Austria is a mountainous, landlocked country in central Europe that was once part of the Holy Roman Empire. When archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was assassinated in 1914, the emperor declared war on Serbia, which ultimately led to World War I.
Austria Basics
Austria is located in the eastern Alps and is bordered by Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and Lichtenstein. It is made up on nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna.
The country is about 32,386 square miles, or 83,879 square kilometers, and is home to about 9 million people. It is a parliamentary representative democracy and has both a president as its head of state and a chancellor who heads the government. The name derives from the Old High German word for “eastern realm.”
The official language is German, and Austrian German is the national language. People there also speak Hungarian, Slovene and Burgenland Croatian.
Austria has a lot of history; it was originally settled by Celts and has been ruled by Romans, Bavarians, Slavs, Avars and Franks. It was the base of power for the Hapsburgs and was annexed by Nazi Germany, among other things.
Austrian National Symbols
The Austrian flag is made up of three horizontal bars, red at the top and bottom and white in the middle. When the flag is flown by the government it includes the black eagle that is the coat of arms of the country. The red and white colors representing Austria date to the arms of the Babenberg dynasty and its first recorded use was in 1230, making it one of the oldest national symbols still in use by a modern country (thanks, Wikipedia!).
The national anthem is “Land der Berge, Land am Strome,” and while the melody is attributed to Mozart, that is in dispute. The name means “Land of the mountains, land by the river.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coXCFX61SBQ?si=4C6Tc36S9KRr6S5W]
The black eagle is considered the national animal of Austria, though it isn’t actually found in that country. The black eagle’s habitat is in Asia. The nation looks to the eagle for its boldness and power.
The barn swallow is the national bird of Austria.
The national dish is wiener schnitzel, which we’ll get back to in a minute.
There are many famous Austrian composers including Joseph Haydn, Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert and Johann Strauss, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart spent most of his career in Vienna. Famous actors and filmmakers from Austria include Billy Wilder, Fritz Lang, Peter Lorre, Hedy Lamar and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Austria Activities for Kids
Adventures in a Messy Life has some good ideas for an Austria unit study and they have printable journaling pages for subscribers that includes some printable mini books.
Learn about different games kids play in Austria, and of course you’ll need to check out an Austrian folk dance, “Sound of Music” style.
Teachers Pay Teachers has an Austria unit study from Beyond Imagination Play that’s aimed at kindergarten through third grade, and another one for older kids from The Creative Workshop.
Austria.info says wiener schnitzel wasn’t actually invented in Vienna, but if they claim it as their national dish that’s good enough for us. They have a recipe for it, and a good roundup of lots of traditional Austrian recipes if you want to try them. (They have lots of great desserts!)
If you want to read about Austria, check out The Big Book of Austria Facts or Let’s Explore Austria. Learn about Mozart through his Who Was book or this National Geographic Kids book about him.
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