The description Carinthian Slovenes (German: Kärntner Slowenen; Slovenian: Koroški Slovenci) is used to refer to the autochthonous, Slovene-speaking population group in the Austrian province of Carinthia. The Carinthian Slovenes send representatives to the National Ethnic Groups Advisory Council. The status of the minority group is guaranteed in principle constitutionally and under international law.

Migration period
Under Charlemagne, Karantania became part of the Frankish Empire and, in consequence, of the Holy Roman Empire. As a result of this, German noble families became gradually prevalent, while the population remained Slovene. Finally, the Bavarii moved into Carinthia as settlers. They settled the hitherto sparsely populated areas, such as wooded regions and high valleys. Only here and there did this lead to the direct displacement of Slavs (the development to being Slovenians did not take place until later). However, a process of assimilation of Slovenes by Germans began. In the 19th century, about two thirds of Carinthians had in this way become German. Nevertheless, Klagenfurt, at this time a German city with Slovene surroundings, was the predominant Slovene city of learning.

Middle Ages and modern times
With the emergence of the nationalist movement in the late Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, there was an acceleration in the process of assimilation; at the same time the conflict between national groups became more intense.
With the end of World War I the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs attempted to occupy the districts that remained Slovene. This issue also split the Slovene population. In the plebiscite zone in which the Slovene-speaking proportion of the population constituted about 70 per cent, 59 per cent of those who voted at the plebiscite voted to remain in Austria. In the run-up to the plebiscite the provincial government gave an assurance that it would promote and support the retention of Slovene culture. These conciliatory promises, in addition to economic and other reasons, led to about 40 per cent of the Slovenes living in the plebiscite zone voting to retain the unity of the province. Voting patterns were, however, different by region; in many municipalities there were majorities who voted to become part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
As everywhere else in Europe, nationalism grew in the Interwar period. Promises made were broken, assimilation was forced by dividing the Slovenes into Slovenes and Windisch, even by denying that their language was Slovene at all. This culminated in targeted persecution in the Third Reich. Certainly it was possible to put oneself on good terms with the regime by professing to be Windisch with the associated promise to assimilate. At the same time, many Slovenes took part in Tito's partisans' resistance, who after the war again tried to occupy parts of Carinthia, but withdrew under pressure from the British occupying forces. In view of this extreme development on both sides, the atmosphere between the two national groups was extremely tense after the Second World War. The Slovene language continued to retreat steadily.
On 15 May 1955 the Austrian State Treaty was signed, in Article 7 of which the "rights of the Slovene and Croat minorities" in Austria were regulated. In 1975 the electoral grouping of the Slovene national group (Enotna Lista) only just failed to gain entry to the provincial parliament. Before the next elections in 1979 the originally single constituency of Carinthia was divided into four constituencies. The area of settlement of the Carinthian Slovenes was divided up and these parts were in turn combined with purely German-speaking parts of the province. In the new constituencies the Slovene-speaking proportion of the population was reduced in such a way that in reality it was no longer possible for the representatives of national minorities to succeed in getting into the provincial parliament. The Austrian Centre for Ethnic Groups and representatives of the Carinthian Slovenes saw in this way of proceeding the successful attempt to reduce the political influence of the Slovene-speaking national minority group.
In the 1970s the situation again escalated in the so-called signpost dispute, but thereafter became less tense. However, continuing up to the present, individual statements by Slovene politicians are interpreted by parts of the German-speaking population as Slovene territorial claims, and they therefore regard the territorial integrity of Carinthia as still not being guaranteed. This interpretation is rejected both by the Slovene government and by the organisations representing the interests of the Carinthian Slovenes. The territorial integrity of Carinthia and its remaining part of Austria are said not to be placed in question at all.

19th and 20th centuries
Since the 1990s a growing interest in Slovene on the part of German-speaking Carinthians has been perceptible, but this could turn out to be too late in view of the increase in the proportion of old people. The success of Jörg Haider (provincial prime minister of Carinthia since 1999) in making a political issue out of the signpost dispute shows that the conflict is, as before, still present.

The 21st century
At the end of the 19th century, the Carinthian Slovenes comprised approximately one quarter to one third of the total population of Carinthia. In the course of the 20th century the numbers declined, especially because of the pressure to assimilate, to an official figure of 2.3 per cent of the total population. As the pressure from German came above all from the west and north, the present area of settlement lies in the south and east of the province, in the valleys known in German as Jauntal, Keutschacher and Rosental, the lowest Lavanttal, and the lower Gailtal (to about as far as Tröpolach). Köstenberg and Diex form approximately the most northerly points. The municipalities with the highest proportion of Carinthian Slovenes are Zell (89%), Globasnitz (42%) and Eisenkappel-Vellach (38%), according to the 2001 census. The actual number of Carinthian Slovenes is disputed, as both the representatives of Slovene organisations and the representatives of Carinthian traditional organisations describe the census results as inaccurate. The former point to the, in part, strongly fluctuating census results in individual municipalities, which in their opinion correlate strongly with political tensions in national minority questions. Consequently the results would underestimate the actual number of Carinthian Slovenes. The South Carinthian municipality of Gallizien is cited as an example: according to the 1951 census the proportion of Slovene speakers was 80 per cent, whereas in 1961 with simultaneously an absence of significant migratory movements and with approximately the same population, the proportion was only 11 per cent.

