Ostarrichi Document

Ostarrichi Document

Austria celebrated a millennium in 1996. The earliest reference in writing to "Ostarrichi", an archaic form of the name by which Austria (Österreich) is known today, appeared one thousand years ago, in a document dated November 1st, 996, to be precise. This does not necessarily imply that Austria only came into existence a mere 1000 years ago, nor does it mean that the term Ostarrichi was adopted overnight, as it were. On the contrary, it is more likely that it simply records for the first time in writing what had probably long since been a perfectly normal way of referring to the region south of the Danube, namely as Ostarrichi.