Austrian Americans

Austrian Americans
Österreichamerikaner

Total population
646,438 (2019)
Regions with significant populations
New York, California, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey
Languages
German, English
Religion
Roman Catholic, Protestant; Jewish and other minorities
Related ethnic groups
Dutch Americans German Americans Swiss Americans German diasporas

Austrian Americans (Template:Lang-de, pronounced [ˈøːstɐʁaɪçʔameʁiˌkaːnɐ]) 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 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).

This may be an undercount since many German Americans, Czech Americans, Polish Americans, Slovak Americans, and Ukrainian Americans, and other Americans with Central European ancestry can trace their roots from the Habsburg territories of Austria, the Austrian Empire, or Cisleithania in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, regions which were major sources of immigrants to the United States before World War I, and whose inhabitants often assimilated into larger immigrant and ethnic communities throughout the United States.

Migration History

Early Migrations

The Austrian migration to the USA probably started in 1734, when a group of 50 families from the city of Salzburg, Austria, migrated to the newly founded Georgia. Having a Protestant background, they migrated because of Catholic repression in their country.

In the first fifty years of the 19th century many more Austrians emigrated to the United States, although the number of Austrian emigrants did not exceed a thousand people. Prior to the year 1918, the precise number of Austrians who emigrated to the USA is unknown since Austria was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so the U.S. Census recorded the number of people from all over the empire in the same group (the Austro-Hungarian group).

In this period, the Austrians of the United States received religious education thanks to the arrival of 100 to 200 Catholic priests from Germany and Austria. Those religious had been sent by the Leopoldine Stiftung, an Austrian organization that was founded for help both to the Austrians emigrated and the Native Americans, and they monitored their religious education in places such as Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Louisiana. Most of the emigrants were Tyroleans who lacked of lands or that fled the Metternich regime, who used repression to control the population. The political refugees were mostly anticlerical and against slavery. They were liberals and adapted quickly to their new country.

The immigration of Austrians increased during the second half of 19th century, and in 1900 had 275,000 Austrians living in the USA. Many Austrians worked in the United States as miners and servants. Many Austrians settled in New York City, Pittsburgh, and Chicago. Since 1880, when a great wave of emigration started from all over Europe, Austrians also emigrated massively to the United States, looking for new agricultural land on which to work because as the Austrian Empire was undergoing industrialization, fields were being replaced by cities. However, the same was happening in the western United States. From 1901 to 1910 alone, Austrians were one of the ten most significant immigrant groups in the United States, with more than 2.1 million Austrians. Scholarly research on this topic is growing, in the Journal of Austrian-American History and elsewhere.

Most of these newly immigrated Austrians were cosmopolitan and were left-wing. They found employment in Chicago stockyards and in Pennsylvania, in jobs related to cement and steel factories. Many of them, more than 35 percent, returned to Austria with the savings that they had made by their employment.

20th Century

In 1914–1938, Austrian immigration was low, until it slowed to a trickle during the years of the Depression. Between 1919 and 1924, fewer than 20,000 Austrians emigrated to the North American country, mainly from Burgenland. Also, laws restricting emigration to the US, imposed by the Austrian government, limited Austrian emigration further, reducing it to only 1,413 persons per year.

World War II & Post-War Migrations

However, since the late 1930s, many other Austrians migrated to the United States. Most of them were Jews fleeing the Nazi persecution which started with the Annexation of Austria in 1938. In 1941, some 29,000 Jewish Austrians had emigrated to the United States. Most of them were doctors, lawyers, architects and artists (such as composers, writers, and stage and film directors). Much later, between 1945 and 1960, some 40,000 Austrians emigrated to the United States.

Present Day

Since the 1960s, however, Austrian immigration has been very small, mostly because Austria is now a developed nation, where poverty and political oppression are scarce. According to the 1990 U.S. census, 948,558 people identified their origins in Austria. Most of the present-day immigrants who currently live in the United States 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 in Italy to the United States identify themselves as being of German rather than Austrian ancestry. According to the United States 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 1040 individuals living in the U.S. born in Italy who identified themselves as being of German ancestry.

