The province of Upper Austria extends from the Dachstein massif to the Bohemian Forest (Böhmerwald) and from the Inn to the Enns, bounded on the west by the Federal Republic of Germany (Bavaria), on the north by the Czech Republic (Bohemia), on the east by Lower Austria, on the south by Styria and on the southwest by Salzburg province.
Until the 19th century Upper Austria was known as the Land ob der Enns ("Province on the Enns"); it is traditionally divided into the Mühlviertel, the Innviertel, the Hausruck- and Traun region, the Danube valley, the Apline foreland zone and the mountain region.
Upper Austria is drained by the Danube and its tributaries, the Inn, the Traun and the Enns on the south and the Mühl, the Rodl, the Gusen, the Aist and the Naarn on the north. In the Salzkammergut are a number of large lakes, including the Attersee, the Traunsee, the Wolfgangsee, the Mondsee and the Hallstätter See and many smaller ones, as well as a number of moorland lakes in the upper Innviertel.
Economy and transport
The province's main industries are the heavy industry of Linz (VÖEST steelworks, using Styrian iron ore), the manufacture of commercial vehicles at Steyr, the production of nitrogen and cellulose at Linz, the Ranshofen aluminum works, salt working at Hallstatt, Bad Ischl and Ebensee, the Danube hydroelectric power station at Jochenstein (run jointly with Bavaria) and other hydroelectric schemes on the Danube, the Inn, the Enns and the Mühl, papermaking, hardware, textiles and woodworking, and the working of small reserves of oil in the Innviertel and natural gas at Wels. Agriculture and forestry are also well developed. Tourism, too, makes a major contribution to the economy, particularly in the Salzkammergut, the Traunviertel and the area served by the Pyhrnbahn.
The main traffic routes of Upper Austria run from west to east, including the Salzburg-Linz-Vienna railroad line and the motorway which runs parallel to it. The Danube, too, accompanies the railroad from Passau via Linz to Vienna, and an attractive way of seeing Upper Austria is a trip down river on one of the Danube ships. The busiest north-south routes are those leading into the Salzkammergut, over the Pyhrn pass into Styria and up the Enns via Präbichl (Styria) into the Mur valley.
The Pyhrn pass road, from Wels in the north or Liezen in the south, gives access to a tourist region which has become well known as the "Pyhrnbahngebiet" (Pyhrnbahn or Pyhrn Cableway area). Within the triangle formed by the cableways of Spital am Pyhrn, Hinterstoder and Windischgarsten winter visitors - whether skiing enthusiasts or less active holidaymakers - will find every facility they require; and these facilities are equally well suited to meet the needs of the walkers and climbers who come to the area in summer.
History
In prehistoric times Upper Austria was more thinly settled than Lower Austria, although traces of Palaeolithic occupation have been found on the old road northward over the Pyhrn pass, along the Krems valley to Linz and on to Cäeské Budêjovice in the Czech Republic. The province became more populous only with the coming of the Celts, who began to work the great deposits of salt and created the more advanced Iron Age culture named after Hallstatt, then the principal salt working area (material in the Hallstatt museum).
The Roman period brought intensive settlement (place names with "Walchen" in them) along the Danube and in the fertile upland regions, particularly around Wels.
After the battle of Augsburg in 955 the region, which had been converted to Christianity at an early date by missionaries from Passau, was finally secure against invasion from the east. New settlers were now brought in, mainly by the Bishops of Passau and the noble family of Wels-Lambach, later Margraves of Steyr.
Although Upper Austria was now safe from further attacks from the east, it suffered from the conflicts between the Habsburgs and Bavaria which were fought out here. In the first half of the 15th century, too, the territories north of the Danube suffered under Hussite raids; and Upper Austria was also ravaged by the Peasant Wars of 1525 and 1625 (stories of the popular hero Fadinger, and the dice-game known as the Frankenburger Würfelspiel).
During the 17th century the region saw much fighting between opposing armies. The various wars of succession with Bavaria brought further battles, but also, in 1779, the acquisition of the Innviertel (which was temporarily occupied by the Bavarians during the Napoleonic Wars but returned to Austria by the Congress of Vienna in 1815).
In 1784 Emperor Joseph II made the "Province on the Enns" into an independent crown province, and in 1861 Upper Austria was elevated to the "Archduchy of Austria on the Enns" and an elected provincial parliament was set up. From the end of the First World War Upper Austria became a federal province of Austria.
The revolutions of 1918 passed more quietly in Upper Austria than in other parts of the country. It was largely unscathed by the Second World War, with the exception of Linz and Steyr, which suffered heavy air raids.
After the war, in spite of occupation by the Allied powers (the Soviet Union north of the Danube, the United States to the south), its economy recovered relatively rapidly.
Art
In addition to rich finds of prehistoric (Hallstatt), Roman and Early Christian material, Upper Austria possesses major works of art and architecture from all the main artistic periods of later centuries.
The Romanesque period is represented by parts of the monastic churches of Wilhering (near Linz), Lambach, Kremsmünster and Baumgartenberg and the charnel house at Mauthausen.
There are also numerous examples of Gothic art and architecture, such as the parish churches of Steyr, Enns, Branau and Eferding, the castles of Prandegg, Schaunberg and Ruttenstein, burghers' houses at Steyr, Enns, Wels and Freistadt, fine winged altars at Kefermarkt, St Wolfgang, Hallstatt, Waldburg and Gampern, pictures by Altdorfer at St Florian abbey and frescos in the church of St Leonhard near Pucking.
The Renaissance created handsome burghers' houses in Wels, Steyr and Linz, the Schlösser (stately homes) of Aistersheim, Würting, Greinburg and Weinberg, the Landhaus in Linz and the Stadtturm in Enns.
Baroque and Roccoco buildings, both religious and secular, can be seen at Reichersberg, Schlierbach, Schlägl, Waldhausen, Garsten, Gleink, Suben, Ranshofen, Kremsmünster, Spital am Pyhrn, St Florian, Engelszell, Wilhering, Stadl-Paura, Linz, Steyr and Christkindl. There are also fine Baroque Schlösser at Hohenbrunn, Aurolzmünster, Neuwartenberg and Zell an der Pyhrnbahn. Two families of Baroque artists, the Schwantalers and the Guggenbichlers, have left much work in Upper Austria.
Buildings of the Empire and Biedermeier periods can be seen at Bad Ischl and Ebensee. Mention should also be made of the ceramics of Gmunden, the carving of Halstatt and the folk-style woodcarving of Viechtau.
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