte et in proximo confinio adiacentes triginta regales hobas cum terris cultis et incultis pratis pascuis silvis aedificiis aquis aquarumve decursibus venationibus zidalweidun piscationibus molendinis mobilibus viis en inviis exitibus et reditibus quesitis et inquirendis omnibusque iure legaliterque ad easdem hobas pertinentibus super gremium Frigisingensis aecclesiae ad servicium sanctae Mariae sanctique Christi confessoris atque pontificis Corbiniani cui nunc fidelis noster Kotascalus venerabilis presidet episcopus, in proprium atque perpetuum usum concessimus firmiterque tradidimus nostra imperiali potentia, eo modo eoque tenore ut eadem praefata Frigisingensis aecclesia idemque praelibatus antistes Kotascalhus atque omnes sui successores libero deinceps perfruantur arbitrio haec omnia tenendi commutandi et quidquid voluerint inde faciendi. Et ut nostrae largitionis auctoritas firmior stabiliorque cunctis sanctae dei aecclesiae filiis perpetim credatur, hanc cartam inscribi iussimus anuloque nostro signatam manu propria subtus eam firmavimus. Signum domni Ottonis invictissimi imperatoris augusti. Hildibaldus episcopus et cancellarius vice Uuilligisi archiepiscopi recognovi. Data kal. nov. anno dominicae incarnationis DCCCCXCVI, indictione X, anno autem tertii Ottonis regnantis XIII, imperii vero I; actum Bruochselle, feliciter." Der Landesname: Die Ostarrîchi-Urkunde.
context_page_description: Austrians are a Germanic nation and ethnic group, native to modern Austria and South Tyrol that share a common Austrian culture, Austrian descent, and Austrian history. The English term Austrians was applied to the population of Habsburg Austria from the 17th or 18th century. Subsequently, during the 19th century, it referred to the citizens of the Empire of Austria, and from 1867 until 1918 to the citizens of Cisleithania. In the closest sense, the term Austria originally referred to the historical March of Austria, corresponding roughly to the Vienna Basin in what is today Lower Austria.
  Historically, Austrians were regarded as ethnic Germans and viewed themselves as such. Austria was part of the Holy Roman Empire and the German Confederation until the Austro-Prussian War in 1866 which resulted in Prussia expelling Austria from the Confederation. Thus, when Germany was founded as a nation-state in 1871, Austria was not a part of it. In 1867, Austria was reformed into the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
context_section_description: The English word Austrian is a derivative of the proper name Austria, which is a latinization of Österreich, the German name for Austria. This word is derived from Ostarrîchi, which first appears in 996. This, in turn, is probably a translation of the Latin Marcha Orientalis, which means "eastern borderland" (viz. delimiting the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire). It was a margraviate of the Duchy of Bavaria, ruled by the House of Babenberg from AD 976.
  During the 12th century, the Marcha Orientalis under the Babenbergs became independent of Bavaria. What is today known as Lower Austria corresponds to the Marcha Orientalis, while Upper Austria corresponds to the eastern half of the core territory of Bavaria (the western half forming part of the German state of Bavaria).
  The adjective Austrian entered the English language in the early 17th century, at the time referring to Habsburg Austria in the sense of "members of the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg" (the junior branch emerging from the dynastic split into Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs in 1521), but from the 18th century also "a native or inhabitant of Austria".
caption: The first document containing the word "Ostarrîchi", the word is marked with a red circle.
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