Mint set BU – Issue 1

On 12 November 1918, the Provisorische Nationalversammlung in Vienna proclaimed the Republic of German-Austria. This was preceded by the military defeat of Austria-Hungary in the First World War, the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy, and Emperor Charles I’s renunciation of participation in state affairs. The new state initially saw itself as part of a future German republic. The Treaty of Saint-Germain, however, prohibited the intended union with Germany; at the same time, the designation Republic of Austria became established.

The democratic order received its foundation with the Federal Constitutional Law of 1920. It entered a severe crisis at the beginning of the 1930s. In 1933, Parliament was dissolved, and in 1934 an authoritarian corporative state was established. Following the “Anschluss” to National Socialist Germany in March 1938, Austria no longer existed as an independent state. On 27 April 1945, the Republic was restored. In constitutional terms, the present-day Republic is linked to the republican order of 1920, which is why the anniversary is dated to 1918 despite these interruptions.

The Parliament Building was constructed between 1874 and 1883 according to plans by the architect Theophil Hansen. It originally served the Reichsrat, the parliament of the Austrian half of Austria-Hungary. Its design, modelled on examples from ancient Greece, was intended to refer to the historical origins of political deliberation and democratic decision-making. Today, the Nationalrat and Bundesrat meet there; when carrying out joint tasks, both act as the Federal Assembly.

The Athena Fountain in front of the building was executed according to Hansen’s designs and unveiled in 1902. The central figure was created by the sculptor Carl Kundmann. Its connection with the Parliament Building therefore already existed long before the founding of the Republic. For the anniversary, this ensemble provided a motif that not only recalls the proclamation of the Republic but also makes visible the parliamentary foundation of its constitutional order. The coin issue formed part of the state’s commemoration of a century of Austrian republican history.