Austria - the complete history # 2024

The history of Austria seems to be well known. But there were milestones that acted as turning points and influenced the fate of the ruling monarchs and thus of the entire country. Often it was only very brief moments, often even coincidences, that decided the future.

Episode 01 ... introduces the Babenberg dynasty and examines the role that the fateful capture of the English King Richard the Lionheart played - also for the future of Vienna as a capital and residence city.

Episode 02 ... sheds light on the decisive battle of Dürnkrut in 1278, because the victory of Rudolf I of Habsburg, which led to the beginning of the Habsburg rule in Austria, was due to a decision that actually violated all applicable conventions.

Episode 03 ... portrays Rudolf IV the "founder", who only achieved a rise in the Habsburgs' rank with a brazen forgery, but which was to have a major impact.

Episode 04 ...tells of an event whose historical significance only became clear a few years later: the double wedding of 1515, which marked the beginning and the first high point of Habsburg marriage policy and thanks to which the Habsburgs - albeit only by chance - became one of the most important dynasties in Europe.

Episode 05 ...reminds us that the Habsburgs' faith was also once on the brink and that the family, which later acted as the initiators and most important fighters of the Counter-Reformation, was itself undecided for some time in which direction to go.

Episode 06 ...addresses one of the greatest socio-political challenges of the 17th century: the peasant uprisings and the development of a system that was to have a decisive influence on the dynasty's scope for action for many years.

Episode 07 ...introduces a monarch who has been forgotten, although he decisively shaped the path that the Habsburgs would take in the future: Ferdinand II.

Episode 08 ...sheds light on one of the most precarious moments in the history of our country. The outcome of the second Turkish siege of Vienna in 1683 hung by a thread and a defeat would have had a decisive impact not only on Austria, but on the whole of Europe.

Episode 09 ...describes another delicate moment that is closely linked to one of the most outstanding figures in Austrian history: Prince Eugene of Savoy. His clever victory at Belgrade in 1717 not only secured the Habsburgs' supremacy, but also the greatest territorial expansion of their empire - a moment of fateful and fundamental importance that depended on one man's decision.

Episode 10 ...is finally dedicated to one of the most important women in Austrian history: Maria Theresa, who as a woman had to defend her inheritance against half of Europe and only thanks to her utmost commitment managed to do something that no one had believed she could: the continued existence of the Habsburg dynasty.

The ten-part series therefore offers a completely new perspective on the history of Austria. We present outstanding personalities and decisive events that changed the course of history and served as milestones in Austria's development from a small county on the Danube to a major European power.