Austrian-German relations after 1945

German-Austrian relations

Austria	Germany

The Austro-German relations after 1945 , i.e. after the Second World War , are determined by the experiences from the annexation of Austria , the division of Europe and Germany and the process of European unification . The two neighboring states share a common state border with a length of 815 kilometers.

After the Second World War

Federal Chancellor Erhard and Klaus

Austrian Embassy in Berlin-Tiergarten

German Embassy in Vienna

Immediately after the war, enjoyed Austria - although also a by the Allied Powers occupied territory - as in the parlance of the Allies "liberated country" ( "liberated country", see also victimhood ) a preferred treatment in comparison to Germany. For example, in contrast to Germans, Austrians were allowed to travel on foreign airlines despite the Allies' flight ban. Austrians were proportionally involved in the National Socialist crimes during the period from 1938 to 1945 in a similar way as the "Reichsdeutsche", but had also had a disproportionate share in the resistance against the National Socialist regime. Austrian politicians accepted the victim thesis gladly and often relatively uncritically, and for these reasons endeavored not to give the public the impression that relations with Germany were too close. It was not until 1955 that Austria and the Federal Republic of Germany officially resumed diplomatic relations and Austria set up an embassy in Bonn, where a "liaison office" had existed since 1950.

In Germany (especially within the CSU, and within the FDP ) some thought after 1945 a renewed connection of Austria to Germany possible. Franz Josef Strauss , for example, declared in a speech to the German Bundestag in 1958 that the “question of German unity” would also affect Austria. In 2011, his party friend Hans Merkel described Austria as “one of two parts of Germany”. The same was true for certain circles in Austria.

Salzburg, in turn, briefly raised claims after 1945 on the former district of Berchtesgaden and the Rupertiwinkel , which in turn sparked outrage in Bavaria.

On May 15, 1955, the Republic of Austria regained full sovereignty through the conclusion of the State Treaty of Vienna . One of the key points was the ban on affiliation on the economic and political level now enshrined in Article 4 .

After the conclusion of the treaty under the Adenauer government, Germany had harshly criticized both the neutrality resolution and the nationalization of “German property”, but ultimately had to come to terms with it. This also led to an intensification of the Austrian identity .

In the 1960s and 1970s there was a steady intensification of bilateral relations in the economic and cultural fields. The Schilling was tied to the Deutsche Mark in 1976 as a consequence of this close economic integration.

Austria and the GDR

At first Austria supported the politics of the FRG and initially refused the GDR state recognition. This took place on December 21, 1972, the day the German-German Basic Treaty was signed .

The signing of a consular agreement in 1975 represented a first high point in the initially slow bilateral relationship. It was the first such agreement that the GDR was able to conclude with a Western state. He expressly recognized the citizenship of the GDR . Chancellor Bruno Kreisky countered the harsh West German criticism by making it clear that Austria could not be expected to see the GDR as a state without citizens - especially where the GDR was a member of the United Nations . Finally, in the spring of 1978, Bruno Kreisky made an official state visit to the GDR. Due to the high prestige that the Austrian Chancellor enjoyed internationally at the time, this state visit was welcomed by the East German government. There were also numerous common interests. Both states fully recognized the Helsinki Final Act , which laid down the borders in post-war Europe, including those between the GDR and the FRG. In addition, both countries were affected by the Cold War . The Austrians, like the GDR, were concerned about peace, since geopolitically they were in the buffer zone between the warring blocks.

German reunification

Austria played an important role as escape aid for GDR citizens who wanted to get to the FRG from Hungary. On the one hand, the “ Pan-European Picnic ” co-organized by Austrians in 1989 near Sopron offered the first opportunity to escape. On the other hand, Austria made special ÖBB trains available to refugees in order to be able to comfortably reach western German territory. Although there was always a friendly relationship with the GDR, official Austria, despite its neutrality, ultimately took a positive stance on German reunification , which took place on October 3, 1990.

Germany and the "EU sanctions"

After long exploratory talks, about three months after the National Council election on October 3, 1999, a coalition between the bourgeois ÖVP and the right-wing populist FPÖ of Jörg Haider emerged . Threats from Austria's 14 partner states in the EU at the time not to accept such a coalition without comment accelerated the negotiations between “black” and “blue”.

