What Languages Are Spoken in Austria?

Historical and Geographic Context for Austria

Officially the Republic of Austria, with its capital in Vienna, is one of the smallest member states of the EU. It borders Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, the Czech Republic, and Germany, so it has received linguistic influences from all of these countries, especially from Germany.

Austria has almost 9 million inhabitants, and despite being a rather small country (the territory covers an area of 83 871 km²), it has huge linguistic variety within its borders.

While not always highlighted in English history books, this area played a large role in history. Dating all the way back to 15 BCE, present day Austria was a part of the Roman Empire until its collapse, which brought in Germanic tribes, followed by Slavs and Avars. This small country even became an empire under Francis I in 1804, and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867 which shared a dual monarchy with Hungary. After World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed in 1918 and Austria became a republic. It was then annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938, occupied by the Allies after 1945, and given full independence as a perpetually neutral state in 1955.

And that brings us back to today! With so much history and overlap of borders throughout time, it’s no wonder the linguistic landscape of this country is more complicated than you may have originally thought.

The Official Language of Austria

The only official language of Austria is Austrian German.

That being said, Austrian German is actually the second most widely used language in the whole country in terms of number of speakers. However, it’s the only language used in the media, public institutions, and schools.

So why is it the second most used language?

Because Austro-Bavarian (a standard national variety belonging to High German) is the mother tongue of approximately 88.6% of Austrian citizens. Therefore, it is the most widely spoken language in Austria. Austro-Bavarian differs in vocabulary and pronunciation, but also in grammatical peculiarities that come from High German. In fact, Austro-Bavarian can be quite difficult to understand for speakers of standard German.

Austrian German is actually a set of varieties of German spoken in Austria and bordering regions of Italy. This language has several dialects, called Austro-Bavarian dialects, spoken throughout the country.

7 million Austrians speak a Central or Southern Bavarian dialect or a colloquial language influenced by these dialects. Regional dialects are also intermingled with expressions from neighboring non-German languages (ex: Czech influenced the Viennese dialect). The use of French terms at the Viennese court also influenced some terms, especially the older ones.

What Other Languages are Spoken in Austria?

As mentioned before, Austria is surrounded by many countries. This fact has had a great impact on the linguistic landscape of the country.

In Austria, the indigenous ethnic groups of Burgenland Croats, Carinthian Slovenes, Styrian Slovenes and Hungarians all have the right to education in their mother tongue and to communicate in their language with the authorities.

Burgenese-Croatian and Slovene are additional official languages in the administrative and judicial districts of Styria, Burgenland and Carinthia. In addition, in some municipalities in Burgenland, Hungarian is an official language on an equal footing with German.

Romani, the language of the Roma ethnic group, is also a state-recognized minority language. The same applies to Czech and Slovak.

As for foreign languages, the most learned ones are English (73% of the population has studied it), and French. It is estimated that almost half of Austrians speak English perfectly (40% to be exact). English is therefore one of the most widely spoken languages in the country.

What Languages Should You Learn Before Traveling to Austria?

We always recommend learning at least a few words in the official language of the country you’ll be traveling to. That way, you can address the locals with respect and interest while you’re visiting the country.

That being said, German is not a quick or easy language to be learning right before a trip. So if you haven’t started on your German already, our next recommendation is to focus on English since so much of the population can speak it well.

We wish you the best on your travels and your studies!