About Austria

     Austria (German: Österreich) (Österreich (help·info)), officially the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich) (Republik Österreich (help·info)), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The capital city is Vienna.

    The German name Österreich can be translated into English as the "eastern realm", which is derived from the Old German Ostarrîchi. The name was Latinized as "Austria", although it has no etymological connection with the name of Australia (which derives from Latin Australis meaning The South). Reich can also mean "empire," and this connotation is the one that is understood in the context of the Austrian/Austro-Hungarian Empire, Holy Roman Empire, although not in the context of the modern Republic of Österreich. The term probably originates in a vernacular translation of the Medieval Latin name for the region: Marchia orientalis, which translates as "eastern marches" or "eastern borderland", as it was situated at the eastern edge of the Holy Roman Empire, that was also mirrored in the name Ostmark, for a short period applied after Anschluss to Germany.

    The current official designation is the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich). It was originally known after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1918 as the Republic of German Austria (Republik Deutschösterreich), but the state was forced to change its name to "Republic of Austria" in 1919 by the peace Treaty of Saint-Germain. The name was changed again during the Austro-fascist regime (1934–1938), into Federal State of Austria (Bundesstaat Österreich), but restored after regaining independence and the birth of the Second Austrian Republic (1955–present).

About Rauris

     Rauris is a municipality in Salzburg (state) in the area of Pinzgau in Austria. There are about 3.150 inhabitants living in Rauris.

     The market town Rauris is located in the Pinzgau in the state Salzburg at the river Rauriser Ache at the bottom of the Sonnblick group in the heart of the Nationalpark Hohe Tauern. Concerning the surface, Rauris is the biggest city of Salzburg.

     Parts and villages of Rauris: Bucheben, Fröstlberg, Grub, Hundsdorf, Marktrevier, Rauris, Seidlwinkl, Unterland, Vorstanddorf, Vorstandrevier, Wörth, Wörtherberg.

     The valley of Rauris is one of the lesser valleys in the Tauern that is permanently populated. Archeological findings show that these passes were used by ancient people near the Rauriser Tauern (Hochtor). A gilt neck-ring was found on the Maschlalm which originated from the time of La Tène in about 400 B.C. In the centre of Rauris six silver-coins were found, of which three show the head of Philip II of Macedon, who reigned 360 to 336 B.C. on the Balkan.

     Further findings are a small Hercules-statue from Roman-times, a bronze-sword from 1300 B.C., older than a scarab discovered from the time of Ramses II in about 1200 B.C.

     The valley was first settled in the south. This began with the founding of Schwaigen in the 12th Century. The present-day place of Rauris was named after the Gaisbach earlier. It was first mentioned in 1120. The name "Rurise" appeared for the first time in 1122, when Bishop Heinrich of Freising handed over two yards to his brother Count Friedrich of Peilstein, and marked the whole valley.

     By 1230, Wörth was an important resting point for people and vehicles passing south over the Tauern (Seidlwinkl) to the mining-area in (Hüttwinkl).

     The valley of Seidlwinkl was the eastern gateway to the Tauern (Hochtor), its advantage being that it could be open for longer. The importance of the valley led to the construction of the original Rauriser Tauernhaus that gave shelter and warmth to passing tradesmen. Much like the existing pass houses in other valleys. The Rauriser Tauernhaus got the right to sell drinks in 1491.