Austrian Americans (, ) are Americans of Austrian descent, chiefly German-speaking Catholics and Jews. According to the 2000 U.S. census, there were 735,128 Americans of full or partial Austrian descent, accounting for 0.3% of the population. The true figure is difficult to pin down given the fluid borders and successive political reorganizations of the Habsburg monarchy and Central Europe, which at times included the multi-ethnic Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary.
The states with the largest Austrian American populations are New York (93,083), California (84,959), Pennsylvania (58,002, most of them in the Lehigh Valley), Florida (54,214), New Jersey (45,154), and Ohio (27,017). Many Americans of German, Czech, Polish, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, and Ukrainian descent can also trace their ancestry to former Habsburg territories, meaning the population figures for Austrian Americans likely represents an undercount. These regions were major sources of immigrants to the United States before World War I, and their inhabitants often assimilated into larger immigrant and ethnic communities throughout the U.S.Jones (2014)Spaulding, (1968)
History
The Archduchy of Austria never held any colonies in the Americas. Austrian migration to the U.S. probably started in the 18th century, when a group of 50 families from the city of Salzburg migrated to the newly founded Province of Georgia. Having a Protestant background, the Salzburg Protestants migrated because of Catholic repression in their country. They established their own community in Ebenezer, Georgia, in 1734. President Bill Clinton proclaimed September 26, 1997, as Austrian American Day and cited the Salzburgers' contributions to American history.
The Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire drove many of the intellectuals who had led the uprisings into exile, with a significant number settling in the United States. These "Forty-Eighters" tended to settle in large cities of the Northeastern United States and Midwestern United States. A number became active in the American abolitionist movement.
From around the 1870s until the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Austrians emigrated in large numbers to the U.S. Over two million people from Austria-Hungary immigrated to the United States throughout the 19th century, though because of the empire's multi-ethnic status, it is difficult to determine how many of these immigrants were ethnic Austrians. Over 275,000 Austrian Americans lived in the United States by 1900. Austria-Hungary was also one of six countries to send more than a million immigrants to the U.S. within a single decade, arriving at roughly two million between 1900 and 1909 alone. World War I caused diplomatic relations between the United States and the Austro-Hungarian Empire to be terminated on April 8, 1917, which resulted in a dramatic decrease in Austrian immigration to the United States.
Following the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938, large numbers of Austrians migrated to the United States, most of whom were Jewish Austrians fleeing the Nazi persecution. By 1941, some 29,000 Jewish Austrians had emigrated to the United States. Most of them were doctors, lawyers, architects and artists, including composers, writers and stage and film directors). After World War II ended, some further 40,000 Austrians emigrated to the United States in the period 1945–1960.
Since the 1960s, Austrian immigration has been very limited, owing to Austria's high levels of development and political freedom. According to the 1990 United States census, 948,558 people identified their origins in Austria.Everyculture:Austrian-Americans. Posted by Syd Jones. Retrieved in December 8, 2011, to 13:05 pm. Most of the present-day immigrants who currently live in the U.S. who were born in Austria identify themselves as being of Austrian ancestry, but the percentage who identify themselves as being of German ancestry is larger than the one expected on the basis of the opinion polls in Austria.
According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2015, there were 26,603 individuals living in the U.S. born in Austria who identified themselves as being of Austrian ancestry. By contrast, in the same year, there were 6,200 individuals living in the U.S. born in Austria who identified themselves as being of German ancestry. Most of the immigrants from South Tyrol, an Italian province formerly part of the Austrian Empire, identify themselves as being of German rather than Austrian ancestry. According to the Census Bureau, in 2015, there were 365 individuals living in the U.S. born in Italy who identified themselves as being of Austrian ancestry. By contrast, in the same year, there were 1,040 individuals living in the U.S. born in Italy who identified themselves as being of German ancestry.
Culture
Austrian immigrants adapted quickly to American society because the Austro-Hungarian Empire had also been a melting pot of many cultures and languages. On the other hand, despite the rejection that Austrians feel toward the behavior of the Germans, regarded by Austrians as less tolerants and cosmopolitans, they have suffered the same damages and discrimination that German immigrants have faced in the United States. They were considered by Americans to be the same because of their language and both world wars.
The emigration of religious groups from Austria to the United States, especially the Jews from Vienna after 1938, has also contributed to strengthen religious variety in the United States.Melissa Jane Taylor, "Family matters: the emigration of elderly Jews from Vienna to the United States, 1938-1941." Journal of Social History 45.1 (2011): 238-260. online Isidor Bush (1822–98) emigrated from Vienna in 1849 and became a leading Jewish citizen of the city of St. Louis and the state of Missouri through his business ventures, religious work, and political activities. His vineyards were famous and profitable.Siegmar Muehl, "Isidor Bush and the Bushberg Vineyards of Jefferson County," Missouri Historical Review (1999) 94#1 pp 42-58.
