Armenians in Austria
This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(August 2017) |
Total population | |
---|---|
6,000 | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Vienna | |
Languages | |
Armenian,German | |
Religion | |
Armenian Apostolic Church | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Armenians in Germany,Armenians in Hungary,Armenians in Switzerland |
Part of a series on |
Armenians |
---|
![]() |
Armenian culture |
By countryor region |
Armenian diaspora Russia |
Subgroups |
Religion |
Languages and dialects |
Persecution |
Armenians in Austria(Armenian:Հայերն Ավստրիայում,romanized:Hayern Avstriayum;German:Armenier in Österreich) refers to ethnic Armenians living inAustria.They number around 6,000[1]and mainly live inVienna.There is also the very important presence of theMekhitarist OrderinViennathat plays a major role in the country as well as worldwide.
History[edit]
Prior to the late 18th century[edit]
The history of Armenians in Austria dates back to the time of Vienna's liberation from the Turkish siege at the end of the 17th century, when several Armenian merchants found a new market in the Habsburg empire.
In fact, the city's characteristiccoffee culturewas established and run for a long time in its early decades by Armenian merchants. The very first documented coffee house in Vienna was opened on 17 January 1685, by Johannes Deodat (or Diodato, known in Armenian as Owanes Astouatzatur – Յովհաննէս Աստուածատուր – some sources claiming him to be Greek).[2][3][4]
After the 1770s Austrian annexations of Galicia and Bukovina[edit]
In 1772–1774, the Austrian Empire annexedGalicia(seeAustrian Partition,as part of the late-18th centuryPartitions of Poland) and especially the formerlyMoldavianVoivodeshipofBukovina(seeTreaty of Küçük Kaynarca;today a part ofUkraine), which at the time held the largest area contiguously settled by Armenians in Europe, and the Bukovian and Galician Armenians automatically became subjects to the Empire. In 1775, Maria Theresa gave official permission to theMechitaristCongregation of theArmenian Catholic Churchto settle in the Habsburg Empire. The Mekhitarian congregation in Vienna contributed to the spread of Armenian culture in central Europe through its printing, its library and its college for Armenian boys.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Austrian Armenians enjoyed officially recognized status as an autonomous religious community. The Armenian community in Vienna grew constantly, so that already in 1896 the first efforts were made to found an Armenian-Apostolic community. In 1912, a small chapel was established in Vienna.
WWI and its aftermath[edit]
World War Iand its aftermath transformed the Austrian Armenian community: The area of theBukovina Armenianswas lost during the war, but a wave of immigrants came to Austria as a result of theArmenian genocideperpetrated by the Ottoman Turks in 1915. After 1918, Galicia became part of a re-established Poland again, while the Bukovina region and much of its Armenian population became part of Romania (and in 1947 was turned over to the USSR and today Ukraine, which prompted most of its Armenian population to leave to Poland and Czechoslovakia after 1947).
After the appointment of the first Armenian pastor in Vienna in the 1920s, the number of Armenians in Austria continued to grow, also boosted by refugees fromLebanon,Syria,Iraq,Iran,as well as migrant Armenian workers fromTurkeyand more recently fromArmenia.
After 1945[edit]
In 1968, the Surp Hripsime Armenian Apostolic Church of Vienna was consecrated, giving a new impetus to the ever growing Armenian community in Austria. There is also a Saturday Armenian School namedHovhannes Shiraz.
Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1996. Armenia has an embassy inViennaand Austria is represented in Armenia through its embassy inMoscow(Russia).
Mechitarist Order in Vienna (1810–present)[edit]
Although the monastic headquarters of theMekhitarist Orderfounded by Mekhitar da Pietro(1676–1749), anArmenian Catholicmonk is on the island of St. Lazarus inVenice(San Lazzaro Monastero Armeno inItalian), theMechitaristshave kept an important presence inViennasince 1810.
Even much before, actually in 1775, Maria Theresa had already given the official permission to theMechitaristscongregation of theArmenian Catholic Churchto settle in the Habsburg Empire and they had established inTrieste.
By 1810, they established a new monastic center inViennausing a Franciscan church. When in 1835, the church the Order was using burnt down completely, the Mechitarists hired the services of one of the most famous architects of Vienna of the timeJosef Kornhäuselfor constructing a new church.
Due to financial issues, the construction of the designed church failed to materialize for a few decades. When the church was finally built, a new architect called Fritz Sitte had already altered the designs considerably. He, and later his sonCamillo Sittefinished building the church in 1874.
Vienna Congregation is not just a religious center, but a veritable cultural center for Armenians as well. The monks especially cultivated theArmenian language,Armenian historyandArmenian literatureand published all of the oldArmenian writers' works with commentaries under the title of "National Library".Aydinianof Vienna wrote the fundamental textbook of modern Armenian grammar in 1866;Tschamtschian(1738–1823) published a 3-volume history in Venice (which then belonged to Austria), and in ViennaGaragaschian(1818–1903) wrote a 4-volume history of Armenia.
The Vienna branch has been publishingHandes Amsorya,a scholarly publication on Armenian linguistics and philology, since 1887.
The library of the Mechitarist Congregation, founded in 1773, owns a special collection of Armenian and Oriental manuscripts (approx. 153,000 vols., 2,000 manuscripts, numismatic collection). The Library has recently announced the formation of the digital list of the Library's books and manuscripts available online.
An association was formed for the propagation of good books worldwide to all Armenian communities, and a high-quality printing press that published average of six new works each year.
A herb liquor called "Mechitharine"and produced by the monks is said to contain 43 herbs and 12 fruits – the precise ingredients and recipe remains is a secret and known by only two monks at a time. The Mechitharine is still produced today and sold commercially by the monks.
See also[edit]
- Category:Austrian people of Armenian descent
- Armenia–Austria relations
- Armenian diaspora
- Johannes Diodato[de](Johannes Theodat[],Owanes Astouatzatur[de]) (1640, Istanbul–1725, Vienna)
- Mechitarists
- Armenians in France
- Armenians in Germany
- Armenians in the Czech Republic
- Armenians in Poland
- Armenians in Slovakia
- Armenians in Hungary
- Armenians in Romania
- Armenians in Moldova
- Armenians in Ukraine
- Armenians in Serbia
- Armenians in Croatia(Armenia–Croatia relations)
- Armenians in Finland(Armenia–Finland relations)
- Armenians in Albania
- Armenians in North Macedonia
- Armenians in Bulgaria
- Armenians in Greece
- Armenians in Turkey
- Armenians in Italy
- Armenians in Spain
- Armenians in the Netherlands
References[edit]
- ^ArmenianDiaspora websiteArchived2013-05-11 at theWayback Machine
- ^"COFFEE".Werbeka.com.Retrieved28 August2017.
- ^"Café Wien:: History of the Viennese Coffeehouse".Cafe-wien.at.Archived fromthe originalon 29 August 2017.Retrieved28 August2017.
- ^"Coffee - Viennese institution - coffeehouse".Archived fromthe originalon 2012-05-09.Retrieved2012-09-22.
External links[edit]
- The Mechitarian Library in Vienna
- "Une curiosité ethnographique: Les Arméniens d'Autriche".Servet-i-Funoun Partie Français(in French).LIV(1402):1,3–4.1918-07-18.