By the end of the Middle Ages, migration of ethnic Serbs towards Austrian lands was caused by expansion of the Ottoman Empire.

In 1479, emperor Friedrich III granted castle Weitensfeld in Carinthia to exiled members of Branković dynasty of Serbia.

[3] During the period of Ottoman–Habsburg wars (from 16th to 18th century), Austrian policy towards Serbs was marked by special interests, related to complex political situation in various regions of the expanding Habsburg monarchy.

Emperor Leopold I issued several charters (1690, 1691, 1695) to Eastern Orthodox Serbs, who sided with Habsburgs during the Vienna War (1683-1699), granting them religious freedom in the Monarchy.

[5] During the 18th and 19th century, new communities of ethnic Serbs were developing in major Austrian cities, consisted mainly of merchants, officers and students, who were under the spiritual jurisdiction of the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Karlovci.