Historical provinces of the House of Habsburg
Further Austria
,
Outer Austria
or
Anterior Austria
(
Latin
:
Austria anterior
;
German
:
Vorderosterreich
, formerly
die Vorlande
(pl.)) was the collective name for the early (and later) possessions of the
House of Habsburg
in the former
Swabian
stem duchy
of south-western
Germany
, including territories in the
Alsace
region west of the
Rhine
and in
Vorarlberg
.
[1]
While the territories of Further Austria west of the Rhine and south of
Lake Constance
(except Konstanz itself) were gradually lost to France and the Swiss Confederacy, those in Swabia and Vorarlberg remained under Habsburg control until the Napoleonic Era.
Geography
[
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]
Further Austria mainly comprised the Alsatian
County of Ferrette
in the
Sundgau
, including the town of
Belfort
, and the adjacent
Breisgau
region east of the
Rhine
, including
Freiburg im Breisgau
after 1368. Also ruled from the Habsburg residence in
Ensisheim
near
Muhlhausen
were numerous scattered territories stretching from
Upper Swabia
to the
Allgau
region in the east, the largest being the
margravate
of
Burgau
between the cities of
Augsburg
and
Ulm
. During the
Habsburg monarchy
they were humorously called "tail feathers of the
Imperial Eagle
". Some estates in
Vorarlberg
possessed by the Habsburgs were also considered part of Further Austria, though they were temporarily directly administered from
Tyrol
.
History
[
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]
The original home territories of the Habsburgs, the
Aargau
with Habsburg Castle and much of the other original possessions south of the
High Rhine
and
Lake Constance
were already lost in the 14th century to the expanding Swiss Confederacy after the battles of
Morgarten
(1315) and
Sempach
(1386). These territories were never considered part of Further Austria – except for the
Fricktal
region around
Rheinfelden
and
Laufenburg
, which remained a Habsburg possession until 1797.
From 1406 until 1490 Further Austria together with the Habsburg County of Tyrol was included in the definition of "Upper Austria" (
Oberosterreich
, not to be confused with the modern
Austrian state
of
Upper Austria
). From 1469 to 1474 Archduke
Sigismund
gave large parts in pawn to the
Burgundian
duke
Charles the Bold
.
At the
Treaty of Westphalia
in 1648, the Sundgau became part of France. After the
Ottoman wars
many inhabitants of Further Austria were encouraged to emigrate and settle in the newly acquired
Transylvania
region, people that later were referred as
Danube Swabians
. In the 18th century, the Habsburgs acquired a few minor new Swabian territories, such as
Tettnang
in 1780.
In the reorganization of the Holy Roman Empire in the course of the
French Revolutionary Wars
, much of Further Austria, including the Breisgau, was by the 1801
Treaty of Luneville
granted as compensation to
Ercole III d'Este
, former duke of
Modena and Reggio
, who however died two years later. His heir as his son-in-law was Archduke
Ferdinand of Austria-Este
, the uncle of Emperor
Francis II
.
After the Austrian defeat at the
Battle of Austerlitz
and the
Peace of Pressburg
in 1805, Further Austria was entirely dissolved and the former Habsburg territories were assigned to the
Grand Duchy of Baden
(Breisgau), the
Kingdom of Wurttemberg
(
Rottenburg
and
Horb
) and the
Kingdom of Bavaria
(
Weitnau
Gunzburg
,
Weißenhorn
), as rewards for their alliance with
Napoleonic France
. Minor estates passed to
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
and the
Grand Duchy of Hesse
. Fricktal had already become a French
protectorate
in 1799 and part of the
Helvetic Republic
in 1802, incorporated into the
Swiss
canton of Aargau the next year.
After the defeat of Napoleon, there was some discussion at the
Congress of Vienna
of returning part or all of the
Vorlande
to Austria, but in the end only
Vorarlberg
returned to Austrian control, as Foreign Minister
Klemens von Metternich
did not want to offend the rulers of the South German states and hoped that removing Austria from its advanced position on the Rhine would reduce tensions with France.
Administrative division
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]
As of 1790 Further Austria was subdivided into ten districts (
Oberamter
):
- Breisgau
(with
Fricktal
) at
Freiburg
- Offenburg
: several localities in the present
Ortenaukreis
, the
Imperial city
of Offenburg not included
- Hohenberg, present
Ostalbkreis
, former
county
, at
Rottenburg am Neckar
- Nellenburg, former landgraviate, at
Stockach
- Altdorf (former
Vogtei
Swabia), today
Weingarten
- Tettnang
, former
County of Montfort
- Gunzburg
, former Margraviate of
Burgau
- Winnweiler
in the
Palatinate
, former
County of Falkenstein
- the former
Imperial city
of
Konstanz
- Bregenz
, present-day
Vorarlberg
, then administered from Tyrol.
Habsburg rulers
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]
Politically, the Further Austrian territories were held by the Habsburg
(Arch-)Dukes of Austria
from 1278 onwards. Upon the 1379
Treaty of Neuberg
, they together with
Carinthia
,
Styria
,
Carniola
and Tyrol fell to the
Leopoldian line
:
Further divided into
Inner Austria
proper (Styria, Carinthia and Carniola) and Upper Austria (Tyrol and Further Austria), ruled by:
- Frederick IV
, younger brother of William, 1406-1439 (
regent
in Further Austria since 1402)
- Frederick V
, nephew of William, ruler of Inner Austria, 1439-1446 (regent)
- Sigismund
, son of Frederick IV, 1446?1490
In 1490 all Habsburg possessions were re-unified under the rule of Frederick V,
Holy Roman Emperor
since 1452. Upon the death of Emperor
Ferdinand I of Habsburg
in 1564, Further Austria and Tyrol was inherited by his second son:
In 1619 the Habsburg hereditary lands were re-unified under the rule of Emperor
Ferdinand II
. He gave Further Austria to his younger brother:
In 1665 the Habsburg lands were finally re-unified under the rule of Emperor
Leopold I
.
See also
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]
References
[
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]
- Becker, Irmgard Christa, ed.
Vorderosterreich, Nur die Schwanzfeder des Kaiseradlers? Die Habsburger im deutschen Sudwesten
. Suddeutsche Verlagsgesellschaft. Ulm 1999,
ISBN
3-88294-277-0
(Katalog der Landesausstellung).
- Dobeli, Christoph.
Die Habsburger zwischen Rhein und Donau
. 2. Auflage, Erziehungsdepartement des Kantons Aargau, Aarau 1996,
ISBN
3-9520690-1-9
.
- Maier, Hans and
Volker Press
, eds.
Vorderosterreich in der fruhen Neuzeit
. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1989,
ISBN
3-7995-7058-6
.
- Metz, Friedrich, ed.
Vorderosterreich. Eine geschichtliche Landeskunde
. 4. uberarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage. Rombach, Freiburg i. Br. 2000,
ISBN
3-7930-9237-2
.
- Rommel, Klaus, ed.
Das große goldene Medaillon von 1716
. (Donativ des Breisgaus, Schwabisch-Osterreich und Vorarlberg zur Geburt Leopolds). Rommel: Lingen 1996,
ISBN
3-9807091-0-8
.
- Zekorn, Andreas, Bernhard Ruth, Hans-Joachim Schuster and Edwin Ernst Weber, eds.
Vorderosterreich an oberem Neckar und oberer Donau
. UVK Verlagsges., Konstanz 2002,
ISBN
3-89669-966-0
(hrsg. im Auftrag der Landkreise Rottweil, Sigmaringen, Tuttlingen und Zollernalbkreis).
External links
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Constituent coats of arms of Baden-Wurttemberg
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