Assimilation

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. Most Austrian Americans speak American English and German (the official language of Austria).

Religion

Most Austrians are Roman Catholic. The Austrian contribution in the 19th century in evangelizing Native Americans is remarkable. However, in the 19th century, Austrians also had to work with Irish Catholic priests, who spoke English and rejected them, to baptize the Natives and convert them to Catholicism. Thus, the Leopoldine Society sent money and priests to North America and led to the creation of over 400 churches on the East Coast, in the Midwest, and in the Indian Countries, located west of those areas. It was especially prominent in cities such as in Cincinnati and St. Louis. The Benedictines and Franciscans also built thousands of congregations.

However, the expansion of Catholicism conducted by Austrian priests caused a rejection of American society, as it could change the religious balance in the country. Therefore, for a long time, Austrians once again had to struggle to adapt to American life. The 20th century reduced the religiosity of the average Austrian American, as other Americans.

The emigration of other 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. 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.

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 Population

	Percentage	Community	State
1	12.10%	Waterville	Wisconsin
2	10.60%	Coplay	Pennsylvania
3	9.20%	Durand	Wisconsin
4	5.20%	Rock Creek	Wisconsin
4	5.20%	Northampton	Pennsylvania
5	4.50%	Allen Township	Pennsylvania
6	4.40%	Drammen	Wisconsin
7	4.30%	Palenville	New York
8	4.20%	Great Neck Plaza	New York
8	4.20%	Upper Nazareth Township	Pennsylvania
8	4.20%	Schuylkill Township	Pennsylvania
9	4.10%	Noble Township	Indiana
10	4.00%	Highland Beach	Florida
10	4.00%	Mondovi	Wisconsin
11	3.90%	North Catasauqua	Pennsylvania
11	3.80%	Russell Gardens	New York
12	3.70%	Washington Township	Kansas
13	3.60%	Whitehall Township	Pennsylvania
13	3.60%	Arma	Kansas
13	3.60%	Tuscarawas	Ohio
14	3.30%	Hewlett Harbor	New York
14	3.30%	East Union Township	Pennsylvania
14	3.30%	Indian Hills	Colorado
15	3.20%	Ellis	Kansas
15	3.20%	Harbor Isle	New York

U.S. communities with the most residents born in Austria

The U.S. communities where Austrian Americans make up more than 1% of the total population are:

