The city of
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
is home to a long-established
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
population. During the time of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Czechs were the largest non-German speaking population in Vienna. After the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the independence of
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
, many of the Viennese Czechs returned to their homeland. Today, Vienna is home to a small Czech population that has grown in numbers since the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
's admission to the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
in 2004.
History
The city was part of the realm of King
Ottokar II of Bohemia
Ottokar II ( cs, Přemysl Otakar II.; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Lower Austria), the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his dea ...
, considered one of the greatest rulers of Bohemia. In 1276, Ottokar II laid the foundation stone for the
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
Minorites Church.
After Ottokar II's death in the
Battle on the Marchfeld
The Battle on the Marchfeld (''i.e. Morava Field''; german: Schlacht auf dem Marchfeld; cs, Bitva na Moravském poli; hu, Morvamezei csata) at Dürnkrut and Jedenspeigen took place on 26 August 1278 and was a decisive event for the history o ...
, his
embalmed
Embalming is the art and science of preserving human remains by treating them (in its modern form with chemicals) to forestall decomposition. This is usually done to make the deceased suitable for public or private viewing as part of the funeral ...
body was initially kept in the Minorites Church before his burial in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
, whereas his heart was buried in the Saint Catherine Chapel in Vienna.
[
A number of Czech noble families had residences in the city, with notable preserved examples including the ]Palais Kinsky
Palais Kinsky is a Baroque palace in central Vienna, Austria. It was originally built for Count Wirich Philipp von Daun, the garrison commander whose son Leopold became a Field Marshal of Empress Maria Theresa. The palace was later bought by the ...
, Palais Lobkowitz
Palais Lobkowitz, or Palais Dietrichstein-Lobkowitz, is a Baroque palace in Vienna, Austria. It was owned by the noble Lobkowitz family.
Today, it houses the theatre museum, which is a part of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
History
The palac ...
and Palais Chotek. History of Czech print media in Vienna Czech print media in Vienna have a long history dating back to the 18th and 19th century, when Vienna had a sizeable Czech population.
Habsburg Monarchy
The first Czech language newspapers were short-lived and there were long periods without an ...
dates back to the 18th century.
20th century
Around the start of the 20th century, Vienna (Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
''Vídeň'', Hungarian ''Bécs'') was the city with the second-largest Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
population in the world (after Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
). At its peak, in 1900, out of 1,674,957 inhabitants of Vienna, 102,974 people claimed Czech or Slovak as their colloquial language. However, as Umgangssprache (everyday language) was not properly defined by the Austrian authorities, there are claims that the Czech minority numbered as high as 250,000-300,000, making Vienna a city with the second largest Czech speaking population, only after Prague. After World War I, many Czechs
The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...
and other nationalities returned to their ancestral countries, resulting in a decline in the Viennese population.
Czechs were among the prisoners of the Vienna-Schönbrunn subcamp
Subcamps (german: KZ-Außenlager), also translated as satellite camps, were outlying detention centres (''Haftstätten'') that came under the command of a main concentration camp run by the SS in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. The Nazi ...
of the Mauthausen concentration camp
Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 further ...
operated in the city during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. After the war, the Soviets
Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union.
Nationality policy in ...
used force to repatriate key workers of Czech and Hungarian origins to return to their ethnic homelands to further the Soviet bloc economy.
In 1994, the Czech Centre in Vienna was founded.
21st century
The number of Czech citizens in Vienna grew from 3,179 in 2013 to 4,215 in 2019. During the same period, the population born in the Czech Republic fell from 16,193 (2013) to 13,620 (2019).
See also
*Czech print media in Vienna Czech print media in Vienna have a long history dating back to the 18th and 19th century, when Vienna had a sizeable Czech population.
Habsburg Monarchy
The first Czech language newspapers were short-lived and there were long periods without an ...
*Czech schools in Vienna
During the 20th century, there were numerous Czech schools in Vienna. These provided the city's large Czech population with instruction in Czech.
Habsburg Monarchy
The first Czech primary school with attached kindergarten was opened in the Q ...
References
Further reading
* Basler, Helena. ''Vídeňští Češi 1945-2005 : k dějinám národnostní menšiny = Die Wiener Tschechen 1945-2005 : zur Geschichte einer Volksgruppe'', Wien ; Praha : České kulturněhistorické centrum, 2006-.
* Baslerová, Helena; Kulturní klub Čechů a Slováků v Rakousku. ''Die Wiener Tschechen 1945-2005 : zur Geschichte einer Volksgruppe'', Wien : Tschechisches kulturhistorisches Institut ; Praha : KLP - Koniasch Latin Press, 2006-.
* Bernas, Karl. ''Sokol Favoriten'', Wien : Museumsverein Favoriten, 2000.
* Brousek, Karl M. ''Wien und seine Tschechen : Integration und Assimilation einer Minderheit im 20. Jahrhundert'', München : Oldenbourg, 1980.
* Glettler, Monika. ''Böhmisches Wien'', Wien : Herold, 1985.
* Glettler, Monika. ''Sokol und Arbeiterturnvereine (D.T.J.) der Wiener Tschechen bis 1914.'', München, Wien, Oldenbourg, 1970.
* Lutz, Freddy. ''Böhmische Emigranten'', Wien : F. Lutz, 1993.
* Hauner, Milan. ''The Czechs in Vienna around 1900. Structural Analysis of a National Minority in a Metropolis'', Philosophy and History, v8 n2 (1975); 264–266.
* Martin, Otto. ''Das tschechische Schulwesen in Wien'', (Salzburg) (Druck von R. Kiesel), 1924.
* Valeš, Vlasta. ''Die wiener Tschechen, einst und jetzt : eine Einführung in Geschichte und Gegenwart der tschechischen Volksgruppe in Wien = Vídeňští češi včera a dnes : úvod do dějin a současnosti české národnostní skupiny ve Vídni'', Praha : Scriptorium, 2004.
* Wonisch, Regina. ''Tschechen in Wien : zwischen nationaler Selbstbehauptung und Assimilation'', Wien : Löcker, 2010.
External links
The German National Attack on the Czech Minority in Vienna
{{Czech diaspora
Czechs
The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...