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Buddhism is a legally recognized religion inAustria. Although still small in absolute numbers (10,402 at the 2001 census),Buddhism in Austria enjoys widespread acceptance. A majority of Buddhists in the country are Austrian nationals (some of them naturalized after immigration from Asia, predominantly from thePeople's Republic of China andVietnam), while a considerable number of them are foreign nationals.
As in most European countries, different branches and schools of Buddhism are represented by groups of varying sizes.Vienna not only has the largest number of foreign residents, but is also the place with the longest tradition of Buddhism in the country. Most of Austria's Buddhist temples and centres of practice can be found there; some with a specific Chinese, Vietnamese,Tibetan orJapanese appearance. The latest development has been the establishment of a “Buddhist Cemetery” around astupa-like building for funeral ceremonies at theVienna Central Cemetery.
Buddhism was officially recognized under Austrian law in 1983.[1]Russia is the only other European country to recognizeBuddhism formally as "native" to its own soil, giving it official status, along withOrthodox Christianity,Islam, andJudaism.
By the late 19th century, due to the influence ofArthur Schopenhauer andRichard Wagner, artists and intellectuals in Vienna had started to take an interest in Buddhism.Karl Eugen Neumann (1865–1915), who had met the composer Wagner in his father's house, took great interest in what he had heard about Buddhism. In 1884 he decided to become a Buddhist and to study the original languages to be able "to see for himself". He translated large parts of thePali Canon intoGerman before dying in Vienna at the age of 50.[2]
In 1913 inJava, Arthur Fitz, a man fromGraz, became the first recorded Austrian to be ordained as aBuddhist monk, taking the name Bhikkhu Sono.
1923 saw the foundation of a "Buddhist Society" in Vienna; and Austrians were among the participants at the 2nd International Buddhist Congress in Paris in 1937. The political situation in Austria — an alliance between theFascist regime and theCatholic Church from 1933 to 1938 followed by Hitler's conquest of Austria and theSecond World War — was highly unfavourable to the development of Austrian Buddhism.
In 1949 the "Buddhist Society of Vienna" was founded, and interest in Buddhism started to flourish again. Due to personalities like Fritz Hungerleider,[3] who had returned from exile in thePeople's Republic of China in 1955 to become the society's president, and Dr Walter Karwath, who had spent years in Asia practicing medicine, Buddhism took a step out of literary and intellectual circles toward the broader world. The late 1970s saw the establishment of Dannebergplatz, the first Buddhist Centre in Vienna; the purchase of a rural property intended to become a retreat centre (Buddhist Centre Scheibbs); and the establishment of the first Buddhist Association outside Vienna (the Salzburg Buddhist Association), founded by Friedrich Fenzl, who had been a student at theRyukoku University inKyoto and who invited Kosho Otani, the Patriarch of theNishi-Honganji branch ofJodo Shinshu, to visit Austria.Hemaloka Thero,Geshe Rabten, the 16thKarmapa, the14th Dalai Lama and other eminent representatives from different Buddhist traditions visited the country, gave talks, and attracteddharma students.
In 1979, Genro Koudela, who was ordained as aZen priest inCalifornia byJoshu Sasaki, returned to Vienna, his city of origin, and established the "Bodhidharma Zendo" there. The new Buddhist Centre at Fleischmarkt, in the very centre of Vienna, became the home for Zen,Kagyu andTheravada groups.
Since 1981 there is a branch of theArya Maitreya Mandala in Austria, which was founded byLama Anagarika Govinda.[4]
Official recognition by the government in early 1983 ushered in a new era of Austrian Buddhism. A widely visible "Peace Stupa" was opened on the banks of the riverDanube; and a retreat and study centre, Letzehof, affiliated with theGeluk school ofTibetan Buddhism, was opened in the western province ofVorarlberg. Vanja Palmers, a Zen monk of the JapaneseSōtō school, and BrotherDavid Steindl-Rast, an Austrian-AmericanBenedictine monk, founded a retreat centre high up in theSalzburg alpine region. The first centre in the south of the country, a retreat centre in theBurmeseTheravada tradition, was established in the early 1990s.
In 1993, Austria hosted an annual general meeting of theEuropean Buddhist Union, which drew participants from a dozen European countries.A series of visits to the city ofGraz by the Dalai Lama in 1995, 1998 (for the consecration of a large stupa), and in 2002 (to speak on "Kalachakra for World Peace") were a strong encouragement for Buddhists in Austria.
Official recognition also opened the doors for Buddhist religious education atschools. In 1993, the first few groups of children were given the chance to hear about theBuddhadharma on a regular basis as part of their syllabus. Twelve years after the project was started in the cities of Vienna, Graz and Salzburg, Buddhist religious education is being made available to school children of all age groups (6 to 19) at different types of schools in all of nine federal provinces of the Republic. A Teachers’ Training Academy was founded in 2001 to offer in-service teacher training for the teachers concerned.
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Vienna
Lower Austria
Upper Austria
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