The Ministry of Education (German: Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Forschung, Bildungsministerium, historically also Unterrichtsministerium) is the government ministry of Austria in charge of public schools and academic institutions.
As of 2018,[update] the agency's official name is Ministry of Education, Science and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Forschung or BMBWF).
In the first years of the First Austrian Republic it was merged into the "Ministry for Interior and Education", until it became its own authority again in 1923.
This left the remaining parts as "Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture" (German: Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur, short: BMUKK or Unterrichtsministerium).
It then had additional responsibilities in the fields of Religious foundations and the arts, such as theatre and Film promotion, Museums and related management and funding, such as for the Austrian National Library, and the Vienna Philharmonic.