Current Events > Austrians angry that Mozart made it to a list of Best Germans of All Time

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/aug/07/arts.germany

wow

Ireland be like: England still doing this shit to us

Bet you don't hear a pip from them when someone mistakes Hitler for a German

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Revnir posted...

Austria and Germany is basically the same thing, except for an artificial political border separating them

This is a bit more significant than Kansas City here.

Maybe someone just got confused when translating from Austrian to German. This is a joke.

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I'd be more upset if Arnold was on the list. Keep that man close to your heart Austria.
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Everyone thinks Hitler was German so it's fair

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Smashingpmkns posted...

I'd be more upset if Arnold was on the list. Keep that man close to your heart Austria.

Did you see that video where Arnold shit all over the January 6th idiots?
It was glorious.

You gotta take what you can get. Weve been adding rappers to our Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for years.

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Neither were a nationality when Mozart was alive anyway.

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Solid Snake07 posted...

Neither were a nationality when Mozart was alive anyway.

Wasn't it still Holy Roman Empire in Mozart's day?

Solid Snake07 posted...

Neither were a nationality when Mozart was alive anyway.

Austria was a monarchy and the center of the Holy Roman Empire at the time--I think that counts as a national identity

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That article is 18 years old.

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Questionmarktarius posted...

Wasn't it still Holy Roman Empire in Mozart's day?

Yeah, till it dissolved in the early 1800s. Pretty sure mozart was dead by then.

indica posted...

Austria was a monarchy and the center of the Holy Roman Empire at the time--I think that counts as a national identity

Nope, I think Austia was a fairly autonomous state. But they weren't a independent nation. And I'm not entirely sure it was even named Austia back then, but I would guess it probably was.

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Solid Snake07 posted...

And I'm not entirely sure it was even named Austia back then, but I would guess it probably was.

sterreich has apparently been a thing since 976.

Austrians are just Germans that smile and do artistic stuff instead of over-engineering the hell out of everything.

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Austria is Germany's Canada.
Don't pretend otherwise.

On a more serious note, "German" is more a cultural group than anything. Germany itself, up until Prussia unified the center of Europe, was a collection of principalities and kingdoms. The largest of which got to keep their own army in the German Empire and probably made things more confusing than they had to. Austria was just one of the largest of these groups. And really, calling the Holy Roman Empire an "Empire" through most of its existence is a misnomer. It was closer to a confederation that acted in mutual interest when there was an outside threat and spent most of its later years with the principalities, free cities, kingdoms, Archbishoprics, bishoprics and lord knows what other damn shit arguing with each other. And that's just before the Protestant Reformation nearly blew the whole Empire to pieces. The Holy Roman Empire having its origins with the Papacy and being strongly tied to Catholicism, didn't really do well with these new fangled ideas of "we don't need the Pope to tell us what the lord thinks" and "churches that aren't corrupt as hell". The result of this is best known as "the thirty years war." And THAT was in the 1600s. In the mad dash for America, the various groups were all too weak and too busy squabling with each other to participate. But then, collectively, they were the focal point of Continental politics anyway so it didn't quite matter. Besides, no German nation has ever been called a naval power.

TL;DR: Austrians are just a variation of the German Culture.

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Solid Snake07 posted...

Yeah, till it dissolved in the early 1800s. Pretty sure mozart was dead by then.

Nope, I think Austia was a fairly autonomous state. But they weren't a independent nation. And I'm not entirely sure it was even named Austia back then, but I would guess it probably was.

Yes, it was Austria, and the difference between a "nation" and an "autonmous state" is obviously just semantics.

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indica posted...

Yes, it was Austria, and the difference between a "nation" and an "autonmous state" is obviously just semantics.

Very much so. Back then it was mostly an issue of size and power projection. England and Scotland were the biggest powers in the Isles, so they were kingdoms, England beat Scotland and eventually formally united with them, meanwhile Ireland and Wales were all tribal groups that were still fighting each other.

The HRE meanwhile was mostly bickering nobles trying to make as much money for themselves as they could, and every time an Emperor died, the electors got together to bicker over who got the title this time, and usually it was Austria.

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Crazyman93 posted...

TL;DR: Austrians are just a variation of the German Culture.

English is more a German language than the countless others it raided.

English is a Germanic language with Latin syntax and French vocabulary, and it steals new words from everything it touches.

indica posted...

Yes, it was Austria, and the difference between a "nation" and an "autonmous state" is obviously just semantics.

I wouldn't really say it's really semantics, it's just antiquated societal structuring from the last days of the feudal system. It's also a region of the world that has a pretty complex history over the past few hundred years.

Either way, I could see both sides of the arguement. Mozart was definitely born in modern day Austria. But it would also be accurate to say everyone from that region of the world when mozart was alive were Germanic people.

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