Volkszählung#

Census: The first population census ("description of souls" as it was called then) in the Habsburg Lands was conducted in 1754 by the clerical and secular authorities. After 1769 no full censuses were conducted due to growing resistance from the aristocracy and the church, but only conscriptions mainly designed to record males fit for military service. Under the Census Law of 1857 only one census was conducted in the same year. The law of 1869 marks the beginning of modern censuses in Austria; it governed the censuses of the years 1869, 1880, 1890, 1900 and 1910. From 1890 onward the censuses were analysed by the Central Statistical Commission by means of census papers and electrical counting machines. An "extraordinary" census was taken in 1920, while "regular" censuses were taken in 1923 (not fully evaluated) and in 1934. Since1951 censuses have been taken every ten years. A census determines the number and structure of the inhabitants of a specific area, and provides the basis for the distribution of mandates in the Nationalrat (National Council) to the electoral districts and for distribution of tax income to the Federal Provinces and the municipalities in the context of Revenue Sharing (Finanzausgleich). The present legal basis is the Census Law, Federal Law Gazette (Bundesgesetzblatt, BGBl.) Nr. 199/1980. The municipalities are responsible for conducting censuses and are obliged to inform the federal authorities of the results. The results of a census are also published by the Austrian Central Statistical Office.

Literature#