Following the constitution of 1849 all possessions of the House of Habsburg
- including those part of the Hungarian and Lombardo - Venetian Crowns were
organized as Crown Lands (Kronländer) of the - now unified - Austrian realm.
In 1867, after the loss of most Italian possessions and the foreseen resto-
ration of the Hungarian selfgovernment, the number of Crown Lands was fixed
at 17, covering mainly the Czech, German and Polish lands of the Monarchy :
(The year given is that of the first instauration of Habsburg rule in the
whole land or part of it. Interruptions - such as the French domination in
some lands - are not given here. See also : notes)
Austria above the Enns since 1282 (S)
Austria below the Enns since 1282 (S)
Bohemia since 1526 (S)
Bukovina since 1774 (L)
Carinthia since 1335 (L)
Carniola since 1335 (L)
Dalmatia since 1797 (S)
Galicia - Lodomeria since 1772 (S)
Görz and Gradisca since 1500/1511 (S)
Istria since 1374 (S)
Moravia since 1526 (S)
Salzburg since 1805 (L)
Silesia since 1526 (L)
Styria since 1282 (S)
Trieste since 1382 (S)
Tyrol since 1363 (S)
Vorarlberg since 1375 (S)
Notes
(1) Except for the period 1851 - 1860/1861, when they were directly
governed by the central government, the Crown Lands always
enjoyed a certain degree of selfgovernment.
(2) In all lands there existed a dual government :
- an imperial government headed - according to the importance
of the land - by a Statthalter (S) or a Landespräsident (L).
In most cases each land had its own imperial representative.
The exceptions were :
- Görz und Gradisca, Istria and Triëste, which were united
into the Statthalterei Küstenland.
- Tyrol and Vorarlberg, which formed one Statthalterei
- a local government headed by the chairman of the local Assembly
(Landtag), who, in all lands - except Austria under the Enns,
Bohemia, Galicia - Lodomeria and Triëste - was styled Landeshauptmann
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In 1918, at the same time the non-German lands of the Austrian Monarchy
became part of the new successor states the defunct Empire (3), the different
German Lands proclaimed their independence of the Habsburg. With the sole
exception of Vorarlberg, which hesitated for a while in joining Switzerland,
they however all immediately became members of the new republic of German
Austria. (4).
Two new Länder were added to the original ones in the course of the following
years.
* = Original Land
** = Original Land which lost part of its territory to another state.
Burgenland since 1922
Carinthia**
Lower - Austria* (before named Austria below the Enns)
Salzburg*
Styria**
Tyrol**
Upper - Austria* (before named Austria above the Enns)
Vienna since 1922
Vorarlberg*
The lands were now all governed by a Landeshauptmann, a style which is often
- but not fully correctly - translated as governor or prime minister.
(3) The division of the Austrian Empire after 1918 :
(only the major divisions are given. Conflicts between the
new states over the territories - such as between Italy
and Yugoslavia over Dalmatia - are not given here)
Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia became part of Czechoslovakia.
Bukovina became part of Rumania.
Carinthia and Styria lost some territory to Yugoslavia.
Carniola became part of Yugoslavia.
Dalmatia became part of Yugoslavia.
Galicia - Lodomeria became part of Poland.
Görz und Gradiska, Istria and Triëste became part of Italy.
Tyrol lost its southern part to Italy.
(4) Before becoming part of Czechoslovakia, the German territories in
Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia - later collectively known as Sudetenland
- briefly proclaimed their union with the new republic
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In 1939, a year after the German occupation of Austria, the Austrian Länder
were reorganized into seven Gaue, part of the Statthalterei Ostmark and
without any kind of selfgovernment.
In 1940, after the abolition of the Statthalterei Ostmark, they were restyled
Reichsgaue, becoming directly dependent of the central German Government.
The Gaue were headed by a Gauleiter and from 1940 also by a Reichsstatthalter
representing the central government.
Carinthia (= Carinthia and Eastern Tyrol)
Niederdonau (= Lower Austria, Northern Burgenland and Southern Moravia,
taken from Czechoslovakia in 1938)
Oberdonau (= Upper Austria, part of Styria and Southern Bohemia,
taken from Czechoslovakia in 1938)
SalzburgStyria (= most of Styria and Southern Burgenland)
Tirol - Vorarlberg (= Central and Western Tyrol and Vorarlberg)
Wien
In 1945, at the liberation, all Länder - except Burgenland - were immediately
restored by the provisional government.
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