1. Hillside Lake, New York 1.4%
2. Redway, California 1.3%
3. Black Diamond, Florida 1.2%
4. Smallwood, New York 1.2%
5. Highland Beach, Florida 1.2%
6. Cordova, Maryland 1.2%
7. Keystone, Colorado 1.2%
8. North Lynbrook, New York 1.1%
9. Cedar Glen Lakes, New Jersey 1.1%
10. Center City, Minnesota 1.1%
11. Scotts Corners, New York 1.0%
12. Killington, Vermont 1.0%
13. Lexington, New York 1.0%
14. 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
• Adele Astaire – dancer, actress, sister of Fred Astaire
• Fred Astaire – dancer, actor
• Sean Astin – actor
• Bibi Besch – actress
• Theodore Bikel – actor, singer, musician
• Peter Bogdanovich – director, writer, actor, producer, critic and film historian
• Hans Conried – actor
• Ricardo Cortez – silent film actor, of Austrian Jewish descent
• Stanley Cortez – cinematographer
• Billy Crystal – actor, comedian
• Robert von Dassanowsky – academic, writer and film producer
• Daniel DeWeldon – actor, son of Felix de Weldon
• Max Fleischer – animator
• Richard Fleischer – director, son of Max Fleischer
• Teri Garr – actress, comedian, dancer and voice artist
• Jeff Goldblum – actor
• Alex Hafner – actor
• Mark Harmon – actor
• Kurt Kasznar – Austrian born American actor
• Stanley Kubrick – director, producer, screenwriter
• Hedy Lamarr – actress, inventor, and producer; from an Austrian Jewish family
• Elissa Landi – actress
• Fritz Lang – director
• Peter Lorre – actor
• Joe Manganiello – actor, grandmother was of Austrian descent
• Samantha Mathis – actress, daughter of Bibi Besch
• Paul Muni – actor
• Arthur Murray – dancer, entrepreneur
• Emily Osment – actress, sister of Haley Joel
• Haley Joel Osment – actor, brother of Emily
• Natalie Portman – actress, born to a Jewish family, some of whom came from Austria
• Otto Preminger – director
• Leah Remini – actress, mother has Austrian Jewish descent
• Don Rickles – actor and comedian, of Jewish descent
• Fritzi Scheff – actress
• Joseph Schildkraut – actor
• Arnold Schwarzenegger – actor and 38th Governor of California
• Patrick Schwarzenegger – actor, son of Arnold, brother of Katherine Schwarzenegger
• Harry Shearer – actor
• Lilia Skala – actress
• Walter Slezak – actor
• Eric Stonestreet – actor, original family name before World War I was Steingassner
• Edgar G. Ulmer – director
• Erich von Stroheim – director
• Josef von Sternberg – director
• Tessa Gräfin von Walderdorff – American socialite, writer, and actress who is a member of the Austrian noble family Walderdorff
• Billy Wilder – director, of Jewish descent
• Shelley Winters – actress, of Jewish descent
• Elijah Wood – actor
• Fred Zinnemann – director

Science and Medicine

• Godfrey Edward Arnold – medical doctor and researcher
• Bruno Bettelheim – child psychologist, psychoanalyst and concentration camp survivor
• Carl Djerassi – chemist, novelist, and playwright
• Kurt Gödel – logician, mathematician, philosopher
• Friedrich von Hayek – Austrian-born economist and philosopher
• Hans Holzer – paranormal researcher and author
• Heinz von Foerster – scientist combining physics and philosophy, originator of Second-order cybernetics
• Eric Kandel – neuroscientist
• Karl Landsteiner – biologist and physician, best known for having distinguished the main blood groups
• Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises – economist, philosopher, author and classical liberal
• Ignatz Leo Nascher – doctor and gerontologist
• Wilhelm Reich – psychiatrist
• Wolfgang Pauli – physicist
• Alfred Schütz – philosopher/sociologist
• Joseph Warkany – pediatrician
• Paul Watzlawick – psychologist, communications theorist, and philosopher
• Victor Frederick Weisskopf – physicist of Jewish descent. During World War II, he worked at Los Alamos on the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb, and later campaigned against the proliferation of nuclear weapons; medal received in 1979

Music

• Walter Arlen – composer, music critic at the Los Angeles Times
• Victor L. Berger – socialist politician and journalist
• Peter L. Berger – sociologist
• Gustav Bergmann – philosopher
• Edward Bernays – Austrian-American pioneer in public relations, referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations".

• Elmer Bernstein – composer
• Erich Wolfgang Korngold – composer
• Erich Leinsdorf – conductor
• Bobby Schayer – musician
• Arnold Schoenberg – composer, of Jewish descent
• Max Steiner – composer
• Nita Strauss – rock guitarist
• Georg Ludwig von Trapp – headed the Austrian singing family portrayed in The Sound of Music. His exploits at sea in World War I earned him numerous decorations.
• Agathe von Trapp – eldest daughter of Baron Georg von Trapp and Agathe Whitehead von Trapp, The von Trapp Family from The Sound of Music
• Maria F. von Trapp – second-oldest daughter of Baron Georg von Trapp and Agathe Whitehead von Trapp, The von Trapp Family from The Sound of Music
• Werner von Trapp – second-oldest son of Georg Ritter von Trapp and Agathe Whitehead von Trapp, The von Trapp Family from The Sound of Music
• Joe Zawinul – jazz pianist

