page_title: Georg Österreich
section_title: Youth (1664–1686)
hierarchical_section_title: Georg Österreich / Life / Youth (1664–1686)
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Johanniskirche in Magdeburg, selbst aufgenommen am 23.3.2005, erteilte Lizenz: GNU-FDL
context_page_description: Georg Österreich was a German Baroque composer and collector. He is regarded as the founder of the so-called Bokemeyer collection which is now housed in the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin and is considered one of the most important music collections of the late 17th and early 18th century.
context_section_description: Österreich was born in March 1664, the son of brewer Johann (or Hans) Österreich and Elisabeth Österreich and was baptized on March 17 in the Johanniskirche in Magdeburg. The Österreich family came originally from Augsburg and belonged to a very distinguished patrician family. In 1552, they fell out of favor with the Emperor when they tried to reinstate the guild government which had been in place prior to 1547.  As a result, they lost many of the rights associated with their position and were forced to leave Augsburg.  A majority  of the family settled in Central Germany.
  Österreich received his first musical education from his godfather, the Magdeburg cantor Johann Scheffler, who also instructed Johann Theile and was one of the most respected musicians of his time.  However, little is known of Scheffler's life and there is no record of his skill as a composer. 
  Österreich appears to have been very musically gifted and in 1678, at age 14, he applied, with a letter of recommendation from Scheffler, for a position at the Thomasschule zu Leipzig (St. Thomas School of Leipzig) where his brother, Michael, had also attended.  The headmaster of the school noted in his diary: "Michael Oesterreich [...] presented to me his brother Georg (entering his 14th year) son of Johann, townsman and beer brewer in Magdeburg: to date has gone to school in Magdeburg and sat in Class II. [...] In music, the cantor gave him praise and a good recommendation."
  Österreich committed to attend the Thomasschule for at least two years and offered to stay many more years.  His teacher at this time was the cantor Johann Schelle, who recognized the exceptional abilities of his young student and granted him as much support as possible. He soon became an important part of the weekly choir at the St. Thomas Church.
  In the summer of 1680, the plague broke out in Leipzig.  Despite strict safety measures by the school leadership, many at the school fell ill.  A general panic spread, and the students who had not yet fallen ill fled the city. Among them were Georg and his brother Michael, who returned to Magdeburg.  At that point, Österreich's parents sent him to Hamburg, to the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums to continue his education, which was being led at that time by the Baroque composer, Joachim Gerstenbüttel.  On account of his voice, Österreich soon achieved a modest celebrity in Hamburg and was hired as an alto in the council choir. In this position he took part in all the important religious and secular celebrations in the city and made the acquaintance of influential merchants and townspeople.  Exactly how long Österreich kept his position in Hamburg is not certain.  Likely the breaking of his voice brought on the end of this position.  In the fall of 1683, he enrolled at Leipzig University, though this was probably only to fill the time as his voice finished changing, because by the end of 1684 he was once again working as a singer, now as a tenor, in the Oper am Gänsemarkt theater in Hamburg.
caption: The Johanniskirche in Magdeburg where Österreich was baptized
exif: {"Image Make": "Hewlett-Packard", "Image Model": "hp photosmart 612", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "V3.60", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "166", "EXIF ExposureTime": "43/12500", "EXIF FNumber": "80", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "39", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:03:23 16:53:46", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:03:23 16:53:46", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3/25", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "409/50", "EXIF ApertureValue": "6", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "683/100", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "577/100", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1792", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1200", "Interoperability Tag 0x47E9": "[]", "Interoperability Tag 0x8A31": "[]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "962"}