CULTURE | Austria

AUSTRIAN CULTURE

Traditional Clothing

In Austria there are several different clothings that each have their own name. Here are some of the traditional clothes listed bellow-

Dirndl= Is a German traditional dress worn by women. Although the Dirndl looks simple it is very complicated to make and is sometimes expensive.
Lederhosen= They are breeches that are made from leather and usally worn by men. The breeches normally are either short or knee- length. The longer pants are called Bundhosen or Kniebundhosen.
Loden cape= It originated in Tyrolean. It is made out of a thick water resistant wollen material. The cape was first produced by peasants in Austria. It's fabric comes from oily wool of the mountain sheep. The fabric normally has a bluish-green colour.
Tracht= It is a traditional costume that is worn in German speaking countries.
Tyrolean hat= It is a hat that is worn by men. This hat originated in Tyrol in the Alps. The hat is decorated with a hatband and flowers or a feather or brush sticking out. Traditionally the brush comes from the tail of a chamois goat.

CHRISTIANITY

There are four different types of Christianity that include-
Roman Catholic= Almost 63.5% of Austrians believe in Roman Catholicism. It is therefore the most believed religion in Austria. The Catholic Church in Asutria is the Austrian Conference Catholic Bishops.
Orthodox Chritianity= It is the second most believed religion in Austria. After immigrants from South Slavic from the Balkans came the church grew. In Austria the largest group of Orthodox are the Serbs. In 2010 Orthodox churches estimated that the had 500,000 memebers (400,00 were Eatern Othodox and 100,000 Oriental Orthodox). This equals to 6% of Austria's Population.
Protestanism= Lutheranism used to be the second widely believed religion in Austria but now it has had a decrease in memebers. In 2013 there were only 313,289 Lutherans that equals to 3.7% of the Austrian population.

ISLAM= Immigration has allowed many Balkans and Turks to move to Austria and bring their religion with them. In 2010 is was estimated the Muslims contained 7% of the total population.

PAGANISM= There has been an increase in Pagan movement in Austria over the past few years. These groups especially contain those who are Germanic Heathen, Wiccan & Witchcraft groups.

CLASSICAL

Vienna (capital of Austria) was homed to many famous composers of classical music that include- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Strauss Jr. During the 18th classical music had begun to dominate Europe, Vienna was the hot spot for classical musicians. Most songs that have been composed are still used today, such as Fur Elise & Symphony No. 5 In C Minor Op. 67 Part 1 & written by Beethoven, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart, etc. In the early 16th century those in Vienna began to focus on instruments that included the lute.

FOLK MUSIC

Yodeling is one of the most famous types of Folk Music from Switzerland, Austria and the southern parts of Germany. One of the most famous Austrian touring group from Zillertal, Tyrol is called the Ursprung Baum. They have toured mayn places across the Europeans Union. Two other examples of famous yodelers is Franz Lang & Stefanie Hertel. Hertel is a famous female German Yodeler and performer of Alpine folk music. She has won numerous awards and prizes such as the Grand Prix der Volksmusik which she won in 1992. While Lang is a famous yodeler from Barvaria and is sometimes referred to as the Yodelking or Jodlerkönig in German.

INSTRUMENTS

Accordion- It has played a part in Austrian Folk Music throughout history. Traditionally those who played the accordion would only turn up when there was a village festivity. On the Accordions website it is said that a every typical Austrian rural family would own an accodion. It gives a great value in Austrian Folk Culture. During the 20th century, the Accordion began to appear not only in folk music but also blues music that was turned into the Viennese Blues band. They were popular during the 1930s and the 1940s. Now the Accordion is played in Viennese schrammelmusik bands and Street entainers in Austria.
Double Necked Guitar- One of the important roles in schrammelmusik is the double-necked guitar. It is a guitar that simply has an extra seperate neck. One neck of the guitar is normally fitted with 12 stings while the the other neck will have 6 strings. This allows the guitarist to double up on the music being played by switching quickly between both necks. Today these instruments are electric versions that are used in rock bands.
Clarinet- It is a wind intrument that is made out of dark wood fitted with metal keys. It was transformed/developed from a single-reed instrument called the chalumeau. In Austria it can be heard playing folk music together with the double-necked guitar.

RELIGION

MUSIC

Dirndl

Lederhosen

Loden Cape & Red Fox fur

Tracht

Tyrolean Hat

Dance steps created in 1816

Couple dancing the Viennese Waltz

Painting of kids dancing in a circle

Couple dancing the Folk Dance

AUSTRIAN FOLK DANCE

In Austria there are many different types of Folk Dancing
In German Folk Dance is known as Folkloretänze, while in Austria people call it Volkstanz.
Austrian folk dance is related with round dancing, the Waltz, Polka and Zweifacher and can be danced to different tunes.
In Folk dance both the waltz and polka are very different compared to standard ballroom dancing
Another form of Folk Dance is called Sprachinseltänze (language island dance) are danced by native German speaking groups living outside of Austria, but it originated in Austria. An example of this type of dance is Rediwaire.
When Austrians do Folk dancing (normally in festivals), they wear Trachts- which is the traditional clothing of Austria.
During Festivals the Austrian folk dance follows a common sequence-
Everybody gets on the dance floor where they dance the opening waltzes. The waltzes are danced in blocks with breaks in between.
Finally after they have finished dancing there is often a goodbye song at the end.
Normally in the Viennese festivals there are four longs sets of dance with longs breaks

VIENNESE WALTZ- WIENER WALZER

It was created in the second half of the 18th century
In the Viennese Waltz there it is basically a rotary dance where dancers constantly have to turn to either the leader's right (natural) or towards the leader's left (reverse).
A real Viennese Waltz will only have turns and changing of steps. Other moves that include the fleckerls, American-style figures and side sway or underarm turns are normally not done in the Vienna Annual ball as these moves are all modern techniques.
Couples dancing together do not pass but instead they turn left and right while travelling counterclockwise when dancing.

Dance

Austria, Germany and Switzerland are all German speaking countries. But you may be thinking that they're all the same, well the truth is you're wrong. In Switzerland although they also speak high german (standard German) they also have dialects. In Switzerland they speak Swiss German, which sometimes proven a difficulty to understand to those who only speak High German.

GERMAN-

German is the main language spoken in Austria
It is used in media, in schools and in formal announcements.
Austrian German (probably the dialect) is mainly influenced by Austro- Bavarian and uses many German words and expressions.

ALEMMANIC-

Alemmanic is spoken in Voralberg- located on the Western side of Austria
They speak High (standard) Alemannic- it is the same as those who live outside of Basel in Switzerland and parts of southern Alsace in France
Those who live outside of Voralberg have difficulties understanding what they are saying
Alemmanic is more similar to Swiss German with many different pronunciations

AUSTRO-BARVARIAN-

The main native language in Austria (other then Voralberg) is Austro-Barvarian.
It is spoken using many different dialects
Parts of Nothern and Southern Austria that include Vienna speak Central Austro-Barvarian Dialects.
Austro-Barvarian is very different from High German.
It is also a difficult dialect to understand to those outside of Austria

Language

Austrian Folk Band

Chalumeau

Clarinet

Double-Necked Guitar

Vienna Philharmonic

Accordion

Mozart

Beethoven

Johann Strauss Jr.