Ostarrîchi Revisited: The 1946 Anniversary, the Millennium, and the Medieval Roots of Austrian Identity
Walter Pohl
In 1996, Austria will celebrate its millennium. As in many other cases, the chronological justifications for anniversary are open to question. has never been “founded,” and certainly not one thousand years ago; independence is result of a process that took centuries cannot be symbolized by date like July 4 United States. Austria's national holiday, October 26, marks 1955 when Austrian parliament voted permanent neutrality last Allied occupation troops left country. Nobody, it true, would doubt history stretches back considerably before 1955, 1945 (the foundation Second Republic), 1918 birth First), or even 1804 (when Habsburg emperor Francis I declared himself after dissolution Holy Roman Empire). Nothing comparable happened 996. charter dated November 1, 996, Emperor Otto III granted some land at Neuhofen, west modern province Lower Austria, bishop Freising. Even exact charter—whose original survived—has always accepted, seal carries was Henry II's, whose reign began 1002. Recently, scholars have tried prove, although very successfully, forgery.
Austrian History Yearbook