Historic license plates (Austria)

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License plates were introducedrelatively latein Austria , namely only with the ordinance of September 27, 1905. This was to beaffixed to the front and back ofevery car and motorcycle in black letters on a white background. It could either be painted on orattached tothe vehicle in the form of a board. The first license plate was assigned on January 7, 1906 in Vienna .

License plate from 1928

First system (1905 to 1930)

Systematics

The crown lands, which belonged to the Austrian half of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918 , had their own identification system. The flag consisted of a country or rayon identification with letters, followed by a Registration Number, which corresponded to the register number in the so-called "evidence list" (roughly today's admission register comparable). In 1905 the panels were still referred to as identification marks, and since 1910 as markings.

Country and region identifiers

  • A Vienna police rayon (= City of Vienna)
  • B Lower Austria with the exception of the Vienna Police Rayon
  • C Upper Austria
  • D Salzburg
  • E Tyrol
  • F Carinthia
  • H Styria
  • J Krain (retained by Yugoslavia until 1919)
  • K coastal land (retained by Yugoslavia until 1919)
  • M Dalmatia (retained by Yugoslavia until 1919, from 1921: Burgenland)
  • N Prager Polizeirayon (= City of Prague) (maintained by Czechoslovakia until 1932)
  • O Bohemia with the exception of the Prague Police Rayon (retained by Czechoslovakia until 1932)
  • P Moravia (retained by Czechoslovakia until 1932)
  • R Austrian Silesia (Poland / Czechoslovakia from 1920, retained in Czechoslovakia until 1932)
  • S Galicia (until 1918, then Polish)
  • T Bukowina (until 1918, then Romanian)
  • W Vorarlberg

These identifiers remained in place even after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, provided they referred to Austria.

Registration numbers

A maximum of three-digit numbers could be used. As soon as all the rows of numbers within the three-digit numbers were exhausted, Roman numerals from one onwards were added to the identification letter and the numbering started again with 0. The same numbers were issued for automobiles and motorcycles. The police departments in Vienna and Prague issued the numbers consecutively, the other authorities were assigned certain number ranges by the state offices so that they could determine at a glance in which area of ​​a crown land a vehicle was registered. Due to the mix of Roman and Arabic numerals, the legibility of the license plates became very confusing as the number of registered vehicles increased.

Examples : A 20, BIV 35, BXXII 903

Second system (1930 to 1939)

In 1930 a new motor vehicle law came into force. The signs were now black with white letters. The license plate system itself was completely reorganized and remained essentially unchanged until 1990 - only interrupted by the connection to Germany.

Systematics

  • The registration number consisted of a country code followed by a maximum six-digit number from which the registering authority could be identified.
Example : A 2.170

Country codes

The following identifiers have also been introduced:

Number series of the individual authorities

Burgenland
Examples for the Jennersdorf district : M 7.199; M 17.199; M 117.199
Lower Austria
Examples for the Amstetten district : B 1.312; B 31,312; B 61,312; B 101,312; B 131,312; B 161.312
Other federal states

The number systems are structured in a similar way as explained above.

This number system is still used today by some institutions or administrative units as a district code (e.g. Red Cross Lower Austria , fire brigade or N.Ö. district health insurance fund )

Third system (1939 to 1945 or 1947)

In 1939, after the loss of statehood (see connection with Austria ), the German tables with new identification letters (e.g. W for Vienna, Nd for Niederdonau, formerly Lower Austria) were introduced.

Fourth system (1945 or 1947 to 1990 - expiring)

In August 1945, new license plates were only issued in the areas occupied by the Red Army (Lower Austria, Burgenland, parts of Upper Austria and Vienna): black background, white numbers, the federal coat of arms on the left, the state coat of arms on the right. The remaining areas retained the license plates and license plates from 1939.

In 1947, the currently valid, but expiring, labeling system was introduced throughout Austria. The license plates with coats of arms were exchanged. Certain groups of numbers have also been assigned to special vehicles ( taxis , buses , local authority vehicles). The identifiers “BP” and “OB” were omitted. The license plates for trailers got a red border.

  • In 1968 the front license plates on motorcycles were abolished.

Systematics

  • The registration number consisted of a country code followed by a maximum six-digit number from which the registering authority could be identified.
Example : N 2.170

Country codes from 1947

Each state was sorted according to its first letter; only Styria was given the two-letter mark St (S was used for Salzburg). The large cities of Linz and Graz were not integrated into the number series of the respective federal states of Upper Austria and Styria, instead the letters L and G were assigned to these two cities due to their higher population and vehicle numbers.