The sometimes irrelevant debate about this within the EU on the one hand, Jörg Haider's verbal incursions against Belgian, French and German politicians on the other hand, led to bilateral measures of the then "EU 14" against a partner country, which were unique to date.

It was an attempt to force a democratically legitimized government to give up through diplomatic “harassment”. Germany's Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Vice Chancellor Joseph “Joschka” Fischer were particularly “committed” . A rapprochement between Schröder and his Austrian counterpart Wolfgang Schüssel only came about after intensive mediation efforts by the then President of the BDA , Dieter Hundt . Ultimately, the measures of the EU-14 were lifted again after the report of the so-called “Three Wise Men” on the political situation in Austria in September 2000, whereby the bilateral relationship remained tense until the end of the Red-Green coalition in Germany.

Partner in Europe

Austria's accession to the European Union in 1995 brought about a qualitative change in the bilateral structure of relationships and the Europeanization of the relationship. Germany and Austria share various common interests in the European integration process . 210,000 Austrians abroad live in Germany, 213,000 people of German origin in Austria (as of 2012). Germany is Austria's most important trading partner: around 40 percent of Austrian imports come from Germany and around a third of Austrian exports go to Germany. More than 43 percent of all foreign direct investments in Austria come from the northern neighboring country, which is also the most important target country for Austrian direct investments abroad. German companies are involved in a number of important companies in Austria, such as banks, media companies or supermarket chains and vice versa. The high proportion of German tourists in Austrian tourism is also of particular importance for the Austrian economy : German guests account for around 40 percent of overnight stays in Austrian tourism businesses.

At the same time, Austria is now Germany's sixth most important trading partner and the most important of the Free State of Bavaria. In addition, after the so-called energy transition , Austria is also securing the coverage of German energy requirements in winter with around 1,000 megawatts of capacity (2012).

The relationship in the cultural and scientific areas is close: numerous cultural workers and scientists from Austria work permanently or temporarily in Germany and vice versa.

Many Austrian authors publish in German publishers, numerous Austrian journalists work for German media and vice versa. Last but not least, the close integration of the Austrian media market with German publishers and the possibility of receiving numerous German TV channels on Austrian cable television mean that the public discussion of political or social issues very often takes place in parallel in both countries.

In the meantime, however, Austrian film and television productions as well as Austrian cultural exports in general are playing an increasingly important role in Germany.

The heads of state of both countries have been taking part in the annual meetings of the German-speaking countries since 2004 .

Conflicts

Car toll

Plans by the Federal Ministry of Transport to introduce a nationwide car toll in Germany have led to intense debates. This toll would hit Austrian drivers in particular in large numbers, which is why Austria and the Netherlands ultimately appealed it to the European Court of Justice. On June 18, 2019, the EUGH overturned the car toll, now known as the infrastructure charge .

Hypo Alpe Adria

On May 22, 2007, Bayerische Landesbank took over 50% plus one share from Hypo Group Alpe Adria . BayernLB paid the state of Carinthia over 1.6 billion euros for this. From 2007 to the nationalization by the Republic of Austria in 2009, the Free State of Bavaria lost 3.7 billion euros in tax money through Hypo. As stated in the nationalization agreement, another 3.1 billion euros were loans that were distributed to the ailing subsidiary in several tranches between March 2008 and June 2009. By December 2012, Hypo had made these controversial loan repayments including the interest burden - based on an expert opinion, the payments were finally stopped. The bank informed the Munich government by letter that Hypo and the Republic of Austria as the new owner were assuming equity that the Bavarian mother pumped into Hypo. She declared the money that had flowed as “replacing equity” and cited that the 3.1 billion had flowed in times of crisis. That would mean they would not be repaid. BayernLB responded to the suspension of payments with a lawsuit at the Commercial Court in Munich, in which 2.3 billion including interest charges were demanded.

