Ostarrichi-Urkunde

#

ustria was celebrating a millennium in 1996. The earliest reference in writing to "Ostarrichi", an archaic form of the name by which Austria is known today, appeared one thousand years ago - in a document dated November 1st 996, to be precise. This does not necessarily imply that Austria only came into existence a mere 1000 years ago, nor does it mean that the term Ostarrichi was adopted overnight, as is were. On the contrary, it is more likely that it simply records for the first time in writing what had probably long since been a perfectly normal way of referring to the region south of the Danube, namely as Ostarrichi.

An imperial diploma dated November 1st 996

In 996 Emperor Otto III gave the bishopric of Freising (Bavaria) thirty royal hides of land (the equivalent of some 1000 hectares) in Neuhofen on the Ybbs, together with all that belonged to that land, including woodland, game reserves and honey-producing flora. This much can be gleaned from the imperial document if its content is considered as being confined to the transfer of property.

In actual fact, as far as both its form and its historical setting are concerned, this imperial diploma harbours a wealth information, and it has provoked much lively discussion among historians.

About the name Ostarrichi

Literally the word Ostarrichi means “Ostland” (eastern lands), a term that was once used to denote several regions of varying size. Towards the end of the 10th century, however, it came to signify only the narrow stretch of land located to the south of the Danube between the Enns and Traisen rivers. “Ostland”, or plaga orientalis, terra orientalis, regio orientalis, are all names used in earlier centuries to denote the Carolingian borderland, although this had also embraced Pannonia and what today are the provinces of Styria and Carinthia. When Pannonia was lost to the Avars at the beginning of the 10th century and Carinthia became an independent duchy, all that remained of the plaga orientalis was the narrow strip of territory referred to earlier.

Inasmuch as the Ostarrichi diploma records this fact it is a document of fundamental importance. How typical the name Ostarrichi was for its times was borne out by the fact that it was used again only two years later in an imperial diploma dated 998.

#