The Austrian Viking Mystery: Fact Or Fiction?

The Vikings were a group of nomadic Germanic tribes that originated in Scandinavia and raided, traded, explored, and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia, and the North Atlantic islands. The period from the earliest recorded raids in the 790s until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 is commonly known as the Viking Age of Scandinavian history.

The Vikings were renowned for their ships, which were an integral part of their culture, facilitating trade, exploration, and warfare. Their longships were intended for warfare and exploration, designed for speed and agility, and equipped with oars to complement the sail, making navigation independent of the wind possible.

The earliest recorded Viking raid was in 793 when they plundered the monastery at Lindisfarne in Northeastern England. The Viking Age ended in 1066 with the Norman conquest of England.

There is no evidence to suggest that the Vikings settled in Austria. However, the country was invaded by Bavarians, Slavs, and Avars (Eurasian nomads) before being conquered by Charlemagne in 788.

The Hallstatt Culture

The principal archaeological remains of the Hallstatt culture are the fortified buildings and tombs of the society’s elite. These sites are typically located on hilltops and they show evidence of narrow streets lined with small residences, larger residences of timber, and concentrated areas of workshops.

The population of Hallstatt drew its wealth from the salt industry and the exploitation of local iron deposits. The abundance of local iron meant that it could be traded as a raw material, and this was typically done in the form of ingots shaped like a double pyramid or simple rods weighing up to 9 kg (20 lbs) each.

The Roman Conquest

During Emperor Claudius's reign (41–54 AD), Noricum was bounded on the east approximately by the Vienna Woods, the current eastern border of Styria, and parts of the Danube, Eisack, and Drava rivers. Under Diocletian (284–305), Noricum was divided along the main Alpine ridge into a north (Noricum ripense) and a south (Noricum Mediterraneum). Across the Ziller in the west, corresponding approximately to the present provinces of Vorarlberg and Tyrol, lay the province of Raetia. Present-day Burgenland in the east was in Pannonia. To the south was Region 10, Venetia et Histria. The Danubian limes formed a defensive line separating Upper and Lower Austria from Germanic tribes, most importantly the Marcomanni.

The Romans built many Austrian cities that survive today, including Vindobona (Vienna), Juvavum (Salzburg), Valdidena (Innsbruck), and Brigantium (Bregenz). Other important towns were Virunum (north of the modern Klagenfurt), Teurnia (near Spittal), and Lauriacum (Enns).

Christianity appeared in Austria in the 2nd century, prompting Church organisation that can be traced back to the 4th century. After the arrival of the Bavarii, Austria became the object of new missionary efforts from the Frankish west, such as Rupert and Virgil of the Hiberno-Scottish mission.

Charlemagne's Rule

Charlemagne was a medieval emperor who ruled much of Western Europe from 768 to 814. Charlemagne was born around 742, the son of Bertrada of Laon and Pepin the Short. He was a member of the Frankish Carolingian dynasty and became the sole ruler of the Franks in 771. Charlemagne spent much of his reign engaged in warfare in order to unite all the Germanic peoples into one kingdom and convert his subjects to Christianity. He conquered the Lombards, the Avars, Bavaria, and others. He also waged a bloody, three-decade-long series of battles against the Saxons, a Germanic tribe of pagans, and earned a reputation for ruthlessness. In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Holy Roman Emperor. Charlemagne proved to be a talented diplomat and able administrator of the vast area he controlled. He promoted education and encouraged the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of renewed emphasis on scholarship and culture. Charlemagne also instituted economic and religious reforms, and was a driving force behind the Carolingian minuscule, a standardized form of writing that later became a basis for modern European printed alphabets. Charlemagne ruled from a number of cities and palaces throughout the Carolingian Empire, but spent significant time in Aachen. He was in good health until the final four years of his life, when he suffered from fevers and acquired a limp. In 813, Charlemagne crowned his son Louis the Pious, king of Aquitaine, as co-emperor. Louis became sole emperor when Charlemagne died in January 814 at the age of 72, ending his reign of more than four decades. At the time of his death, his empire encompassed much of Western Europe.

The Vikings' Arrival

The Vikings were a group of nomadic Germanic tribes who laid the foundation for modern Europe. They were renowned for their ships, which were an integral part of their culture, facilitating trade, exploration, and warfare. The late 8th to the mid-11th centuries is commonly known as the Viking Age of Scandinavian history.

The Vikings' expansion into continental Europe witnessed the wider dissemination of Norse culture while simultaneously introducing strong foreign cultural influences into Scandinavia itself, with profound developmental implications in both directions. The Vikings established and engaged in extensive trading networks throughout the known world and had a profound influence on the economic development of Europe and Scandinavia.

The Habsburg Dynasty

The origins of the Habsburg Castle's name are uncertain. There is disagreement on whether the name is derived from the High German Habichtsburg (hawk castle), or from the Middle High German word hab/hap meaning ford, as there is a river with a ford nearby.

The first Habsburg who can be reliably traced was Radbot of Klettgau, who was born in the late 10th century. Radbot's grandson Otto II was the first to take the fortress name as his own, adding "Count of Habsburg" to his title.

In 1273, Count Radbot's seventh-generation descendant, Rudolph of Habsburg, was elected King of the Romans. Taking advantage of the extinction of the Babenbergs and of his victory over Ottokar II of Bohemia at the Battle on the Marchfeld in 1278, he appointed his sons as Dukes of Austria and moved the family's power base to Vienna, where the Habsburg dynasty gained the name of "House of Austria" and ruled until 1918.

The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs from 1440 until their extinction in the male line in 1740, and, as the Habsburg-Lorraines, from 1765 until its dissolution in 1806. The house also produced kings of Bohemia, Hungary, Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, Spain, Portugal, Sicily, Lombardy-Venetia and Galicia-Lodomeria, with their respective colonies; rulers of several principalities in the Low Countries and Italy; numerous Prince-Bishoprics in the Holy Roman Empire, and in the 19th century, emperors of Austria and of Austria-Hungary, as well as one emperor of Mexico.

The Habsburgs expanded their influence through arranged marriages and by gaining political privileges, especially countship rights in Zürichgau, Aargau and Thurgau. In the 13th century, the house aimed its marriage policy at families in Upper Alsace and Swabia. They were also able to gain high positions in the church hierarchy for their members. Territorially, they often profited from the extinction of other noble families such as the House of Kyburg.

The Habsburgs sought to consolidate their power by frequent consanguineous marriages, resulting in a cumulatively deleterious effect on their gene pool. Health impairments due to inbreeding included epilepsy, insanity and early death. The last of the Spanish line, Charles II, who was severely disabled from birth (perhaps by genetic disorders), possessed a genome comparable to that of a child born to a brother and sister, as did his father, probably because of 'remote inbreeding'.

The Habsburg realms were unified in 1804 with the formation of the Austrian Empire and later split in two with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. The monarchy began to fracture in the face of inevitable defeat during the final years of World War I and ultimately disbanded with the proclamation of the Republic of German-Austria and the First Hungarian Republic in late 1918.

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