not yet fallen ill fled the city. Among them were Georg and his brother Michael, who returned to Magdeburg. At that point, Österreich's parents sent him to Hamburg, to the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums to continue his education, which was being led at that time by the Baroque composer, Joachim Gerstenbüttel. On account of his voice, Österreich soon achieved a modest celebrity in Hamburg and was hired as an alto in the council choir. In this position he took part in all the important religious and secular celebrations in the city and made the acquaintance of influential merchants and townspeople. Exactly how long Österreich kept his position in Hamburg is not certain. Likely the breaking of his voice brought on the end of this position. In the fall of 1683, he enrolled at Leipzig University, though this was probably only to fill the time as his voice finished changing, because by the end of 1684 he was once again working as a singer, now as a tenor, in the Oper am Gänsemarkt theater in Hamburg. Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1686–1689) Critical for Österreich's career was his lifelong friendship with Johann Theile. When the arts-lover Anton Ulrich was appointed co-regent of the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and made funds available for the fine arts, it was Theile who attached Österreich to the Wolfenbüttel court, took him into his house, and gave him lessons in composition. Alongside this, Österreich continued his voice studies with two Italian castrati who were also at the court, Giuliano Giuliani and Vincentino Antonini. His time at Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was a formative period in every respect and marked the beginning of his activity as a composer. His first works date from the years 1687 and 1688. These three religious concertos, "Laetatus sum in his," "Levavi oculos meos," and "Ich will den Hern Loben allezeit" more strongly reflect the contrapuntal tradition of Johann Theile. His official duties at court were limited to participation as a tenor in the ducal choir and duties as a "Cammer-Diener", a page (servant) or valet. He had no official duties as a composer, though his works of the time were almost certainly performed in the court church. In Wolfenbüttel, he married Magdalena Darnedden, the daughter of a brewer, on 15 October 1689, shortly before his move to Schleswig. His father-in-law, Hans Darnedden, was successful and respected and left the couple a house, a garden, and a considerable sum of money