!!!Italienische Einflüsse

Italian Influences: Austria has had close contact to several regions 
of present-day Italy since Roman times, mainly intensified in the 
Middle Ages by the emperors' travels to Rome, in which Austrian 
princes participated. In the 12%%sup th/%  century art objects from 
the Italian region came into the possession of Austrian abbeys (abbot 
crosiers at Altenburg and Goettweig, seven-armed candelabrum from 
Klosterneuburg). The Babenberg Leopold VI acquired Pordenone (before 
1222), in Friuli; the patriarchate of Aquileia reached up to the River 
Drau/Drava. In the late Middle Ages Austrians studied in Padua, trade 
with and via Venice became important, and in 1382, after having 
acquired parts of Istria, the Habsburgs also acquired the town of 
Trieste. Several wives of the Babenbergs and Habsburgs also came from 
this region (Froiza Orseolo, wife of Duke Adalbert the Victorious; 
Viridis Visconti, wife of Duke Leopold III; Jeanne of Anjou-Naples, 
wife of Archduke Wilhelm; Bianca Maria Sforza, wife of Emperor 
Maximilian I). Emperor Friedrich III called Enea Silvio Piccolomini to 
Austria, who was largely responsible for introducing the concepts of 
humanism to Austria. In the 16%%sup th/%  century Italy became the 
destination of educational journeys undertaken by young noblemen, 
making Renaissance, and from about 1600 Baroque, art popular in 
Austria,. Architects, sculptors and painters from Austria were trained 
in Italy, spreading its style in the whole territory of the Habsburg 
Monarchy. From the 16%%sup th/%  century on the empire experienced a 
substantial influx of craftsmen ("Roman bricklayers", chimney-sweeps). 
In the 17%%sup th/%  century Italian became the most common foreign 
language in Vienna (newspapers and books in Italian), and the Italian 
theatre gained great influence. In the 18%%sup th/%  century contacts 
became especially close due to territorial relations (Milan and Mantua 
as well as Naples-Sicily were Habsburg territories), the 
secundogeniture (right of possession by the second-born son and his 
line) in Tuscany after 1737 and later due to reigning dynasties in 
Modena, Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla. Italian influences became 
particularly predominant in music (Italian operas).

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In 1797 Austria obtained important Italian-speaking territories with 
Venetia and Dalmatia, and after the Congress of Vienna the highly 
developed Lombard-Venetian kingdom. In the course of rising 
nationalism irreconcilable differences arose, and Austria became the 
main enemy for the Risorgimento (Italian unification movement in the 
19%%sup th/%  century). The wars of the 19%%sup th/%  century 
(1848/49, 1859, 1866) caused Austria to lose its territories on the 
Apennine Peninsula, but parts of Tirol (Trentino), Istria and 
Dalmatia, that were inhabited by Italians remained within the union of 
the Austria-Hungarian Monarchy until 1918. Another matter of conflict 
was Austro-Hungary's function as protective power of the Vatican, 
although from 1882 on the Triple Alliance established a political pact 
and many Italians found jobs in Austria (railway and road 
construction). The end of the 19%%sup th/%  and the beginning of the 
20%%sup th/%  centuries were characterised by increasing differences, 
which were eased only to a small extent by continuing cultural 
contacts (operas by Verdi and Puccini, Austrian Archaeological 
Institute in Rome). World War I and the fate of South Tyrol deepened 
the gulf, although political ties became closer after 1933 and, before 
1938, Italy even temporarily acted as protective power of Austria 
against Germany. After World War II neighbourly relations were 
intensified mainly by tourism, as well as economic, cultural and 
scientific contacts. In the 2%%sup nd/%  Republic, too, the biggest 
political burden for the relationship between the two countries was 
the South Tyrol conflict, which was ultimately settled after 
protracted negotiations.


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