Czechs (german: Tschechen) are a historically significant and traditional migrant group within

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 ...

. As of 2016, there were 40,324 self-identified Czechs in Austria. The only significant community of Austrian Czechs today is in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, the capital city, where they have had a significant presence since the 19th century.

History

In the 19th century, the Czech and Slovak region went through an economic depression, causing many unemployed ethnic Czechs and Slovak menial workers to migrate to Vienna and the Americas. From the 1880s the 1890s, around 230,000

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, c ...

and

Slovaks The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak. In Slovakia, 4.4 mi ...

emigrated to Austria proper, mainly for construction work and other menial labor jobs in the larger cities, particularly

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. After the fall of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, 150,000 people returned to Czechoslovakia after its independence. Of the more than 300,000 Czechs in the country, the population diminished to around 10,000 by 1991. Since the admission of 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 ...

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 des ...

in 2004, several dozen thousand Czech citizens have emigrated to Austria, mainly due to the open borders that have been made possible by the

Schengen Agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

. The Czech population has increased by as much as four times as of 2016.

References

{{Portal bar, Austria, Czech Republic

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, ...

* * * *

Austria–Czech Republic relations Czech diaspora by country Czech diaspora in Europe

History

See also

References