Czechia and Austria: from one empire to a quarrel over a nuclear plant

Czech surnames are everywhere in Vienna. Names ending in -ek and -ka fill the telephone directory, and the city has a Czech-language school and Czech pastries in its cafes. More than a century after the Habsburg monarchy fell apart, Vienna still carries Czech traces, because for hundreds of years Prague and Vienna were capitals of the same state and people moved between them in both directions.

The relationship after 1918 was not always easy. The Cold War put the Iron Curtain along the border, nuclear energy and history caused disputes, and EU membership brought gradual normalisation. Today Austria is a close neighbour, a major investor and one of the countries Czechs know best.

One state, then two

From the sixteenth century until 1918 the Czech lands (the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Margraviate of Moravia and the part of Silesia that stayed Habsburg) were ruled by the Habsburg dynasty. Vienna was the imperial capital, and its universities, ministries and army drew people from the Czech lands. Industrialisation in the later nineteenth century brought many Czech workers, craftsmen and servants to the city, while the Czech national movement fought for language rights in the monarchy (see the Habsburg era in the Czech lands and the short history of Czechia).

In October 1918 the monarchy collapsed and Czechoslovakia declared independence. Austria became a small republic. The two states followed different paths in the interwar years: Czechoslovakia a democracy, Austria a country that moved to authoritarian rule in the 1930s before its annexation by Germany in 1938. After 1945, Austria was occupied by the Allies until the State Treaty of 1955, after which it declared permanent neutrality. Czechoslovakia entered the Soviet bloc, and the border between the two countries became one of the most closely guarded sections of the Iron Curtain, with barbed wire, watchtowers and a restricted zone.

Many Czechs who had settled in Vienna before 1918 stayed. Czechs are a recognised ethnic group (Volksgruppe) in Austria, with rights relating to language and education (as of 2026; check Austrian federal sources, bmeia.gv.at).

The border opens

On 17 December 1989 the Austrian and Czechoslovak foreign ministers, Alois Mock and Jiří Dienstbier, cut a section of the border fence in a symbolic gesture. The border opened to traffic in the following months, and cross-border trade and tourism took off. Austria became one of the first Western investors in the new market economies, and Austrian banks, insurers, retail chains and builders entered Czechia in the 1990s and 2000s. Česká spořitelna belongs to Erste Group, and Raiffeisenbank to the Austrian Raiffeisen group; the sector is described in how the Czech banking sector is structured.

Austria joined the EU in 1995, nine years before Czechia, and backed enlargement, though Austrian opinion was divided. Both states have been in the Schengen area since 21 December 2007, which ended routine checks on their frontier.

Temelín

The biggest political dispute after 1989 was about a power plant. The Temelín nuclear station in southern Bohemia, about 60 kilometres from the Austrian border, was begun in the 1980s with Soviet-designed reactors. After 1989 the project was scaled down and redesigned with Western instrumentation and control systems supplied by an American company. Austria, which had voted in a 1978 referendum not to start nuclear generation at Zwentendorf, has a strong anti-nuclear consensus, and Austrian politicians and campaigners objected to Temelín on safety grounds. Border blockades in 2000 and 2001 and a petition drive in early 2002 made it a major bilateral issue.

The governments responded with talks, the first at Melk in Austria. The Melk Protocol, signed on 12 December 2000 by the Czech prime minister Miloš Zeman and the Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, set out commitments on safety and an environmental impact assessment, and later talks in Brussels produced a follow-up in 2001 under the European Commission (check the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Commission for details). The units were commissioned in the early 2000s and operate today. Austria's objection to nuclear power has not gone away: it has opposed nuclear expansion in Czechia and the EU, and has gone to court over EU rules that support nuclear energy.

Two nations, one landscape

The border follows part of the Dyje (Thaya) river valley, and the two countries share one of the best-known cross-border protected areas in central Europe. The Podyjí National Park lies on the Czech side, and the Thayatal National Park on the Austrian side; they were established in 1991 and 2000 respectively and are managed in close cooperation (as of 2026; check the park authorities). The Lednice-Valtice cultural landscape and the wine regions on both sides make the area a cycling and tourist route; see Czech wine: Moravian regions explained.

Practical links are dense. Trains run between Prague, Brno and Vienna, and the motorway network links Brno and Vienna. Many Czech residents of South Moravia work in Austria, and many Austrians shop and dine on the Czech side. Prices and wage differences encourage those flows, and the details change each year, so we do not quote them.

Getting between the two capitals

Direct trains link Prague and Vienna in about four hours (as of 2026; check the railways' timetables), and Brno and Vienna have regular services too, so day trips work in both directions. Many Czechs treat Vienna as their nearest foreign capital, for concerts, museums and Christmas markets, and many Austrians come to Prague and the South Moravian wine villages. Czech and Austrian universities also run joint programmes and exchanges.

The Slavkov format and the present

In January 2015 the prime ministers of Austria, Czechia and Slovakia met in Slavkov u Brna, better known as Austerlitz, and launched the Slavkov or Austerlitz format of regular consultation. It gave the three neighbours a forum on EU policy, energy, transport and security outside the Visegrad Group, which Austria has not joined. The format has had its ups and downs with changes of government, and meetings have been less regular than at first. For Slovakia's side of the story, see Czech-Slovak relations after 1993.

The two countries disagree on nuclear energy and on transit traffic, and agree on, for example, EU enlargement towards the Western Balkans. Austria is also an important source of tourists and a leading market for Czech goods. Germany, the larger neighbour, is covered in Czechia and Germany, and Poland in Czechia and Poland.

Frequently asked questions

Are Czechs in Vienna an official minority?

Czechs are a recognised ethnic group (Volksgruppe) in Austria, with rights relating to language and education.

What was the Temelín dispute?

A long disagreement in which Austria objected to the safety of the Czech nuclear plant at Temelín. The Melk Protocol of December 2000 was part of the response.

What is the Slavkov format?

A regular consultation among Austria, Czechia and Slovakia launched in January 2015 in Slavkov u Brna (Austerlitz).

Do I need a passport to cross into Austria?

There are no routine border checks since 21 December 2007, but you should carry an ID document.