!!!Austria, Bezeichnung für Österreich

Austria, regularly used official name since 1147, first used in the 
title of the Margrave and (from 1156) the Duke. Earlier mention of the 
name (1136 in the "Heiligenkreuzer Stiftungsurkunde", most probably 
not genuine) is questionable. Among the Franks and Langobards, Austria 
signified a part of the empire or country located to the east. Hybrid 
word formation: the Germanic root "austar", in Old High German 
"ostar", was given a Latinised suffix, analogous to Francia, Gotia 
etc. The Frankish Austria in the 6th and 7th centuries described an 
area with the centres of Reims and Metz, and the Langobardian region 
in the 1st half of the 8th century. The Frankish name Austria then 
migrated into the Main-Frankish culture, from which the Babenberg 
family line originated. The Latin name of the land (possibly regarded 
as more noble) may have come into use in the course of correspondence 
in preparation for the marriage of Heinrich II Jasomirgott with 
the Byzantine Princess Theodora (the niece of Manuel Komnenos). The 
new name took the place of the older Latin names for Austria and 
consequently also became the name of the country in Italian, Spanish 
and English. The prerequisite for this was the extension of the name's 
meaning to include "dominium Austriae" (Domain of Austria) and "domus 
Austriae" (House of Austria), both documented since the early 14th 
century, as a collective term for territories under Habsburg rule and 
as a term for the Habsburg family. The subsequent names Casa 
d´Austria, Casa de Austria and Maison d´Autriche are 
derived from this source.

!Further reading
E. Zoellner, Der Oesterreich-Begriff, 1988.


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