Serbs in Austria

Serbs in Austria
Serben in Österreich
Срби у Аустрији / Srbi u Austriju

Total population
(est. 300,000)
Regions with significant populations
Wien, Salzburg, Graz
Languages
Serbian and Austrian German
Religion
Serbian Orthodox Church

The Serbs in Austria are the second largest ethnic minority group in Austria, after Germans. The first wave of Serbs to Austria began in the early 19th century, while the largest wave was during the migrant worker program of the 1960s and 1970s. Serb immigration to Austria is still active today due to economic and familial factors. Like in most Western European countries, the Serb community in Austria consists mainly of Serbs from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Demographics

According to the 2014 census, there were 132,553 (2.2%) Austrian citizens who declared Serbian as their native language.^[1] The real number of ethnic Serbs in Austria is estimated to be much higher – e.g. the membership of "Serbische Gemeinschaft in Österreich" (Savez Srba u Austriji), an ethnic Serb association in Austria, exceeds 250,000 people.^[2] The common estimation is a total of 300,000.^[3][4][5]

History

The Österreichisch Serbische Gesellschaft (Austrian Serbian Society) was founded in 1936 as "Österreichisch-Jugoslawischen Gesellschaft".

Habsburg Serbs

Serbs were a notable minority of the Habsburg Monarchy, having settled Central Europe following the Ottoman conquest of Serbia. The Serbs with the aid of Austrian troops occupied Serbia in 1686–91, established the Kingdom of Serbia (1718–39), and occupied it again in 1788–92.

Notable people

Vuk S.K.

Mina Karadzic

Paja Jovanović

Laza Kostić

Monika Ivkić

Marko Arnautović

Aleksandar Dragović

• Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, reformer of the Serbian language
• Marko Arnautović, football player
• Aleksandar Dragović, football player
• MC Yankoo (Aleksandar Janković), popular producer and singer
• Pavle Julinac
• Marko Stanković

Gallery

• 
  St. Sava Church in Vienna from 1893.
• 
  The 'Balkan Street' (Ottakringerstraße) in Vienna.
• 
  Serbian church in Sankt Pölten
• 
  Church in Linz
• 
  Interior of church in Innsbruck
• 
  Church in Vienna

See also

• Serbs
• Serbian diaspora
• Austria–Serbia relations
• Gastarbeiter

References

1. http://www.statistik.at/web_de/statistiken/bevoelkerung/bevoelkerungsstruktur/bevoelkerung_nach_staatsangehoerigkeit_geburtsland/index.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
2. http://www.srpskadijaspora.info/vest.asp?id=5765
3. Palić, Svetlana (17 July 2011). "Četiri miliona Srba našlo uhlebljenje u inostranstvu". Blic. Austriji (300.000)
4. "Serben-Demo eskaliert in Wien". 20 Minuten Online. 2008.
5. "Srbi u Austriji traže status nacionalne manjine". Blic. 2010-10-02. "Srba u Austriji ima oko 300.000, po brojnosti su drugi odmah iza Austrijanaca i više ih je od Slovenaca, Mađara i Gradištanskih Hrvata zajedno, koji po državnom ugovoru iz 1955. godine imaju status nacionalne manjine u Austriji", navodi se u saopštenju.