 | This section is missing information about history.(September 2021) |
Greeks in Austria number between 5,000 and 18,000 people. They are located all around the country, but the main community is located in Vienna.
| | This section is missing information about history.(September 2021) |
Greeks in Austria number between 5,000 and 18,000 people. They are located all around the country, but the main community is located in Vienna.
Contacts between the Greeks and the Austrians can be traced to the First Crusade and its aftermath, when members of the ruling House of Babenberg took the cross and visited the Byzantine Empire. [1] These contacts led to two royal marriages: Duke Henry II (r. 1141–1177) married Theodora Komnene, a niece of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, [2] while the couple's grandson, Leopold VI (r. 1194–1230), married Theodora Angelina, granddaughter of Emperor Alexios III Angelos. [3] Despite popular narratives to the effect that a Greek community settled in Vienna as a result, or that Byzantine customs and even songs were introduced into Austria at the time, this is not corroborated by the sources. [4]
The Armenian Johannes Theodat opened on 17 January 1685 Vienna's first coffee house in Haarmarkt. As a reward for his services, he was granted the privilege of being the only trader in the city to sell coffee as a drink for 20 years. Following, by 1700, four Greek merchants had the privilege to serve coffee in public.
The 1718 Treaty of Passarowitz led to the establishment of formal commercial relations between the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire, followed by the foundation of the Imperial Privileged Oriental Company. [5] As a result, a wave of Greek merchants, principally from Macedonia, began activities in Central Europe, leading to the establishment of trading colonies across the region. [6] Vienna, as the capital of the Habsburgs and possessing an important geographical position between the Ottoman Balkans and Central and Northern Europe, attracted the lion's share of such immigrants. [7] The Greeks settled mostly in the areas of Fleischmarkt, Hafnersteig, Hoher Markt, Rothgasse and Sonnenfeldgasse in what is now Vienna's inner city. [8] By 1723, the local Greek community was large enough that Emperor Charles VI granted them the right to build their own church. [9] In 1784 a church dedicated to Saint George was built for the Ottoman subjects, while shortly after the Holy Trinity Church was built nearby for those Greeks who were Austrian subjects. [10] By the end of the century, it is estimated that 80,000 Greek families had settled in the Habsburg lands. [9]
In the late 18th century, Vienna was the centre of Greek diaspora where persons like Rigas Feraios, Anthimos Gazis, Neophytos Doukas and the Ypsilantis family prepared the Greek War of Independence. There were also various institutions founded in Vienna that promote the Greek language and learning, contributing to the Modern Greek Enlightenment. In 1814, the Count Ioannis Kapodistrias, at that time Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire, in collaboration with Anthimos Gazis, founded in Vienna the Philomuse Society, an educational organization promoting philhellenism, such as studies for the Greeks in Europe. [11]
Additionally, ethnic Aromanians coming mostly from Moscopole, and generally from the Balkans, who self-identified as Greeks, have also been considered as part of the Greek diaspora. [12] [13]
Furthermore, of great economic importance and social acknowledgment attained the Greeks in Austria in the 19th century. The first Greek newspaper was printed there and the Hellenic National School in Vienna is today the oldest such in the world that has remained continuously in operation. In 1856, after a request by Simon Sinas, Johann Strauss II composed the Hellenen-Polka (Hellenes Polka) op. 203 for an annual ball of the Greek community in the Austro-Hungarian empire. [14]
In 20th century, Austria (and especially Graz and Linz) was a popular destination for Greek students.
The Austrian magnate of Greek origin Georgios Sinas (father of Simon Sinas) invited the Danish architect Theophil Hansen who worked in Athens (and had designed there major public buildings like the Zappeion and the Academy of Athens) to design for him some new buildings for his companies in Austria. Other Greek Austrians like Nikolaus Dumba and Ignaz von Ephrussi also gave Hansen contracts for buildings in the Classical Greek style and the Gräzisierter-Neorennaissance-Stil. After Works like the Palais Ephrussi and the Palais Dumba Hansen was famous and build many other public buildings in Austria like the Parliament of Austria and the Musikverein.
In the former Greek Quarter of Vienna at the Fleischmarkt there are the two historical Greek Orthodox parishes (St George and Holy Trinity). A traditional Austrian Restaurant there is called Griechenbeisl ("Greek Tavern", because of its Greek visitors since the 18th century) and a street Griechengasse ("Greek Lane").
Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, and during World War II he conducted at the Berlin State Opera. Generally regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, he was a controversial but dominant figure in European classical music from the mid-1950s until his death. Part of the reason for this was the large number of recordings he made and their prominence during his lifetime. By one estimate, he was the top-selling classical music recording artist of all time, having sold an estimated 200 million records.
The Orlov revolt was a Greek uprising in the Peloponnese and later also in Crete that broke out in February 1770, following the arrival of Russian Admiral Alexey Orlov, commander of the Imperial Russian Navy during the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), at the Mani Peninsula. The revolt, a major precursor to the Greek War of Independence, was part of Catherine the Great's so-called "Greek Plan" and was eventually suppressed by the Ottomans.
