Salzburg (state)


Salzburg is a state of Austria bordering Germany and Italy. In German, its official name is Land Salzburg, to distinguish it from its eponymous capital Salzburg.
The state of Salzburg is closely tied to the former Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg, an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed for centuries until its secularization in 1803. After the Napoleonic Wars, the territory changed hands several times, becoming part of Austria, then briefly Bavaria, before being permanently incorporated into the Austrian Empire in 1816. In the 20th century, the region became a federated state of Austria and is today known for its Alpine landscapes, cultural heritage, and the annual Salzburg Festival.

Geography

Location

Salzburg State covers an area of. It stretches along its main river — the Salzach – which rises in the Central Eastern Alps in the south to the Alpine foothills in the north. It is located in the north-west of Austria, close to the border with the German state of Bavaria; to the northeast lies the state Upper Austria; to the east the state Styria; to the south the states Carinthia and Tyrol. With 561,714 inhabitants, it is one of the country's smaller federal states in terms of population.
Running through the south are the main ranges of the Alpine divide with numerous three-thousanders. The Dachstein massif and the Berchtesgaden Alps ranges of the Northern Limestone Alps border Salzburg State to the east and north.

Regions

The state is traditionally subdivided in five major regions, congruent with its political districts.
Salzburg municipalities with town privileges:
Wals-Siezenheim, a common municipality with about 12,000 inhabitants, is known as 'Austria's largest village'.

History

has played an important role in the region's development; Salzburg means "salt city".

Salzburg as an independent state

Independence from Bavaria was secured in the late 14th century. The Archbishopric of Salzburg was an independent prince-bishopric and State of the Holy Roman Empire until German Mediatisation in 1803.

Electorate of Salzburg

The territory was secularized and, as the Electorate of Salzburg, given as compensation to Ferdinand III, former Grand Duke of Tuscany, the brother of Emperor Francis II.

The end of independence

Following the Austrian defeat at Austerlitz in 1805, Salzburg was annexed by Austria as compensation for the loss of Tyrol to the Kingdom of Bavaria, and Ferdinand was transferred to the Grand Duchy of Würzburg.

Bavarian Salzburg

After Austria's defeat in 1809, the region was handed over to Bavaria in 1810.

The country divided between Bavaria and Austria

In 1816, following the defeat of Napoleon and the provision of adequate compensation to Bavaria at the Congress of Vienna, it was returned to Austria with the exception of the north-western Rupertiwinkel which remained Bavarian. The Salzburger Land was administered as the department of Salzach from Linz, the capital of Upper Austria. In 1849 the Duchy of Salzburg was established as a crown land of the Austrian Empire and, after 1866, Austria-Hungary.

World War I

Salzburg participated in World War I, as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 49,000 Salzburgers were called to arms, of whom 6,000 were killed.

Post-World War I Austrian republics

In 1918 after World War I, the Duchy of Salzburg was dissolved and replaced with the State of Salzburg, as a component part initially of German Austria and subsequently of the First Republic of Austria, the separate state which was mandated by the Allied powers.
In 1921 a plebiscite Salzburg, a majority of 99.11% voted for a unification with Germany.

Salzburg in Germany

As a result of Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938, Austria, including Salzburg State, was incorporated into Nazi Germany.

American control

After the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, the Allies occupied the territory of Austria, being recognized as an independent territory under their rule. Salzburg State was occupied by the United States.

Salzburg as an Austrian state

In 1955, Austria was again declared an independent state and Salzburg was once again one of the reconstituted federal states of the Second Republic of Austria.

Demographics

The historical population is given in the following chart:

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PlotArea = left:40 bottom:40 top:20 right:20
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bar:1869 from:0 till:153 text:153,159
bar:1880 from:0 till:164 text:163,570
bar:1890 from:0 till:174 text:173,510
bar:1900 from:0 till:193 text:192,763
bar:1910 from:0 till:215 text:214,737
bar:1923 from:0 till:223 text:222,831
bar:1934 from:0 till:246 text:245,801
bar:1939 from:0 till:257 text:257,226
bar:1951 from:0 till:327 text:327,232
bar:1961 from:0 till:347 text:347,292
bar:1971 from:0 till:405 text:405,115
bar:1981 from:0 till:442 text:442,301
bar:1991 from:0 till:482 text:482,365
bar:2001 from:0 till:515 text:515,327
bar:2011 from:0 till:532 text:531,721
bar:2021 from:0 till:561 text:560,710
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text:"Source: Statistik Austria"

Politics

Salzburg adopted its current provincial constitution in 1999. The provincial government is headed by a governor, who is elected by a majority in the provincial parliament Landtag. Provincial elections are held every five years.
After World War II, most provincial governments were led by the conservative Austrian People's Party. ÖVP politician Josef Klaus, later chancellor of Austria, served as governor of Salzburg from 1949 till 1961. In 2004 Gabi Burgstaller became the first Social Democratic governor of Salzburg.
The last results, in April 2023 were:

PartyVotes in %ChangeSeatsChange
Austrian People's Party 30.37% 7.4%12 3
Freedom Party of Austria 25.75% 6.9%10 3
Social Democratic Party of Austria 17.87% 2.1%7 1
Communist Party of Austria 11.66%11.3%4 4
The Greens – The Green Alternative 8.20% 1.1%3-
NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum 4.20%3.1%0 3
We are Salzburg 1.19%1.2%0New
MFG Austria - People, Freedom, Fundamental Rights 0.77% 0.8%0New


The current governor of Salzburg, Wilfried Haslauer, entered into coalition discussions with the FPÖ, after his proposition of a ÖVP-FPÖ-SPÖ coalition was rejected by the Social Democrats. Haslauer said "I regret that we could not implement the Alliance for Salzburg". After successful coalition negotiations, the ÖVP and the FPÖ entered into a governing coalition with Haslauer as the Governor and Marlene Svazek as the First Deputy Governor. Salzburg State has joined Lower Austria and Upper Austria as the third black-blue coalition provincial government. The ÖVP has four seats in the government, while the FPÖ has three. The current president of the Salzburg federal state parliament is Brigitta Pallauf.

Government

Government ministers and their portfolios from the 2023 Salzburg state election.

Governor Wilfried Haslauer (ÖVP) https://www.salzburg.gv.at/pol/landesregierung/haslauer