Arts & Literature

• Maria Altmann – art collector

• Bela Borsodi – photographer
• Eric de Kolb – painter and designer
• Felix de Weldon – sculptor, best known for the Marine Corps War Memorial
• Jerry Iger – famed American cartoonist, founder of Eisner & Iger, an industry trailblazer during the Golden Age of Comics; born to an Austrian-Jewish family in New York City and Bob Iger's paternal great-uncle
• David Karfunkle – painter, muralist
• Greta Kempton – artist
• Joseph Keppler – cartoonist, best known for the illustrated magazine Puck
• Vivian Maier – street photographer
• Sylvia Plath – poet, mother of Austrian descent
• Katherine Schwarzenegger – author, daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger, sister of Patrick Schwarzenegger

Law and Politics

• Henry Ellenbogen – US Congressman from Pennsylvania
• Felix Frankfurter – US Supreme Court Justice

• Fred F. Herzog – only Jewish judge in Austria between the world wars, he fled to America and became Dean of two different law schools
• Raul Hillberg – political scientist and historian, who is widely considered to be one of the world's preeminent scholars of the Holocaust
• Hans Kelsen – jurist
• John Kerry – politician, current United States Special Presidential
  Envoy for Climate, former Senator from Massachusetts, US presidential candidate of 2004 (D), former US Secretary of State
• Jack Kirby – artist
• Richard Neutra – architect
• Frederick Burr Opper – cartoonist
• Kurt von Schuschnigg – Austrofascist politician and Austrian federal Chancellor 1936-1938 and professor of political sciences at St. Louis University 1948-1967
• Ernst Florian Winter – diplomat

Business and Technology

• Michael Eisner – media executive, successive CEO of Paramount Pictures and the Walt Disney Corporation
• Anselm Franz – pioneering turbojet engineer, designer of the Jumo 004 and Lycoming T53 engines
• Bob Iger – longtime CEO of the Walt Disney Corporation, who oversaw a fourfold increase in its market capitalization; born in New York City to a Jewish family, in particular an Austrian-Jewish father
• Travis Kalanick – founder, Uber Technologies; born in California to a family of Jewish-Austrian and Slovak-Austrian extraction
• Ernst Mahler – chemist and industrialist
• Wolfgang Puck – celebrity chef, restaurateur
• Martin Roscheisen – entrepreneur

Sports

• Corey Kluber – Major League Baseball pitcher, 2014 Cy Young pitcher

• Joe Schilling – kickboxer
• Mose Solomon – "Rabbi of Swat", Major League Baseball player, of Jewish descent
• Eliot Teltscher – top-10 tennis player
• Ken Uston – blackjack player, strategist, and author

Journalism

• Gene Siskel – critic, journalist
• Michael Smerconish – CNN journalist
• Matthew Winter – journalist

See also

• Austria–United States relations
• European American
• German Americans
• Czech Texan
• Hyphenated American
• Journal of Austrian-American History

Further reading

• Jones, J. Sydney. "Austrian Americans." Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 1, Gale, 2014), pp. 189–202. online
• Pochmann, Henry A. German Culture in America: Philosophical and Literary Influences 1600–1900 (1957). 890pp; comprehensive review of German influence on Americans esp 19th century. online
• Pochmann, Henry A. and Arthur R. Schult. Bibliography of German Culture in America to 1940 (2nd ed 1982); massive listing, but no annotations.
• Spaulding, E. Wilder. The Quiet Invaders: The Story of the Austrian Impact upon America (Vienna: Österreichische Bundesverlag, 1968).
• Thernstrom, Stephen, ed. Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups (1980) pp 164–170. Online free to borrow

External links

• Austrian Cultural Institute Forum New York
• Botstiber Foundation
• Euroamericans.net: Austrians in America
• USAustrians.com: Austrians in America