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Total population | |
---|---|
90,000 [1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Vienna, Burgenland, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol | |
Languages | |
German, Hungarian | |
Religion | |
Roman Catholicism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Hungarians |
The Hungarians in Austria ( Austrian German: Österreichisch Ungarn; Hungarian: Magyarok Ausztriában) numbers 25,884 according to the 2001 Census. Of these, 10,686 were in Vienna and 4,704 in Burgenland. [2] The total number of Hungarian-speakers is estimated at around 40,000, with 6,600 in Burgenland. [2] Most of the Burgenland Hungarians live near the two district capitals of Oberwart/Felsőőr and Oberpullendorf/Felsőpulya. [2] The Hungarian Group Advisory Council is the oldest of the official minority advisory councils in Austria. [2]
Hungarians of Burgenland are the descendants of frontier guards sent during the eleventh century to protect the Kingdom of Hungary. [2] Burgenland place names contain the elements 'Schützen' or 'Wart' ( as in Obserschützen, Unterwart etc.) constituting the linguistic testimony of that historic period. [3] (In the following centuries many of these early inhabitants assimilated into the German-speaking population of Western Hungary. [4]) Hungarians had maintained their privileged status until 1848. [2] Burgenland was under Hungarian rule until the 1920 Treaty of Trianon. [2] Hungarian education continued in the interwar period in a number of municipalities. [2] Economic decline in Burgenland after World War II led to emigration. [2] The negative image (see Iron Curtain) of the Hungarian language by this time led to assimilation. [2]
As a result of the recognition of the Viennese Hungarians (1992 [5]) as a part of the Hungarian minority, the Hungarian minority is composed of two parts, namely the Burgenland Hungarians and the Hungarians living in the Vienna region. [6]
Hungarians established a community in Vienna from 1541 following the 1526 battle of Mohács. [2] Towards the end of the 17th century the city became a key cultural center for Hungarians. [2] Hungarian students graduated from the Vienna University and from the 17th century onwards there was an increasing influx of Hungarian craftsmen into Vienna. [7] The first cultural associations were set up in Vienna in the 1860s. [2] 130,300 residents of Vienna in 1910 were citizens of the Hungarian part of the empire, while only 45,000 of them were also ethnically Hungarians. After World War I a re-emigration started. In censuses of the Interwar period Hungarians counted between 1,000-2,000 people. [8] Refugees from Hungary increased the numbers again in 1945, 1948 and 1956. [2] Today, some 27,000 Hungarians live in Vienna. [9]
The Hungarians of Burgenland were split into four groups prior to the 1921 [4] annexation of Burgenland: [6]
The first two groups were largely absorbed after World War II, especially as a result of industrialisation after 1955. [6] When German was introduced as the official language, Hungarian was only used on a rather restricted level, mostly spoken within the family. [6] In the post-war school system Hungarian was taught as a foreign language for 2–3 hours per week even in communities with a Hungarian majority. [6]
Two-thirds of Hungarians in Burgenland were Roman Catholic in 2004; [2] Lutheran and Calvinist communities are also notable. [2]