German is enshrined in the country's constitution as the official and state language of Austria, but several languages of national minorities, by law, have the right to exist in the country.
Some statistics and facts
- Austrian students learn to read and write in Standard German. This option also serves as the official language of the country's authorities and business circles. At home and in shops, Austrians use the Austro-Bavarian dialect, called Austrian German for simplicity.
- The number of speakers of the Austrian state language on the territory of the mountainous republic exceeds 7.5 million people.
- Slovenian is also officially used in the provinces of Carinthia and Styria, and Hungarian and Gradish-Croatian in Burgenland.
History and modernity
Multilingualism did not appear in Austria by accident, because within the framework of its historical and cultural heritage, the country was a multinational state. As a result, about half a percent of the Austrian population speaks Hungarian, half as many Slovene and Burgenland, Czech - about 18 thousand, Slovak - 10 thousand, and Roma - almost 6,000.
The language barrier between the inhabitants of Austria and the Germans or German-speaking Swiss is almost completely absent, but some phonetic features of the sound of words in Austrian sometimes force a resident of Berlin or Zurich traveling around Mozart's homeland to listen carefully to local interlocutors.
Note for tourists
All signs, announcements, names of public transport stops in Vienna and other cities of the country are made in German. Local television programs and the press are also broadcast in the Austrian state language. But main tourist spots, visitor information centers and hotels always have handouts, maps and guidebooks with English descriptions.
Many Austrians speak English and the necessary assistance and informational support to the traveler is always ready to provide the porter at the hotel, the restaurant administrator or the tourist office employee.
ATMs and ticket vending machines have an English version of the menu throughout the country, and English-speaking employees are always present at bank branches, bus and train stations. Austrian museums certainly have options for audio guides in English, and in the largest ones there is an opportunity to take an electronic "guide" already in Russian.
