According to ehistorylib, in 2005, Austria had a population of approximately 8 million people. The majority of the population was of Austrian descent, with significant minorities from other ethnic backgrounds. The economy was largely driven by the services sector, followed by industry and agriculture. In terms of foreign relations, Austria maintained diplomatic ties with most countries in the region as well as major powers such as the United States and European Union.
The politics of Austria in 2005 were relatively stable due to a successful transition to a democratic government after decades of Soviet rule. Nevertheless, corruption remained a significant problem which hampered economic growth and development efforts. In addition, organized crime was still prevalent throughout the country and posed a threat to public safety and security. In response to these issues, the government sought assistance from international organizations such as the United Nations and World Bank in order to help strengthen its institutions and reduce levels of crime and corruption.
Yearbook 2005
Austria. The right-wing populist party “the freedom”, FPÖ (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs), was divided during the year. The internal contradictions were great and the party had lost voters in a long line of local and regional elections. In April, FPÖ’s founder Jörg Haider announced that he was leaving the party to form a new one: the Federation for the Future of Austria (Bündnis Zukun Österreich, BZÖ). According to countryaah, Vienna is the capital and one of the major cities within the country of Austria. FPÖ’s three ministers and most of its MPs followed Haider, as did party leader Ursula Haubner, who is his sister. The new party was launched as more center-oriented than the xenophobic FPÖ. Haider was unanimously elected party chairman for the new party, while those who stayed in FPÖ elected Heinz-Christian Strache as new leader.
- Also see abbreviationfinder.org for how the acronym AT stands for the country of Austria and other meanings of this two-letter abbreviation.
It thus looked as if BZÖ would take over FPÖ’s role in Austrian politics. But when regional elections were held during the autumn, the new BZÖ received only a few percent and no mandate. The party was thus in principle calculated for the 2006 parliamentary elections. FPÖ, on the other hand, unexpectedly got close to 15% in the election in Vienna in October. The success was largely due to aggressive propaganda against Turkish membership in the EU.
The elections in Vienna were held in October, a few weeks after Austria made a big fuss in the EU ahead of the planned membership negotiations with Turkey. Austria had long defied other Union members and insisted that the Turks should be offered a “privileged partnership” instead of membership. Eventually, the Austrians were forced to give in, but not unless Croatia was also allowed to start its membership negotiations.
In September, nine German tourists, including six children, were killed in a cable car accident in Sölden. The accident occurred when a concrete block fell from a helicopter so that a carriage crashed to the ground and two carriages swayed so violently that passengers fell out. Seven people were seriously injured.
Vienna
Cultural Life
Vienna gained its position as one of Europe’s cultural centers during the centuries when it was the capital of the Habsburg great power. Especially the decades before the First World War were a period of immense vitality and creative power in most cultural and intellectual fields, with names such as Freud and Wittgenstein, the artists Klimt and Kokoschka, the architects Otto Wagner and Adolf Loos, the composer Arnold Schönberg and the “second Vienna school” (see below), the authors Schnitzler and Karl Kraus.
Even after Austria became a second-order political power, Vienna – often with great sacrifices – managed to maintain the character of the cultural metropolis. Not least in the theater sector: Staatsoper, opened in 1869, is still one of the world’s most regarded opera scenes with a classical repertoire, while Volksoper, founded in 1898, plays operetta and musical. Theater an der Wien, founded in 1801 by Emanuel Schikaneder, is also a music scene, while Burgtheater, founded in 1776, is considered one of the foremost German-speaking speeches. Theater in der Josefstadt, founded in 1788 and 1924–38 led by Max Reinhardt, has given precedence to the domestic repertoire, and Akademietheater mainly offers “modern classics”. Alongside the established big scenes, which also include Volkstheater, there are a myriad of cabaret venues and experimental theaters with rich and varied offerings.
Particularly among the city’s over 60 museums should be mentioned Kunsthistorisches Museum, planned and architecturally coordinated with the Naturhistorisches Museum, both created during the reign of Frans Joseph. The world’s largest art collection is housed in Albertina, and precious treasures of handicrafts are on display in Hofburg’s treasury. The contemporary art is cultivated by the Museum of Modern Art in the Liechtenstein Palace and the Museum of 20th Century Art, while the Austrian Museum of Modern Art is focused primarily on the last century’s art crafts with art from, among other things. Wiener Werkstätte. The Jugendepoken has its own monument in the Session building. Among the special museums are the ethnological and ethnographic museums, both world-class, and outside the city is Schönbrunn Castle with huge collections of art and preciosa from the 18th and 19th centuries.
The former court library, now Austria’s national library, is like the Spanish riding school within the Hofburg complex, and its “Prunksaal” is considered the world’s most beautiful library room, designed by father and son Fischer von Erlach. Vienna University, founded in 1365 and thus now the oldest in German-speaking area, has a stately building at the Ringen. Vienna also has a number of specialized colleges, for example. technology, economics and agriculture.
Vienna is historically one of the world’s leading music metropolises. During the Habsburgs, the Hofmusikkapelle around 1500 became the core of the city’s music life, initially with a conservative focus but from the Baroque increasingly an exponent of modern Italian features. The leading composers during the late Baroque were JJ Fux, Antonio Caldara and FB Conti. Around the middle of the 18th century, the emphasis of Viennese music was shifted from the court to the high nobility. Genres such as symphony (GC Wagenseil, MG Monn), opera (Gluck) and vocals flourished, and the classical style culminated with Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and to some extent Schubert (compare Viennese classicism).
In the 19th century, the institutions of bourgeois music came to play a central role: the Wiener Philharmonic was founded in 1842, and the hoof opera (since 1918 Staatsoper) moved into its current building in 1869. The symphonic tradition was managed by Brahms, Bruckner and Mahler, while the Viennese dance music and the operetta had a golden age with names like Lanner, Strauss d. ä. and you, von Suppé, Millöcker and Lehár. Foreground figures at the breakthrough of modernism after the turn of the last century were the so-called second Vienna schools: Schönberg, Berg and Webern.
Today’s music life is largely traditionally focused on institutions such as Staatsoper and Volksoper, the concert halls Musikverein (opened in 1870), known among others. from the annual New Year’s Concert, and Konzerthaus (opened 1913) as well as several conservatories, libraries and archives. Alongside the Wiener Philharmonic, the Wiener Symphoniker (founded 1900) is the most prominent orchestra. Theater an der Wien (opened in 1801) is the leading musical scene. The so-called scratch music exemplifies a locally rooted popular music.
Crafts
In Vienna, a porcelain factory was built in 1718, the oldest factory in Meissen in Europe. During the first period of operation, after the owner called Du Paquier’s period (1718–44), there was a richly differentiated production of high quality, characterized by imaginatively designed details and decor of Chinese, landscapes, flowers, etc. in vivid colors or schwarzlot, sometimes enhanced with gold or silver. Artistically most interesting during the following so-called state period (1744–84) was the figure plastic with, among other things. herding groups in graceful rococo. During the third neoclassical period (1784–1805), figurative plastic was confined mainly to copies in biscuit (see biscuit porcelain) of ancient sculptures, while tableware and ornaments got a new flourish with, among other things. funds in strong colors and rich gilding, often imposed in relief. From the 1820s the factory went back, and it was closed in 1864. Alongside modern production, new production of older models is ongoing at the 1922 Wiener Porzellanfabrik Augarten AG.
