Culture of Austria

Austrian culture is characterised by historical and modern influences, including a history of interaction primarily between Celtic, Roman, Slavic and Germanic peoples.

Austria is historically a strongly Catholic country, having been the centre of the Habsburg monarchy (1273–1918) which championed Roman Catholicism.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Austria was one of the centres of European musical life with the First Viennese School, which is reflected not only in the large number of musicians and composers associated with the country, but also in a large number of opera houses, theatres and orchestras that still exist today, as well as diverse musical traditions such as the Vienna New Year's Concert, numerous festivals and a vibrant cabaret scene.

Composers of the 18th and 19th centuries were drawn to the city by the patronage of the Habsburgs, and made Vienna the European capital of classical music.

Vienna's status began its rise as a cultural center in the early 16th century, and was focused around instruments including the lute.

Three composers arose, making lasting innovations: Ludwig van Beethoven's symphonic patterns, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's balance between melody and form, and Joseph Haydn's development of the string quartet and sonata.

It employs over 1000 people, and in 2008, the annual operating budget of the Staatsoper was 100 million Euros with slightly more than 50% coming in the form of a state subsidy.

It is also venue for the Vienna Opera Ball, an event that takes place on the Thursday preceding Ash Wednesday.

The most popular form of modern Austrian folk music is Viennese Schrammelmusik, which is played with an accordion and a double-necked guitar.

Known as a folk song under several names for a long period, it became known as Landl ob der Enns, which was eventually shortened to ländler.

Falco, Rainhard Fendrich, André Heller, Georg Danzer and Christina Stürmer all received Amadeus Awards in the category artist pop/rock national.

Austria3 was a conglomerate of three Austrian quite individualist singer-songwriters Wolfgang Ambros, Georg Danzer and Rainhard Fendrich, on stage from 1997 to 2006.

Its contributors are, for example, Nino Aus Wien, Bilderbuch, Wanda, Kreisky, Voodoo Jürgens, Schmieds Puls.

[3] This genre of punk rock, whose name may be shortened to Alpunk, originated in the Alpine regions of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.

"[6] Although not listed as World Heritage Site many other cities in Austria have a well-preserved Historic Centre, such as Linz or Innsbruck.

Stift Melk is a Benedictine abbey in the federal state of Lower Austria, overlooking the Danube as it flows through the Wachau Valley.

Major figures of the Vienna Secession were Otto Wagner, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, and Koloman Moser.

Tobias Seicherl drawn by Viennese caricaturist and cartoonist Ladislaus Kmoch, can be regarded as the first continental European daily comic strip.

The Prix Ars Electronica is a major award in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music.

Since 1987, this award has been given by Ars Electronica, one of the world's major centers for art and technology, which in turn was founded in 1979 in Linz, Austria.

Rearing cattle involving seasonal migration between valley and high pastures has shaped a lot of landscape in the Alps, as without it, most areas below 2000 m would be forests.

As part of its historic cultural heritage of being a multinational state for centuries (Habsburg monarchy, Austrian Empire, later Austria-Hungary), modern Austria is not entirely homogenously German-speaking, but has within its borders, albeit small, autochthonous minorities of different native tongue: Hungarian is the most widely spoken of the recognized minority languages spoken in Austria (mostly in Burgenland, where it is an official language, and in Vienna; about 40,000 speakers (0.5% of the Austrian population)).

In addition to native regional traditions it has been influenced above all by Hungarian, Czech, Jewish and Italian cuisines, from which both dishes and methods of food preparation have often been borrowed.

In fact, dishes heavily depending on meat make up typical Viennese cuisine: Wiener schnitzel (veal coated in breadcrumbs and fried), Tafelspitz (boiled beef), Beuschel (a ragout containing veal lungs and heart), and Selchfleisch (smoked meat) with sauerkraut and dumplings are typical of its cooking.

[10] Much of the reputation these achieved during the turn of the 19th century resulted when writers like Peter Altenberg, Karl Kraus, Hermann Broch and Friedrich Torberg decided to use them as places of work and socializing.

Artists, thinkers, and political radicals of the period such as Arthur Schnitzler, Stefan Zweig, Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt, Adolf Loos, Theodor Herzl, and even Leon Trotsky were regular coffee house patrons.

[12] Due to a decree that goes back to the so-called Maria Theresianische Buschenschankverordnung from 1784, a vintner can sell his own wine in his own house without any dedicated license to do so.

Empress Maria Theresa instituted the "General School Regulations, in 1774", creating the Austrian educational system.

[citation needed] After the age of 14, students make their first major choice about their educational path, regardless of what school they have attended until then.

Finally, students may opt to attend Gymnasium, which ends with the Matura exam, and leads to further education at a university.