Upper Austria

History

During the period or Roman rule, all parts of modern Upper Austria south to the river Danube belonged to the province of Noricum, until the Migration Period, when the region was overrun by various Germanic peoples.

Middle Ages

During the early medieval period, the expansion of Avars and Slavs was reaching the Enns River, while regions further to the west, in modern Upper Austria, belonged to the Old Bavarians. By 788, the old Duchy of Bavaria came under the Carolingian rule, and during the following Avar Wars, Carolingian control was expanded further to the east, leading to the establishment of the Avar March. Since the Treaty of Verdun (843), the region of modern Upper Austria, together with the rest of Carolingian Bavaria, belonged to the East Frankish Realm, but it was devastated by frequent Hungarian raids during the first half of the 10th century. Only after the Battle of Lechfeld (955), the region was consolidated as part of the Stem Duchy of Bavaria within the Holy Roman Empire, while further to the east, the Bavarian Eastern March was established.

Within early medieval Bavaria, much of modern Upper Austria belonged to the County of Traungau. In 1156, the expanding March of Austria was elevated to the Duchy of Austria, under the rule of the House of Babenberg, and by the mid-13th century, the region of modern Upper Austria came to be known as the Principality above the Enns River (Fürstentum ob der Enns), a name first recorded in 1264. By the end of the 13th century, the Duchy of Austria had come under rule of the House of Habsburg, and in time, the term "Upper Austria" came to be used but in two different contexts: within Austria proper as a designation for western regions above the Enns, and in the wider scope of Habsburg domains also as one of designations for "outer" and "inner" Habsburg lands beyond the Austria proper. In 1453, the Duchy of Austria was elevated to the Archduchy of Austria, encompassing the region of modern Upper Austria.

Early modern era

In 1490, the Upper-Austrian area above the Enns, centred in Linz, was given a measure of provincial autonomy within the Archduchy of Austria. In 1521, upon the Habsburg dynastic agreement, concluded at Worms, the Emperor Chales V conferred the governance over the Archduchy of Austria (both parts) to his brother, the Archduke Ferdinand I. By 1550, there was a Protestant majority in the region. In 1564, upon the dynastic division of Habsburg domains, Upper Austria together with Lower Austria and the Bohemian territories, came to the Emperor Maximilian II, and by 1572 the County of Schaunberg was finally annexed to the Upper-Austrian territory.

At the start of the 17th century, the Counter-Reformation was instituted under Emperor Rudolf II and his successor Matthias. After a military campaign, the area was under the control of Bavaria for some years in the early 17th century.

The Innviertel was ceded from the Electorate of Bavaria to Upper Austria in the Treaty of Teschen in 1779. During the Napoleonic Wars, Upper Austria was occupied by the French army on more than one occasion.

Since 1804, upon the creation of the Austrian Empire, both parts of the Archduchy of Austria, above and below the Enns, became integrated into the redefined Habsburg monarchy, while also formally remaining within the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806. They later became members of the association of German states and crownlands, known as the German Confederation (1815-1866).

Both the Imperial Patent of 25 April 1848, and the Imperial Patent of 4 March 1849, known as the March Constitution, defined the Archduchy of Austria as encompassing regions above and below the Enns (German: Erzherzogthum Oesterreich ob und unter der Enns), while in practice both of those regions continued to have their distinctive administrations, as reflected in two Imperial Patents issued on 30 December 1849, regulating the scope of two separate provincial governments, one in the Archduchy of Austria above the Enns, and the other in the Archduchy of Austria below the Enns.

Imperial Patent of 26 February 1861, known as the February Patent, also defined two Austrian archduchies, under and above the Enns (German: Unsere Erzherzogthümer: Oesterreich unter der Enns, und Oesterreich ob der Enns), each of them receiving its own provincial statute, issued on the same day (26 February), one for the Archduchy of Austria above the Enns (German: Erzherzogthum Oesterreich ob der Enns), and the other for the Archduchy of Austria below the Enns (German: Erzherzogthum Oesterreich unter der Enns).

In 1867, upon the political reorganization of the Austria-Hungary, both Austrian archduchies remained within the Austrian half of the monarchy (Cisleithania) until the dissolution of 1918.

Modern era

After the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918, the term Upper Austria (Oberösterreich) was officially adopted as the new name for the province, within the new Republic of Austria. After Austria was annexed by the Nazi Germany, that was headed by Adolf Hitler, the Nazi dictator who had been born in the Upper Austrian town of Braunau am Inn, Upper Austria became Reichsgau Oberdonau, although this also included the southern part of the Sudetenland, annexed from Czechoslovakia, and a small part of Styria. In 1945, Upper Austria was partitioned between the American zone to the south and the Soviet zone to the north.