The Republic of Austria and Finance Minister Hans Jörg Schelling , who has been in office since 2014 , also stopped payments for Hypo Auffanggesellschaft “HETA” in March 2015 and provided a haircut for Hypo's creditors. Legal action was taken against the Free State because Austria took the view that the nationalization was only carried out because of misinformation from Bavaria. Bavaria's Finance Minister Markus Söder and Federal Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble , in turn, announced lawsuits against Austria. On July 7, 2015, Austria and Bavaria agreed on an out-of-court settlement in which the republic will transfer 1.23 billion euros as a payment on account to Bavaria after the legal procedure has been completed.

Refugee crisis

In the so-called “refugee crisis” 2015/16 , the German Chancellor Angela Merkel decided on September 4, 2015, in consultation with the heads of government of Austria and Hungary, to allow refugees stuck on the Austro-Hungarian border and in Budapest, mainly from Syria and Afghanistan, to enter the country to Germany without registration by Hungary and thus contrary to the Dublin Agreement. When the number of refugees in Central Europe increased noticeably as a result of this decision, the “ Balkan route ” was closed to refugees on Austria's initiative . This step has been criticized by Merkel and parts of the German government to this day, but is also supported within the CSU.

literature

• Hugo Portisch: Austria II (Volume 3). Years of Change - Years of Change; Vienna 1996, ISBN 3-218-00611-2 .

Web links

Commons : Austrian-German relations after 1945  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• List of bilateral treaties between Austria and Germany (or Bavaria)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Helene Maimann, Gabriele Anderl: Das Neue Österreich (volume). Nazi rule in Austria . Vienna 2005, p. 86/87 .
2. ↑ Franz Josef Strauss: The memories . Berlin 1998, p. 202/203 .
3. ↑ Dr. Hans Merkel: Honoring the dead at the central memorial of the German fraternity. German fraternity, accessed on June 22, 2011 . 
4. ^ Rolf Pfeiffer: A difficult and conflict-ridden neighborhood - Austria and Adenauer's Germany 1953–1963 . Lit Verlag Münster - Hamburg - London, 2003, p. 10-24 .
5. ^ Foundation House of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany (ed.): Verfreundete Nachbarn. Germany, Austria. Kerber Verlag, 2005, p. 89.
6. ^ Rolf Pfeiffer: A difficult and conflict-ridden neighborhood - Austria and Adenauer's Germany 1953–1963 . Lit Verlag Münster - Hamburg - London, 2003, p. 19-57; 58 ff .
7. ↑ Foundation House of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany (Ed.): Germany-Austria. Friendly neighbors . Kerber, 2005, p. 170-179 .
8. ^ Bruno Kreisky in East Berlin 1978. Retrieved on November 7, 2012 . 
9. ↑ Fall of the Berlin Wall. Retrieved November 7, 2012 . 
10. ↑ Chronology of Austria's relations with the EEC / EU .
11. ↑ Alexander Purger: Wolfgang Schüssel. Disclosed . Vienna 2009, p. 103-120 .
12. ↑ Germans secure winter electricity aid from Austria. Archived from the original on May 15, 2014 ; Retrieved November 7, 2012 . 
13. ^ Relations between Austria and Germany ( Memento from January 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
14. ↑ d'Lëtzebuerger Land - At the German Confederation in Eupen (September 2nd, 2016)
15. ↑ Car toll: Austria threatens Germany with legal action. Retrieved December 23, 2013 . 
16. ↑ German car toll violates EU law. Retrieved June 18, 2019 . 
17. ↑ Credit dispute between Hypo and BayernLB escalates. Der Standard, December 14, 2012
18. ↑ Schäuble announces legal action. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 12, 2015 ; accessed on March 10, 2015 . 
19. ↑ Austria agrees with Bavaria. Retrieved July 7, 2015 . 
20. ↑ Chancellor in the refugee crisis: Angela Merkel and the art of normality , Günter Bannas in FAZ online from September 20, 2015, accessed October 28, 2015.
21. ^ Balkan Conference in Vienna. Mikl-Leitner and Sebastian Kurz invite you to a refugee freeze, Jürgen Klatzer Pilar Ortega-Sánchez in Kurier online on February 24, 2016, accessed August 23, 2016.