Austria's story retold: ORF starts third season!

Austria's story retold: ORF starts third season!

ORF will start the third season of the acclaimed documentary series “Austria – the whole story” on May 1, 2025. Winner of the prestigious Hugo Portisch Prize, this season includes ten new episodes that examine the political and social upheavals from the founding of the First Republic to Austria's regaining of sovereignty in 1955. The series will be moderated by Mariella Gittler and Andreas Pfeifer, who will guide the viewer through the historical development of Austria.

The first two episodes on May 1st will deal with the “Birth of the Republic” and the theme “War and Progress”. Other central themes include the political conflicts of the young republic, the fight for equal rights for women and the effects of the global economic crisis in 1931, which led to the establishment of the dictatorship by Engelbert Dollfuß in 1933. The propaganda of the National Socialists and the resistance against the Nazi regime also find their place in this season.

The path to sovereignty

A crucial theme of the third season will be the path to sovereignty, which is linked to the Austrian State Treaty. On May 15, 1955, this treaty was signed in Vienna to restore Austria as a sovereign state. Negotiations on the state treaty began after the end of the Second World War, when Austria was occupied by the Allies on April 27, 1945.

The negotiations were a direct result of the Moscow Declaration of October 30, 1943, in which Austria was recognized as the first victim of Nazi aggression. Only after the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953 and a breakthrough in February 1955 could negotiations with Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov come to a positive conclusion.

Neutrality as a basic principle

A central element of the State Treaty was the commitment to neutrality, which was declared by Parliament on October 26, 1955. This neutrality was particularly important for the Soviet Union to ensure that Austria did not join NATO. For the Western signatory powers, it was essential that Austria remained a Western-oriented democracy and continued political and economic integration with the West. October 26th has since been established as a national holiday in Austria, originally celebrated as Flag Day until 1965.

As usual, all episodes of the new season will also be available on ORF ON, so that those interested have the opportunity to engage with the complex and multifaceted history of Austria at any time. Further information can be found at tv.ORF.at/orf3.

For more details about the Austrian State Treaty and its meaning, please also visit the pages Wikipedia and Parlament.gv.at.