Austria–Germany relations

Relations between Austria and Germany are close due to their shared history and culture, with German being the official language and Germans being the major ethnic group of both countries.

The ancestors of Austrians were the Germanic Baiuvarii (ancient German Bavarians). The Baiuvarii originated in southeast Germany in the north/Germania and moved to present-day Austria in the Migration period after successful Germanic invasions of ancient Rome.

Other Germanic and other non-Germanic peoples were settled in present-day Austria in early history but the Baiuvarii established the Duchy of Bavaria which would come to be the modern Austrian state. From 788 to 843; Bavaria including present-day Austria was ruled under the West Germanic Franks as Francia. Later, the Bavarian Austria came under East Francia (Kingdom of Germany) from 843 to 972. It then separated from the Duchy of Bavaria as a state in 972, and from 972 to 1806 Austria (not including its non-German lands) and other German states were a core and later dominant part of the Holy Roman Empire which was officially a German polity from 1512 and mostly led by Austria itself.

From 1938 to 1945 under the Nazi regime, Austria was annexed into Germany in what was seen as a reunification.