Austria: Crossroads of Europe

Austria is only slightly larger than the state of South Carolina, but it was once the center of the largest and richest empire in all of continental Europe.

- Christine Graf

The Celtic people were among its earliest known inhabitants, and they established an outpost on the Danube River around 400 B.C. The Danube, Europe’s second longest river, became an important highway for trade and travel. In 15 B.C., the Roman Empire claimed the land and controlled it until their empire collapsed around A.D. 400. Over the course of the next 800 years, many different ethnic groups ruled modern-day Austria. In 1273, Rudolf von Hapsburg took control of Austria’s territories. Hapsburg was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, a German monarchy that ruled much of central Europe. For the next 650 years, Austria was ruled by the Hapsburgs. Austria was prized because of its desirable central European river location. Because the main routes between Italy and northern Europe as well as between western and eastern Europe converged in Austria, the country was considered the crossroads of Europe.

The Hapsburgs expanded their power by arranging for their sons and daughters to marry members of other royal families throughout Europe. This allowed them to build alliances and expand their influence throughout the region. By the 1400s, their empire was the most powerful in all of central Europe. The royal family built ornate palaces in Austria’s capital city of Vienna where art and culture thrived. Austria’s wealthiest families and the world’s finest artists, architects, musicians, and composers flocked to the city.