List of rulers of Austria
This is a list of people who have ruled either the Margraviate of Austria, the Duchy of Austria or the Archduchy of Austria. From 976 until 1246, the margraviate and its successor, the duchy, was ruled by the House of Babenberg. At that time, those states were part of the Holy Roman Empire. From 1246 until 1918, the duchy and its successor, the archduchy, was ruled by the House of Habsburg. Following the defeat of Austria-Hungary in World War I, the titles were abolished or fell into abeyance with the erection of the modern  Republic of Austria. Margraves of Austria. The March of Austria, also known as "Marcha Orientalis", was first formed in 976 out of the lands that had once been the March of Pannonia in Carolingian times. The oldest attestation dates back to 996, where the written name "ostarrichi" occurs in a document transferring land in present-day Austria to a Bavarian monastery. Dukes of Austria. In 1156, the Privilegium Minus elevated the march to a duchy, independent of the Duchy of Bavaria. Interregnum. After Frederick's death, the succession of the Duchy was disputed between various claimants, based in two main  rival heiresses: Dukes and archdukes of Austria under the House of Habsburg. In 1278, King Rudolph I of Germany defeated Ottokar and took control of Austria. In 1282 he invested his sons with the duchies of Austria and Styria, thereby securing it for the House of Habsburg. Austria became one of the territories that remained under Habsburg rule for more than 600 years, forming the core of the Habsburg monarchy and the present-day country of Austria. House of Habsburg-Lorraine. The Austrian agnatic branch ended in 1780 with the death of Maria Theresa of Austria and was replaced by  a combination of the Austrian cognatic branch of the Habsburgs and the Vaudemont branch of the House of Lorraine in the person of her son Joseph II. The new successor house styled itself as Habsburg-Lorraine ("Habsburg-Lothringen"). All Habsburgs living today are in the agnatic descendants of Maria Theresa and Francis Stephen. Emperors of Austria. In 1804 Francis I adopted the new title Emperor of Austria, but kept the title of Archduke of Austria. In 1806 the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved. Republic of Austria. In 1918, following the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the Republic of Austria  was established, but ended with "Anschluß" into the Third Reich from 1938 to 1945. Following World War II, the current Republic of Austria was established in 1945, even though Austria remained under the control and protection of Allied and Soviet Forces between 1945 and 1955. The current head of state is the President of Austria; however, in practice, the Chancellor of Austria is more important. Every law still needs to be signed by the President however. Otto von Habsburg (1912–2011), son of Charles I, was the head of the Habsburg house from 1922, but never reigned. In 2007 he handed  the headship to his oldest son Karl von Habsburg who was first in the line of succession. He is the current head of the imperial family.