The German name of Austria, , derives from the Old High German word "eastern realm", recorded in the so-called Document of 996, applied to the Margraviate of Austria, a march, or borderland, of the Duchy of Bavaria created in 976. The name is seemingly comparable to Austrasia, the early middle age term for the "eastern lands" of Francia, as known from the written records. The Old High German name parallels the Middle Latin name ("eastern borderland"), alternatively called . The shorter Latinized name is first recorded in the 12th century. It has occasionally led to confusion, because, while it renders the Germanic word for "east" it is reminiscent of the native Latin term for "south", . In the 12th century, the Margraviate was elevated to the status of duchy, in 1453 to archduchy and from 1804 claiming imperial status, all the time retaining both the name and the Latin name . , a translation of into Standard German, was used officially from 1938, when the country was incorporated into the German Reich, until 1945. The contemporary state was created in 1955, with the Austrian State Treaty, and is officially called the Republic of Austria (). German name is derived from Old High German . The term probably originates as a vernacular translation of the Latin name (eastern borderland). The is related to Old High German (eastern), but its exact derivation is unclear. Old High German rihhi had the meaning of "realm, domain". The , also called the Bavarian Eastern March (Ostmark) and the March of Austria (), was a prefecture of the Duchy of Bavaria. It was assigned to the Babenberg family in 976. The variant is known from a single usage dated 996. Later Medieval documents record the word as either (official) or as (folk and poetic usage). The variation is first recorded in 998. appears on a deed granted by Emperor Henry IV and dated 1058. Friedrich Heer, a 20th-century Austrian historian, stated in his book (The Struggle Over Austrian Identity), that the Germanic form was not a translation of the Latin word, but both resulted from a much older term originating in the Celtic languages of ancient Austria: more than 2,500 years ago, the major part of the actual country was called by the Celtic Hallstatt culture of the land; according to Heer, or meant "east" or "easterns", whereas is related to the modern German , meaning