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.

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.

Count Rudolf of Habsburg, elected as king of Germany (1273), was able during the years 1276–78 to decisively defeat his main rival, the Bohemian king Ottokar II, and to regain his Austrian domains back for the Empire.

The most important Austrian rulers until the Victory at Vienna in 1683 are described in the book Symmetria iuridico Austriaca.

After the death of Rudolf in 1365, his brothers Albert and Leopold succeeded him together, but divided their possessions between them in the Treaty of Neuberg of 1379: Despite having reunited all of Austria, Frederick's rule wasn't always uncontested: in 1485–1490, Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, occupied the proper Duchies of Austria and Styria, claiming the title Archduke of Austria.