“When Christianity came to Austria” on July 23rd at 10:35 p.m. on ORF 2 and on ORF ON
Vienna (OTS) – The first Christian communities were founded early on in what is now Austria. Traces can be traced back to the 2nd and 3rd centuries. How did Christianity come to Austria so early? And which religions were practiced before that? Countless Christian buildings and colorful religious customs still shape Austria’s landscape and its identity today. But how did it happen? Peter Beringer’s “criss-cross” documentary “When Christianity came to Austria” shows stages of the Christianization of Austria from Roman times to around the year 1200 on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at 10:35 p.m. on ORF 2 and on ORF ON.
The Christianization of Austria began in Roman late antiquity. Despite all the resistance of the Roman central state, Christianity found acceptance among the residents of the Alpine region on the Danube as early as the 3rd century AD and established itself as the majority religion after its legalization in 313. With the founding of dioceses and monasteries from the early Middle Ages onwards, Franconia and Bavaria – through conquest and mission – continued to advance the process of Christianization. From the second half of the 10th century onwards, new monasteries were also the most important means for the Babenbergs and their followers to develop an initially sparsely populated area and to secure their political rule. It is this development that also helps to shape the spatial structure of Austria – with Christian buildings and landmarks – as we know it to this day. But the development was not straightforward. For over 1,000 years there were periods of retreat and defeat. At times, Christians were even completely pushed out of certain areas and regions.
The film’s locations are early Roman churches in Lorch near Enns and at Georgenberg near Kuchl as well as excavations in Carinthia, which shed light on the migration period and the early Middle Ages. Salzburg is also shown – the former focal point of the early medieval mission – and finally Klosterneuburg as the center of Babenberg rule. Interviews with the church historian Thomas Prügl, the historian Christina Lutter, the archaeologists and excavators Reinhard Harreither, Kurt Karpf and Franz Glaser and the Archabbot of St. Peter in Salzburg, Korbinian Birnbacher, shed light on an exciting period in our country’s history.