National Day (Austria)

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National holiday 2008: Open day in the office of the Federal President; "Show of performance" of the armed forces at Heldenplatz

The Austrian national holiday has been celebrated annually since 1965 on October 26th, the day on which the agreed Austrian neutrality came into force in 1955 and the last occupying powers left Austria. This day of remembrance replaced the previous flag day as a national holiday . In 1967 he was made the same as the other public holidays in Austria and has been free of work ever since.

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Before 1955

The first national holiday of the Republic of Austria was celebrated on November 12, 1919, the first anniversary of the proclamation of the First Republic after the First World War . The tenth anniversary on November 12, 1928 was celebrated by the government and parliament on a larger scale. Even more sensational were the celebrations of the Red Vienna with a mass parade on the ring and the unveiling of the republic monument . This national holiday was last celebrated in 1933, but due to the authoritarian measures of the Dollfuss government, there was no public celebration.

During the corporate state dictatorship from 1934 onwards, the general day of rest and feast on May 1, which had already existed since 1919 , was declared a day of remembrance of the proclamation of the 1934 constitution ( May constitution ).

From 1938 until the end of the occupation in 1955 there was no national holiday in Austria.

May 1, but was also during the time of National Socialism celebrated from 1938 to 1945 government since the Nazis to from the labor movement originated on May 1 as a day of struggle (Labor Day) to the National Labor Day reinterpreted and - as the corporate state dictatorship in the years before - had taken.

In the Second Republic, the designation state holiday was established in accordance with the Federal Law Gazette, Federal Law Gazette No. 173/1949 of August 20, 1949, as the official designation for the May 1st holiday, which has been officially decreed since 1919 . Due to the similarities and similarities between the state holiday and the national holiday (determined by the government, occasion with symbolic character, more or less historical date, affecting the entire state people, non-working, motive of the national holiday is based on the signing of the state treaty, similarities of the state (svolk ) and nation ) was and is occasionally referred to as today's national holiday synonymously as "national holiday" or confused with it.

1955: State Treaty and Liberation Year

October 22nd: "Freedom Day"

On May 15, 1955, the State Treaty was signed, which restored Austria's state sovereignty . This treaty had to be ratified by all signatory states (France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States); the last ratification document was deposited by France on July 27, 1955 in the Soviet Foreign Ministry in Moscow, the repository of the original of the Austrian State Treaty. This marked the beginning of the contractually agreed period of 90 days in which the occupation troops had to leave Austria. October 25, 1955 was the last day of this 90-day period. October 26, 1955 was therefore the first day on which, according to the assurance in the State Treaty, no foreign troops were allowed to stand on Austrian territory. On this day, the Austrian National Council decided in the form of a constitutional law retroactively from midnight on perpetual neutrality .

After more than eleven years of closure and repair of war damage, the Burgtheater was put back into operation on October 14, 1955. Assuming that “the last foreign soldiers have left Vienna and Austria [on time]”, the Mayor of Vienna, Franz Jonas , called for a “Day of Freedom” on October 20 , with which the “Day the final liberation ”is to be celebrated in the federal capital. The Viennese population was asked to "flag every house and window between [Saturday] October 22nd up to and including [Tuesday] October 25th". The Saturday evening was accompanied by a concert on Rathausplatz , fireworks on Heldenplatz and festive lighting of the town hall and high- beam fountain on Schwarzenbergplatz as well as other emblematic buildings. Square concerts were given at nine other places in the city, all of which ended with the Danube Waltz .

At the beginning of the session of the Vienna State Parliament on October 21, the President of the State Parliament, Bruno Marek , paid tribute to the importance of this coming “Day of Freedom”: “Our Austria, our Vienna, has not known a nicer day than today for many decades. Because after the withdrawal of all occupation troops, the course of this day gives our country back the full sovereignty which it had been deprived of for seventeen years by violence. […] Austria is free! ... "

Officially, in the same article as the mayor's call, the following was announced: “On the occasion of United Nations Day , the federal buildings throughout Germany will be flagged in the national colors on Monday, October 24th . Also on Tuesday, October 25th, these buildings will remain flagged to mark the achievement of Austria's full sovereignty . ”On this day, the“ official liberation celebrations ”took place in the provincial capitals.

On October 23, there was a report of the “great course of the liberation ceremony”.

October 25: "Flag Day"

The initiative to celebrate the regaining of Austria's sovereignty in schools from now on came from Minister of Education Heinrich Drimmel ( ÖVP ). With a ministerial decree of October 1, 1955, he called on the teaching staff to convey to the students the significance of October 25, the day of the final withdrawal of the Allies according to the intended 90-day period, as Independence Day, and arranged for this day on the flag the ceremonial raising of the Austrian flag .

Together with the Vienna City School Board , the Ministry of Education organized a celebration of the Viennese school youth on this day of the flag in the Great Hall of the Konzerthaus . After the arrival of the Federal President Theodor Körner and the flag and country groups "the flag of the republic was ceremonially hoisted". Then the Federal President and Chancellor Julius Raab gave their speeches. Also present as guests were Vice Chancellor Adolf Schärf and other members of the government as well as the President of the Vienna City School Council, Leopold Zechner . Beethoven's choir of the “ Glory of God in Nature ” sounded as “festive reflection”, followed by recitations of “exquisite Grillparzer verses”. “At the end, all participants of the festival sang Austria’s anthem together : for the first time in a country where there was no longer any shadow of a shadow on freedom.” At the same time, the celebration was broadcast by radio in the Vienna and Lower Austria area and could be used by students and teachers in all schools be heard in class. This should be followed by celebrations in schools.