As a further example the results of the former municipality of Mieger (now in the municipality of Ebental), are cited, which in 1910 and 1923 had a Slovene-speaking population of 96 per cent and 51 per cent respectively, but in 1934 only 3 per cent. After World War II and a relaxation of relations between both population groups, the municipality showed a result of 91.5 per cent in the 1951 census. Ultimately, in 1971 in the run-up to the so-called Carinthian signpost dispute, the number of Slovenes was reduced again to 24 per cent. Representatives of the Carinthian Slovenes regard the census results as the absolute lower limit. They refer to an investigation carried out in 1991 in bilingual parishes, in the process of which there was a question about the colloquial language used by members of the parish. The results of this investigation (50,000 members of national minority groups) differed significantly from those of the census that took place in the same year (about 14,000). Carinthian traditional organisations estimate the actual number of self-declared Slovenes as being 2,000 to 5,000 persons.

Area of settlement and proportion of the population
The Carinthian dialect branch of Slovene (koroško) extends beyond the present borders of Carinthia. It is spoken in the bilingual areas that until 1918 formed the Duchy of Carinthia (i.e. in addition to the present province, the upper Kanaltal around Tarvisio as well as the Mežiška Valley in Slovenia). Additionally, the Carinthian-Slovene form of dialect is spoken in Rateče (known in German as Ratschach) in Slovenia very near the border with Italy, a locality of the Oberkrain (Gorenjska), as well as along the upper Drava river in Lower Styria. It can be divided into sub-dialects spoken in the Jauntal, Rosental, and Gailtal.
The Obir dialect, which is influenced by the dialect of the Gorenjska, can be regarded as a subgroup of the Jauntal dialect. The Carinthian dialects are particularly unadulterated. In the present German-speaking areas the Slavonic basis of place and pasture names as far as into the upper Mölltal can be demonstrated. German and Slovene have in any case exercised a reciprocal influence in tone and vocabulary on each other in the course of the centuries.
(See also: Slovenian dialects.)

Dialects
The description "Windisch" was originally applied in the German-speaking area to all Slavonic languages and in particular in southern Austria to the Slovene language. It is still used in part (predominantly by German nationalist circles) as an overall term for Slovene dialects spoken in Carinthia. However, because of the historical associations of the term, "a German word with pejorative overtones", it is rejected by a large part of the Carinthian Slovene population. In censuses Windisch is counted in addition to Slovene as a separate language category.

The term Windisch
In early 1981 the novel Der Zögling Tjaž by Florjan Lipuš appeared in a German translation by Peter Handke, which led to Handke being described by the Wiener Extrablatt as "Article 7 personified" for this literary achievement. In addition to Lipuš, Handke later translated Gustav Januš. However, Slovene literature in Carinthia is made up not only of Januš and Lipuš, but also a number of other authors. Mirko Kumer, Kristo Srienc and Valentin Polanšek are part of the tradition, but in addition to Lipuš, Janko Messner is part of a small, more innovative group that is nevertheless committed to the literary tradition. Lipus himself has developed into an outstanding belletrist. Younger prose authors include Jože Blajs, Martin Kuchling, Kristijan Močilnik and the internationally known Janko Ferk. There is a considerable number of lyric poets, Milka Hartman being outstanding. Anton Kuchling is part of this generation. Gustav Januš and Andrej Kokot, as well as those lyric poets not currently writing, namely Erik Prunč and Karel Smolle, form the next generation. A group including Janko Ferk, Maja Haderlap, Franc Merkac, Jani Oswald, Vincenc Gotthardt, Fabjan Hafner and Cvetka Lipuš that formed itself predominantly around the literary periodical "Mladje" (Youth) follows these lyric poets. Rezka Kanzian and Tim O. Wüster, whose works have not (as of 2006) appeared in books of their own, are part of the youngest generation. Slovene literature in Carinthia since the Second World War has displayed a clear will to live; in the 2000s it is an emancipated literature free from provincialism. Johann (Janez) Strutz in particular has rendered outstanding services to the literature of the Carinthian Slovenes from the point of view of the sociology, theory and history of literature. His book Profile der neuen slowenischen Literatur in Kärnten ("Profiles of modern Slovene literature in Carinthia"), published in 1998 in a revised and extended edition, is a much respected standard work.