Austrian-American communities in the United States The U.S. communities with the highest percentage of self-professed Austrian Americans are: +Top U.S. communities by Austrian American PopulationPercentageCommunityState112.10%WatervilleWisconsin210.60%CoplayPennsylvania39.20%DurandWisconsin45.20%Rock CreekWisconsin45.20%NorthamptonPennsylvania54.50%Allen TownshipPennsylvania64.40%DrammenWisconsin74.30%PalenvilleNew York84.20%Great Neck PlazaNew York84.20%Upper Nazareth TownshipPennsylvania84.20%Schuylkill TownshipPennsylvania94.10%Noble TownshipIndiana104.00%Highland BeachFlorida104.00%MondoviWisconsin113.90%North CatasauquaPennsylvania113.80%Russell GardensNew York123.70%Washington TownshipKansas133.60%Whitehall TownshipPennsylvania133.60%ArmaKansas133.60%TuscarawasOhio143.30%Hewlett HarborNew York143.30%East Union TownshipPennsylvania143.30%Indian HillsColorado153.20%EllisKansas153.20%Harbor IsleNew York
U.S. communities with the most residents born in Austria The U.S. communities where born Austrians make up more than 1% of the total population are:
Hillside Lake, New York 1.4% Redway, California 1.3% Black Diamond, Florida 1.2% Smallwood, New York 1.2% Highland Beach, Florida 1.2% Cordova, Maryland 1.2% Keystone, Colorado 1.2% North Lynbrook, New York 1.1% Cedar Glen Lakes, New Jersey 1.1% Center City, Minnesota 1.1% Scotts Corners, New York 1.0% Killington, Vermont 1.0% Lexington, New York 1.0% Tuxedo Park, New York 1.0%
Notable people
Entertainment Woody Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg) – actor, director, screenwriter, comedian, author, playwright, and musician Gabrielle Anwar – actress Bea Arthur (born Bernice Franke), actress, comedienne, and singer Adele Astaire (born Adele Austerlitz) – dancer, actress, sister of Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz) – dancer, actor "Fritz Austerlitz, the Austrian American who went to Hollywood and emerged as Fred Astaire." Sean Astin – actor Roseanne Barr, actress, comedian, writer, and producer Roger Bart, actor and singer. David Benioff (born David Friedman), writer and producer. Bibi Besch – actress "Bibi Besch was an Austrian actress." Theodore Bikel – actor, singer, musician Peter Bogdanovich – director, writer, actor, producer, critic and film historian Abigail Breslin, actress Spencer Breslin, actor and songwriter. Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein), actor, director, and screenwriter Pauline Chalamet, American-French actress and producer Timothée Hal Chalamet, French-American actor and film producer Hans Conried – actor Ricardo Cortez (born Jacob Krantz) – silent film actor, of Austrian Jewish descent "Though his professional name was suggestive of a Latin Lover type, actor Ricardo Cortez was actually an Austrian Jew, born Jacob Krantz. He arrived in Hollywood in 1922, at a time when the Rudolph Valentino craze was at its height." Stanley Cortez (born Stanislaus Kranz) – cinematographer Bryan Cranston, actor. Billy Crystal – actor, comedian, and filmmaker Robert von Dassanowsky – academic, writer and film producer regarding an Austrian decoration: "I have focused on Austrian studies most of my academic life. As an Austrian-American, it makes me especially proud." Alden Ehrenreich, actor Norman Fell (born Norman Feld), actor of film and television Max Fleischer – animator Richard Fleischer – director, son of Max Fleischer Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hungarian-American socialite and actress Teri Garr – actress, comedian, dancer and voice artistSpeedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood By Teri Garr, Henriette Mantel Jeff Goldblum – actor and musician Alex Hafner – actor Colin Hanks, actor and filmmaker. Mark Harmon – actor Kurt Kasznar (born Kurt Servischer) – Austrian-born American actor Larry King (born Lawrence Zeiger), author, radio host and television host Stanley Kubrick – director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer Hedy Lamarr (born Hedwig Kiesler) – actress, inventor, and producer; from an Austrian Jewish family "Austrian born film star, Hedy Lamarr, of the 1930 and 40s was also a gifted electrical engineer." "Hedy Lamarr had been an American citizen since 1953." Martin Landau, actor. Elissa Landi – actress "Elissa Landi Austrian/Italian leading lady." Fritz Lang – director Jennifer Jason Leigh, actress Lotte Lenya (born Karoline Blamauer) – actress, singer and diseuse Peter Lorre (born László Löwenstein) – actor Joe Manganiello – actor, grandmother was of Austrian descent Julianna Margulies, actress Samantha Mathis – actress, daughter of Bibi Besch T.J. Miller, stand-up comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter Zero Mostel, actor, comedian, and singer Paul Muni (born Frederich Meier Weisenfreund) – actor Arthur Murray (born Moses Teichman) – dancer, entrepreneur Suzanne Pleshette, actress Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag) – actress, born to a Jewish family, some of whom came from Austria Otto Preminger – director Carl Reiner, actor, author, comedian, director and screenwriter Leah Remini – actress, mother has Austrian Jewish descent Don Rickles – actor and comedian, of Jewish descent Tanya Roberts (born Victoria Blum), actress Eli Roth, film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor Lionel Royce (born Leon Moriz Reiss), actor of stage and screen Fritzi Scheff – actress Joseph Schildkraut – actor Arnold Schwarzenegger – actor and 38th Governor of California "Arnold Schwarzenegger, "The Austrian Oak", was a bodybuilding prodigy who won the..." "Arnold was the embodiment of the American (a naturalized citizen since 1983) dream..." Patrick Schwarzenegger – actor, son of Arnold, brother of Katherine Schwarzenegger Amanda Setton, actress. Harry Shearer – actor Lilia Skala (born Lilia Sofer) – actress "Galvanizing, stern-featured Viennese character actress with extensive Broadway experience..."