In his celebratory address, Federal Chancellor Raab announced “that Flag Day, although it remains a working day, is now to be celebrated annually. He concluded with the demand for an Austria of peace, welfare and true and genuine humanity. "

1956 to 1964: "Flag Day"

On September 11, 1956, the Council of Ministers decided , again at the instigation of the Minister of Education, Drimmel, to celebrate the Austrian Flag Day on October 26 every year. This associated postponement of one day came about because it was more important for the Federal Government to emphasize the declaration of neutrality on October 26th than the withdrawal of the last occupation soldiers the day before.

Since 1965: "National Day"

In 1965 parliament and the federal government discussed which day should be celebrated as a national holiday. The choices were:

  • November 12th (proclamation of the First Republic in 1918)
  • April 27th (joint proclamation on the independence of Austria by the boards of the (re) established parties SPÖ , ÖVP and KPÖ in reference to the Moscow declaration and formation of a provisional state government in 1945)
  • May 15 (signing of the State Treaty in 1955)
  • October 26th (resolution of the Federal Constitutional Law on Austrian neutrality)

The variant of October 26th met with the greatest approval, and so on October 25, 1965, the National Council unanimously passed the federal law of October 25, 1965 on Austrian National Holidays ( Federal Law Gazette No. 298/1965 ), which came into force the next day.

The National Holiday Act is one of the few norms in Austrian law that has a preamble . There it says:

“Bearing in mind that on October 26, 1955, Austria declared its will with the Federal Constitutional Law, BGBl to defend, and in the same Federal Constitutional Law established its permanent neutrality, and in the understanding of the will thus expressed will to be able to make a valuable contribution to peace in the world as a permanently neutral state, the National Council decided [.] "

- Federal law on the Austrian national holiday

Since 1967, the holiday rest has also been in effect on this day and the national holiday law was announced again in a corresponding amendment ( Federal Law Gazette No. 263/1967 ) and the national holiday was included in the holiday rest act.

Celebrations

Events and activities take place on the occasion of the national holiday.

  • In Vienna you can visit the locations of the Military History Museum and the Vienna Museum with free admission and some of the federal museums with reduced admission. In addition, the parliament , the ministries and the Hofburg , the seat of the Federal President , open their doors on this day .
  • On the eve of the national holiday, the concert for the national holiday will take place in the Wiener Konzerthaus . The Wiener Symphoniker play , conducted every year by a guest conductor from another country. The concert is traditionally under the patronage of the Federal President, who usually also takes part in person.
  • Under the motto Fit on the national holiday , hundreds of popular sports events take place across the country, especially for runners and hikers (“Fit marches”), but also for cyclists, skaters and walkers.
  • The armed forces commemorate this day with swearing-in and, since 1995, every ten years with a parade on Vienna's Ringstrasse , which was originally intended to be carried out “without war equipment” (tanks, etc.) at the SPÖ's efforts for cost reasons. In 2005, at the anniversary parade 50 years army but for the first time 640 vehicles (of which 195 tracked vehicles) as well as 96 helicopters and airplanes used. In the provincial capitals and on Heldenplatz in Vienna there are so-called "performance shows" where the armed forces present their weapons, helicopters, tanks, athletes and much more.

See also

Web links

Commons : National Day (Austria)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Law on the declaration of November 12th and May 1st as general rest and festive days of April 25, 1919, StGBl. No. 246/1919 (= p. 597)
  2. ^ Heidemarie Uhl : November 12, 1918 as a place of remembrance of the First and Second Republic . In: Helmut Konrad , House of History Austria (Ed.): 1918–2018: The beginnings of the Republic of Austria in an international context . Vienna 2018, ISBN 978-3-9504271-6-5 , pp. 67 ( online at hdgoe.at (PDF; 382 kB)).
  3. ↑ BGBl 249/1934 Ordinance of the Federal Government of April 27, 1934 on the determination of May 1st as the commemoration day of the proclamation of the 1934 constitution
  4. ↑ For example, on a page of the Collegium Bosniacum on collegium-bosniacum.org ( memento of December 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), the terms national holiday (page title) and national holiday (in the text) are equated.
  5. ↑ Note: The last Soviet soldier had evidently left Austria on September 19 at 8 p.m. The legend of the last Soviet occupation soldier who is said to have left Austria on October 25th still persists to this day. | On that day, however, the British officially handed over the last occupied Klagenfurt-Lendorf barracks back to the Republic of Austria. Unofficially, however, on October 29 - four days after the contractually agreed date - around 20 British soldiers and their officer, Colonel E. T. Roberts, were bid farewell with gifts from the Carinthian population.
  6. ↑ The Burgtheater opens its gates again. The solemn state ceremony for the consecration of the new house . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna October 15, 1955, p. 1 ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
  7. ↑ a b c d The day of freedom. An appeal from the mayor of Vienna . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna October 20, 1955, p. 1 ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
  8. ↑ The day of freedom. From Bruno Marek. President of the Vienna State Parliament . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna October 22, 1955, p. 1 , right column ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
  9. ↑ Celebrations in the state capitals . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna October 26, 1955, p. 1 , third column below ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
  10. ↑ Rejoice in freedom! Vienna's fireworks of joy - great course of the liberation ceremony . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna October 23, 1955, p. 1 ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
  11. ↑ a b youth waves the red, white and red flag. Austria's school youth celebrated Flag Day . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna October 26, 1955, p. 1 ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
  12. ↑ Proclamation on the independence of Austria.
  13. ↑ In the same Federal Law Gazette 1967, 60th issue, issued on July 25, 1967, the following closely related laws were announced: 263rd Federal Law: Austrian National Holiday (=  Federal Law Gazette No. 263/1967 ) | 264th Federal Law: Amendment of the Public Holidays Rest Act 1957 | 265th Federal Law: Land Labor Law Amendment 19672.