Austria [antikvár]

The hind in the heart of Europe tiiat encompasses what is now kno\\ ii as the Republic of Austria was first seitled in prchis-Toric times. Traces of coniintioiis human habiiiUioii ever since have been esiahHslied l)y arclie()h)gical finds. The history of Aiis-iria and its role in the intenuUional coiiiext iiave I)een derern.iiied by its geographical location at (he crossroad's of ancieni trading routes and interface of major European ciihiu-es - Germanic. Slavic and Roman. Evolving fron) a small nucleus stale that guarrlefl the eastern fi-ontier of W esicrii Europe at ilie beginning of (he .second mil-leniiitim. Austria became a political |)ower ihai iircw stealilv over llie cemuries. iis sovereiííi.s a.ssiim'iiiff ihe mantle of Ilolv Honian emperors, transforming tiieircmm-try imo the Austro-I luiigarian Empire, a nmliinaiional .stale and major player on the European stage uiHil. earlv iii'lhe 2()(li century, il di.simegrated. leaving l)cliiii(l a small reptiblic on whai remained of the va.sJ lerrilories of former times. The oldest traces left by man on Aii.s-Irian lerritorv were Comid on nioiintainotts lerrain and date back to (lie Palaeolilliic .Age (ir^O,()()() lo 80.000 B.C.). The vallev of ihe Danube and its inmieliaie vicinitv were settled by 10.000 B.C. The culture of ils inhabilams. still nameles.s as a |)eople. speaks lo ns throngh treasiu'e.s iluK (he soil vields 10 archaeologi.sis {Icnn.s- of Ifi/len-(/orf\n llie Wachau). .A seismic shift of the climate toward ihe end of the Ice Age led to broad cultural changes, (lie transronna-tion of the liunier and "atlierer socielv lo I'arniing and lifeslock ])roduction, and the emergence of permanent settlements. W iih ores and salt mined in the eastern A1[)S (3rd and 4th milleimia B.C.), trade spreading across the Alpine passes to the south, and a stratified society evolving in (he connmmiiies (artisans, peasants, war-rioi-s). a Central European culture came into being in the 2nd millennium B.C., the so-called ^irnfield culture". It was follow-el by the Iron Age (c. 700 to 15 B.C.). named after ihe newly discovered working material which brought the breakthrough of a new culture. Its transitional phase is known as "Hallslatt period" from the necropolis at Hallstatt in Upper Austria, long a centre of salt mining. When Celtic tribes moved into the lands of the eastern Alps around 400 B.C., they brought with them a culture of their o^-it (La Téne). The Noricans, a leading Celtic tribe, formed a kingdom (Rcgnum Noricttm, centred in Carinihia) that was the first regular state on Austrian soil. Closely linked to its affluent neighbour in the south (Noric iron, open-pit mining at the Styrian Erzberg), thoroughly Romanised and dependent on (he Ronuins. it was finally absorbed in the Empire (15 B.C.) in a strategic move by the Romans. The Ron(an provinces of Raetia, Noricuni and Pannónia established on Noricum's territory served as buffers to [irotect ihe Impérium against the onslaught of Germanic tribes thrusting south from the north of Emope. Over the next -tOO years, the |)recursors of places sprang up (hat are important today: Vindobona- . c. 370. top left: Naiionalbibiliothek. Vienna, luvavum-Salzburg, Brigantiuni-Bregenz. The pro\inces were under the sway of Roman culture and rehgion. civilisation and administration (earliest traces of Christianitv' from the 2nd centiu^'). The civil city of Vindobona numbered iD.OOO inhabitants; to its east, Carntintum (now Petronell) at the Danube grew to be the largest Roman settlement on Austrian soil. The Empire of the West ultimately succumbed to successive waves of Germanic. Eastern European and Asiatic peoples and tribes who. in pushing south, kept supplanting and subduing each other. By the middle of the 6th century, the great migratory movement had extinguished the last remnants of Roman civilisation on Austrian territory. Over the next centuries, ihe Bavarians, a land-tilling tribe from Western Europe, advanced their terruory (o the east, con-stantlv in collision with the nations froin Ihe East (Avars, Slavs and Magv^ars). settling and Christianising Austria in the l)roccss. Charlemagne, king of the Franks, subjugated their land; the '"Carolingian colonisation" and a decisive victoiy over ihe Avars and SL A the foundation for ian Mark along the ibe. ,s lost lo Ihe Mag-xl after their defeat fOlto \. king of the ependeni margravate Mark. Locaied along I ihe Carantaniaii .f Austria. In 97b. tin'