Chronologie

1517 : publication of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses and beginning of the Reformation
16th century : Reformation reaches Austria and large parts of the population become Protestants
1545 : Council of Trent and beginning of the Counter-Reformation
1618 to 1648 : Thirty Years’ war
1781/82 : Edicts of Tolerance grant certain rights to Protestant and Greek-Catholic Christians and Jews
1848 : bourgeois-democratic revolution and counterrevolution
1867 : Basic Law of the State on the General Rights of Citizens establishes fundamental individual rights and rights for religious communities recognised by the law
1874 : Law on Recognition of Churches and Religious Societies specifies procedures for legal recognition
1877 : Legal recognition of the Old Catholic Church according to the Law on Recognition of Churches and Religious Societies of 1874
1878/1908 : Annexation and occupation of the Ottoman provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina
1890 : “Jewish Law” grants legal recognition to Jewish communities
1912 : Islam Law grants legal recognition to Islamic communities following the Sunni-Hanafi tradition
1918 : Proclamation of the First Republic of German Austria
1933/34-1938 : Austro-fascist rule
1938-1945 : National Socialist (Nazi) rule
1945 : Restoration of Austria as an independent state (limited sovereignty/allied occupation until 1955)