# Why do Austrians speak German? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 6, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638 "2016-06-06T03:12:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/21 "2016-06-06T09:53:18Z")
Do people from India speak Indian? Do Chinese people speak Chinese? As said above, The whole nation state thing is a modern construct. A lot of the problems in Africa are the result of Europeans drawing up borders with little regard for local tribal lands. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/22 "2016-06-06T11:19:23Z")
It may be worth noting that Europe has, basically, settled on territorial boundaries that more or less match linguistic boundaries. Austria is the last remaining holdout. But the breakup of Yugoslavia has pushed back in the opposite direction. Before 1990, people in ex-Yugoslavia pretty much spoke a mutually intelligible language. Now, Slovenians and Bosnians and Croatians and Serbians are different countries speaking a common language. It’s called Serbo-Croatian, distinguished largely by the alphabet of choice, similar to Urdu-Hindi of the Indian subcontinent. But historically, there has never been a “rule” that national borders need to coincide with linguistic borders. Kings can change the boundaries of their kingdoms, but changing the languages of their subjects is a slow and grinding process that seldom materializes. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/23 "2016-06-06T11:22:55Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Same reason Switzerland and Liechtenstein speak German - because they were speaking German before the idea of “Germany” existed. I do wonder whether “Germany” (as a spatial and cultural entity) is as diverse and in-fighty as “Italy” is. In my mind, Germany actually managed to become a unified country over the last two centuries whereas Italy has only learned how to pretend to be one over the same timespan ; but I have no idea how close to reality that is. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/24 "2016-06-06T11:26:40Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Huh, interesting. Though it does make me wonder why they haven’t forged their own separate nationality since splitting from the HRE in 1273. Americans and Canadians certainly don’t consider themselves English. Apart WASPs, perhaps 😉 The French enjoy calling everyone in the anglosphere ‘anglo-saxons’, usually when they are disparaging some element of our collective culture. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/25 "2016-06-06T11:37:15Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > It may be worth noting that Europe has, basically, settled on territorial boundaries that more or less match linguistic boundaries. Austria is the last remaining holdout. Spain, France, Andorra, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy… ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/26 "2016-06-06T11:42:40Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > I do wonder whether “Germany” (as a spatial and cultural entity) is as diverse and in-fighty as “Italy” is. In my mind, Germany actually managed to become a unified country over the last two centuries whereas Italy has only learned how to pretend to be one over the same timespan ; but I have no idea how close to reality that is. Germany and Italy, as modern sovereign entities, both unified in the middle of the 19th century. By that time, the standardization of the Italian and German languages had already been under way for several centuries. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/27 "2016-06-06T11:53:17Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Spain, France, Andorra, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy… Belgium, Ireland, Moldova… ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/28 "2016-06-06T12:09:14Z")
Slightly off topic, but it was thanks to a [reader’s message to Cecil that was included](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/443/why-are-there-so-many-names-for-germany-aka-deutschland-allemagne-etc) in a Straight Dope column (scroll to bottom) that I realized that Charlemagne – that is, Karl der Gröss – was more “German” than “French”, and I noticed many modern French words derive from Frankish (a Germanic dialect). ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/29 "2016-06-06T12:15:27Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Spain, France, Andorra, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy… Well, Liechtenstein is actually the only historically 100 percent German-speaking country in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/30 "2016-06-06T12:21:24Z")
The amount of variation in what we might call the well-known European languages (English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, and Spanish), in all the places where they are spoken both near their place of origin and in the places far from those places, is greater than you might expect. It would take a while to explain just how much variation there is. You might look at the relevant webpages in the websites Ethnologue or Glottolog for a detailed explanation of that variation. In some cases it’s usually thought of as being dialects that are at the edge of mutual intelligibility, while in other cases it’s clearly so different that it’s considered different languages: > **[the world](https://www.ethnologue.com/)** > > Find, read about, and research all 7,168 living languages. Ethnologue is the ultimate source of information on the world's languages. [http://glottolog.org/](http://glottolog.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/31 "2016-06-06T12:24:51Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Slightly off topic, but it was thanks to a [reader’s message to Cecil that was included](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/443/why-are-there-so-many-names-for-germany-aka-deutschland-allemagne-etc) in a Straight Dope column (scroll to bottom) that I realized that Charlemagne – that is, Karl der Gröss – was more “German” than “French”, and I noticed many modern French words derive from Frankish (a Germanic dialect). The German word for France is ‘Frankreich’ (Frankish Empire) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/32 "2016-06-06T12:29:18Z")