Literature after the Second World War
In 1848 the Ministry of Education decreed that compulsory school pupils should be taught in their respective native language. The efforts of German nationalist forces in Carinthia to change this regulation were unsuccessful until the end of the 1860s. Between 1855 and 1869 the Slovene compulsory school system lay in the hands of the Roman Catholic Church, which was traditionally friendly to the Slovenes. From 1869 there was a major alteration in the instructions regarding the use of the native language in teaching, resulting from the Imperial law on state schools, as from this time the authority maintaining the school could lay down the language of instruction. This led to a large proportion of the compulsory schools being converted into so-called utraquist schools, in which Slovene was regarded as an auxiliary language to be used in teaching only until the pupils had acquired an adequate command of German.

School and kindergarten system
The Christian cultural association (Christlicher Kulturverband) and the council of Christian Slovenes (Rat der Kärntner Slowenen/Narodni svet koroških Slovencev) have endowed an annual award, the Einspieler prize (named after the founder of the Hermagoras publishing company, Andrej Einspieler), for persons who have rendered outstanding services to the cause of co-existence. The prize has been awarded to, among others, the industrialist Herbert Liaunig and the University of Klagenfurt professor of general and diachronic linguistics, Heinz Dieter Pohl.

Lobbying

Janko Ferk – judge and writer (b. 1958)
Peter Handke – writer (b. 1942; Carinthian Slovene mother)
Franc Kattnig – publisher and cultural official (b. 1945)
Martin Kušej – theatre and opera director (b. 1961)
Florjan Lipuš – writer and translator (b. 1937)
Janko Messner – writer (b. 1921)
Mirko Messner – politician (b. 1948)
Valentin Oman – artist (b. 1935)
Wolfgang Petritsch – diplomat, former High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina (b. 1947)
Erik Prunč – professor at the University of Graz (b. 1941)
Johann (Janez) Strutz – professor at the University of Klagenfurt (b. 1949)
Jožef Stefan – mathematician and physicist (1835–1893)
Peter Wrolich – racing cyclist (b. 1974) Personalities

Koroška enotna lista (Kärntner Einheitsliste) – a joint political movement that stands at local elections
Narodni svet koroških Slovencev (Rat der Kärntner Slowenen) – National Council of Christian Slovenes, representing Christian-conservative interests
Zveza slovenskih organizacij (Zentralverband slowenischer Organisationen) – Association of Slovenian Organisations, association representing left-leaning interests
Krščanska kulturna zveza (Christlicher Kulturverband) – Christian Cultural association
Slovenska prosvetna zveza (Slowenischer Kulturverband) – Slovene Cultural Association
Slovenska gospodarska zveza (Slowenischer Wirtschaftsverband) – Slovene Economic Organisation
Skupnost južnokoroških kmetov (Gemeinschaft der Südkärntner Bauern) – Community of South Carinthian Farmers
Slovenska planinska Družba (Alpenverein der Kärntner Slowenen) – Alpine Climbing Club of Carinthian Slovenes
Slovenski atletski klub (Slowenischer Athletikklub) – Slovene Athletic Club
Koroška dijaška zveza (Slowenischer Studenten Verband) – Slovene Students' Association Organisations

Nedelja – Slovene-language weekly newspaper of the diocese of Gurk
Novice – Slovene-language weekly news-sheet
Mohorjeva družba-Hermagoras – Catholic bilingual publisher (Klagenfurt)
Drava Verlag – bilingual publisher (Klagenfurt) Media

Burgenland Croats
Burgenland Hungarians
Demographics of Austria
Karantanians See also

(German) Amt der Kärntner Landesregierung – Volksgruppenbüro (Hrsg.), Die Kärntner Slowenen, 2003
(German) Heinz Dieter Pohl, Die ethnisch-sprachlichen Voraussetzungen der Volksabstimmung
Bratt Paulston and D. Peckham (eds.) ''Linguistic Minorities in Central and Eastern Europe'', 1998, p. 32 ff., Clevedon (UK), Multilingual Matters, ISBN 1-85359-416-4.
(German) Bericht des Österreichischen Volksgruppenzentrums zur Durchführung des Europäischen Rahmenübereinkommens zum Schutz nationaler Minderheiten in der Republik Österreich Teil II (Accessed on 3 August 2006)
(German) Volksgruppenarchiv des ORF Kärnten (Accessed on 3 August 2006) Sources

(German) Albert F. Reiterer: ''Kärntner Slowenen: Minderheit oder Elite? Neuere Tendenzen der ethnischen Arbeitsteilung.'' Drava Verlag/Založba Drava, Klagenfurt 1996, ISBN 3-85435-252-2
(German) Andreas Moritsch (Hrsg.): ''Kärntner Slovenen/Koroški Slovenci 1900-2000'' Hermagoras/Mohorjeva, Klagenfurt 2003 ISBN 3-85013-753-8
(German) Johann Strutz: Profile der neuen slowenischen Literatur in Kärnten, by Hermagoras Verlag, Klagenfurt, 1998, ISBN 3-85013-524-1 Literature

Culture and History