To better distinguish the letter O (for Upper Austria) from the following digits, a short hyphen was added after this country code . In four to six-digit numbers there was a highly oval point as a separator for thousands or the line break on two-line panels (occasionally at the back and typical for motorcycles). (There is currently a dividing line for the pentagonal small moped license plates)

From 1967, government institutions were also assigned their own identifiers:

Before 1967, the vehicles of these state institutions were registered in Vienna and therefore had W-plates, but with specially reserved number series. Meanwhile, vehicles of the ÖBB in the new license plate system again have Vienna license plates with the final letters BB,

z. B. .W – 1234 BB

Foreign diplomats received the WD mark . Consuls
were also given a K after their state identification : z. B. . For special purposes, license plates with special colors and always white letters were introduced: TK – 8

  • black with yellow-red reflective bar for small motorcycles
  • blue for test drives
  • blue with red stripe for temporary registrations (customs license plate)
  • green for transfer trips
  • red for foreign trailers that are pulled by an Austrian towing vehicle and for motorcycles (these as a small portrait format with a point below, i.e. pentagonal).

Number series of the individual authorities

The same series were used as they were introduced in 1930 (see above)

Burgenland
Examples for the Jennersdorf district : B 7.199; B 17.199; B 117.199
Lower Austria
  • These series were expanded by adding 30,000, 60,000 and 100,000 respectively.
Examples for the Amstetten district : N 1.312; N 31,312; N 61,312; N 101,312; N 131,312; N 161.312
  • In 1973, the number of available numbers was fully used in some districts. Therefore, in some districts of Lower Austria, the number 90,000 was added: N 91,312. Later the 100's of the number plate were replaced by a letter: N 11.A02, N 11.C99 etc.
    Styria Fuerstenfeld.jpg

This system expansion took place in 1979 in some districts in Upper Austria and Styria , and later in Tyrol.

Other federal states
  • In all federal states except Vienna, the districts and their expositions were assigned certain numerical ranges, for which the thousands were usually used. The systems for this were different depending on the federal state:
  • Connected number ranges could contain exactly 1000 numbers (sometimes significantly more).
  • The next area belonging to the same district followed either after a systematic increase of 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 or 100,000 respectively, in some cases other distances were also used.
  • In some cases, areas within districts were reserved for individual regions of the district or certain user groups.
  • One to three-digit numbers (i.e. without thousands) were sometimes particularly popular because they distinguished very early vehicle owners and thus gave them an alleged "importance", as it were. In some federal states, however, these were not awarded at all for various reasons:
  • Until 1986, Lower Austria had no capital in the federal state; the state government and administration were located in Vienna.
  • In Burgenland, Carinthia, Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg, these license plates were issued exclusively to motor vehicles in the respective state capital.
  • Some of these numbers were reserved for the surrounding area of ​​the respective state capital (e.g. in Styria the Graz-Umgebung district ),
  • In Upper Austria, they were assigned in alphabetical order in the first district (Braunau district), as the capital Linz had its own license plate with the letter "L".
  • Within the Carinthian district of Villach-Land (including K 120,000–129,999), for example, Veldener received the thousands series K 126,000–126,999. In Linz the nationalized companies VOEST and Chemie Linz also received their own, exclusively four-digit series (including L 8,000–8,999). On the one hand, this was relevant for security police interests; on the other hand, it also enabled the (sometimes unjustified) preference for certain user groups, e.g. B. by the executive. In addition, these numbers were of great interest to hitchhikers and those looking for a lift, as they made it possible to draw conclusions about possible destinations for the vehicles.
  • Various municipalities in Austria changed their district affiliation over the course of time and thereby adopted the distinguishing mark of their new district.


Fifth system from 1990

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Reichsgesetzblatt for the kingdoms and countries represented in the Reichsrat LXII. Piece, issued on October 7, 1905, p. 391 : RGBl. 156 Ordinance of the Ministry of the Interior in agreement with the Ministry of Finance of September 27, 1905 regarding the enactment of security police regulations for the operation of automobiles and motorcycles , Special: Section V: Identification marks of motor vehicles , §§ 26–37, pp. 395–397 ; List of recognized letters , p. 398.
  2. ↑ Reichsgesetzblatt for the kingdoms and countries represented in the Reichsrat, XXXI. Piece, issued on April 30, 1910 , RGBl. 81: Ordinance of the Ministry of the Interior in agreement with the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Finance of April 28, 1910 regarding the issuing of safety regulations for the operation of motor vehicles (automobiles, motorized trains and motorcycles) , in particular: Section V, Vehicle registration numbers , §§ 28–34, pp. 143–144; I. List of identification letters (ad § 30) , p. 148.
  3. ↑ List with all old Austrian license plates and all digit codes
  4. ↑ Official notices. License plate exchange. In:  Illustrierte Kronen-Zeitung. For the German people! , No. 14.143 / 1939 (XL year), June 4, 1939, p. 29 middle. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / short.