Baron Theophil Edvard von Hansen was a Danish architect who later became an Austrian citizen. He became particularly well known for his buildings and structures in Athens and Vienna, and is considered an outstanding representative of Neoclassicism and Historicism.
Konstantin TheodorDumba, was an Austro-Hungarian diplomat serving as its last accredited Ambassador to the United States and famous for having been expelled during World War I following accusations of espionage.
Anthimos Gazis or Gazes was a Greek scholar, revolutionary and politician. He was born in Milies (Thessaly) in Ottoman Greece in 1758 into a family of modest means. In 1774 he became an Eastern Orthodox deacon; his career later brought him to Constantinople where he was promoted to archimandrite. He left for Vienna in 1789, where he preached at the Church of Saint George, while simultaneously pursuing his academic interests. His efforts to promote education in Greece through the Filomousos Eteria, translation work and contributions to the first Greek philological periodical, Hermes o Logios, played a significant role in the development of the Greek Enlightenment.
The Ephrussi family is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family. The family's bank and properties were seized by the Nazi authorities after the 1938 "Anschluss", the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany.
Simon von Sina or Simon Sinas was an Austrian-Greek banker, aristocrat, benefactor and diplomat. He was one of the most important benefactors of the Greek nation together with his father Georgios Sinas.
The Margraviate of Austria was a medieval frontier march, centered along the river Danube, between the river Enns and the Vienna Woods, within the territory of modern Austrian provinces of Upper Austria and Lower Austria. It existed from c. 970 to 1156.
Theodora Komnene, Latinized Theodora Comnena, was a daughter of the Byzantine prince Andronikos Komnenos and his wife, Eirene (?Aineiadissa). Based on the writings of Niketas Choniates, it is likely Theodora was Andronikos' second daughter. The year of Theodora's birth is unknown.
Georgios Sinas was an Austrian-Greek entrepreneur and banker. He became a national benefactor of Greece and was the father of another Greek national benefactor, Simon Sinas. He was also the founder of the National Observatory of Athens.
Theodora Angelina was the wife of Leopold VI of Austria, by whom she had several children. As a child, she was used by her grandfather, Emperor Alexios III Angelos, as a political tool to gain the allegiance of the regional strongmen Ivanko and Dobromir Chrysos. Her betrothals or marriages to them were cut short as both were successively captured by the Emperor.
Hermes o Logios, also known as Logios Ermis was a Greek periodical printed in Vienna, Austria, from 1811 to 1821. It is regarded as the most significant and longest running periodical of the period prior to the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, containing contributions by key scholars and intellectuals. Hermes o Logios aimed at creating intellectual contacts between the Greek communities of the Ottoman Empire and the Diaspora in Western Europe, as well as the preparing national awakening of the Greek people.
The Kingdom of the Morea or Realm of the Morea was the official name the Republic of Venice gave to the Peloponnese peninsula in Southern Greece when it was conquered from the Ottoman Empire during the Morean War in 1684–99. The Venetians tried, with considerable success, to repopulate the country and reinvigorate its agriculture and economy, but were unable to gain the allegiance of the bulk of the population, nor to secure their new possession militarily. As a result, it was lost again to the Ottomans in a brief campaign in June–September 1715.
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church is a Greek Orthodox Church Cathedral in the first district of Vienna, Austria, in the historic Greek neighborhood of Vienna's Innere Stadt. The neighborhood has also been known as the "Fleischmarkt".
Nikolaus Dumba was an Austrian industrialist and liberal politician. He is considered to have been an important patron of the arts and music and a benefactor of Greece.
Eastern Orthodoxy in Austria refers to communities, institutions and organizations of the Eastern Orthodox Christianity on the territory of modern Austria. There are several Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions in Austria. As of 2019, it is estimated that there are some 400,000 to 450,000 Eastern Orthodox believers in Austria. Most of them are ethnic Serbs and Romanians.
Isaac Komnenos Vatatzes was a Byzantine aristocrat and military commander, who was the son-in-law of Emperor Alexios III Angelos and received the rank of sebastokrator.
The Aromanian diaspora is any ethnically Aromanian population living outside its traditional homeland in the Balkans. The Aromanians are a small Balkan ethnic group living scattered throughout Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. Historically, they also used to live in other countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, although they have ever since been assimilated.
Baroness Helene von Vetsera was an Austrian noblewoman. She was the daughter of a wealthy lawyer and financial advisor, and she married Albin von Vetsera in 1864. She became a baroness when her husband was created a baron in 1870. She enjoyed significant prestige in the social life of Vienna until she was disgraced by the Mayerling incident in 1889, when her daughter Baroness Mary von Vetsera and Crown Prince Rudolf were found dead together. Helene von Vetsera left high society after the incident, and she lost her fortune after World War I.
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