By the way, the most homogeneous country in Europe - perhaps in the world - ethnically and linguistically (i. e. one country, one ethnicity, one language) is the Czech Republic. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/33 "2016-06-06T12:41:18Z")
Just to add to the discussion, [South Tyrol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Tyrol) is a province in northern Italy where the majority of people speak German (it’s Italian name is Alto Adige). It is part of a historical entity (County of Tyrol) that stretched into present-day Austria, including the Brenner Pass and Innsbruck. I visited the area in the early 90s and road signs are in Italian and German. Another example of borders not reflecting local language. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/34 "2016-06-06T12:51:58Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > By the way, the most homogeneous country in Europe - perhaps in the world - ethnically and linguistically (i. e. one country, one ethnicity, one language) is the Czech Republic. Well, now. Ever hear of Sudetenland? ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/35 "2016-06-06T13:00:39Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Well, now. Ever hear of Sudetenland? Yes, all the Germans who used to live there (like my neighbour) were kicked out (not just from the Sudetenland, mind you, but also from the German speaking parts in other parts of the country like Moravia). That’s the very reason why the Czech Republic is so ethnically homogeneous today. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/36 "2016-06-06T13:11:09Z")
The main point is that there was a large collection of various kingdoms and principalities with varying degrees of (nominal) independence and interdependence - they were only fully united into “Germany” in the later 1800’s. (Note that “mad King Ludwig” of fancy castle fame was still “King of Bavaria” until almost 1900 and the Bavarian monarchy crumbled only at the end of WWII, although technically it was a province of the German Empire before that. ) Also there is a regional variation in language - as others point out, different words for some things (Think “teevee” vs. “telly” or “boot” vs “trunk”.) I believe someone on one thread once mentioned that “country bumpkin” accent in movies tended to be Bavarian, much as southern USA accent tends to be. I assume the accents are regional enough it would be analogous to England, where the accent defines what region you grew up in, in a very small country? Central control, central source of modern media and centralized “authority” for the language probably have done a lot, like other areas, to help standardize a very regional diversity. I understand it’s the same in Italy, where a diverse collection of small states were united in the late 1800’s, but regional accents of Italian are quite pronounced. Even Our French teacher mentioned that France has a number of strong regional accents, despite being a kingdom under central control for almost a millennia. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/37 "2016-06-06T13:40:22Z")
There is an interesting [Wikipedia article about the “Republic of German-Austria”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_German-Austria) (the official name of the country from 1918 until 1919): > [@](#): > > The Republic of German-Austria (German: Republik Deutschösterreich or Deutsch-Österreich) was created following World War I as the initial rump state for areas with a predominantly German-speaking population within what had been the Austro-Hungarian Empire.[1] > > German-Austria claimed sovereignty over all the majority-German territory of the former Habsburg realm: a total area of 118,311 km2 (45,680 sq mi) with 10.4 million inhabitants. This included nearly all the territory of present-day Austria, plus South Tyrol and the town of Tarvisio, both now in Italy; southern Carinthia and southern Styria, now in Slovenia; and Sudetenland and German Bohemia (which later became part of Sudetenland), now in the Czech Republic. In practice, however, its authority was limited to the Danubian and Alpine provinces of the old Habsburg realm—with few exceptions, most of present-day Austria. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/38 "2016-06-06T13:41:20Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > My German teacher said he was teaching us “High German”, but really no Germans spoke it, rather it was a somewhat artificial blend of all the German dialects… If you wanna tour Berlin, You’d better get High If you wanna get up and take a plane, you’d better get High The country seems so cool, and I know why They all get High They all get High They all get High Thinking 'bout Oktoberfest? You’d better get High The beer is so great and Dutch is no good - Better get High! We are taking it next semester and I know why Because they get High Because they get High Because they get High Lots of Germans go to work because they are High Hans just got a new promotion because he is High Now he’s building cars and I know why Because he got High Because he got High Because he got High I was gonna bail out Greece but they won’t get High Their country is in such a mess because they’re not High Lebensraum for us and I know why Because we are High Because we are High Because we are High ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/39 "2016-06-06T14:45:48Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > Well, Liechtenstein is actually the only historically 100 percent German-speaking country in the world. And it’s not in Germany, I think is the point. Territorial borders do not reflect linguistic. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638/40 "2016-06-06T14:46:52Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > By the way, the most homogeneous country in Europe - perhaps in the world - ethnically and linguistically (i. e. one country, one ethnicity, one language) is the Czech Republic. I looked up the Czech Republic on Wikipedia. According to the numbers there, 64% of Czechs consider themselves ethnically Czech. By way of comparison, North Korea is comprised pretty much exclusively of Koreans, speaking Korean. There is a very small number of Chinese and Japanese, but I’d imagine the Czech Republic’s ethnic variety probably beats North Korea’s fifty to one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-austrians-speak-german/756638.md?page=3)