Already during the Habsburg monarchy before 1918 Austria
had a highly developed school system. In 1869, eight years
of compulsory schooling for children from 6 to 14 years were
introduced. After 1918, the school entered a reform period
under the leadership of the educator and politician Otto
Glöckel (1874–1935). He opposed the authoritarian school and
advocated activity pedagogy. His goal was to make the 8-year
school a unitary school (Gesamtschule) for all
children. However, the reforms stopped in 1934 and were not
resumed until after 1945.
The school is compulsory and free for all children aged 6
to 15 years. All children attend four years of primary
school (Volksschule). After this, they can choose
between two school types: either the four-year-old
Hauptschule, which can be followed by several different
technical and vocational schools, or the eight-year
Allgemein-forming Hochere Schule, often called
Gymnasium, divided into two four-year steps. Completed
higher levels of high school leads to Reifeprüfung
or Matura, which provides study skills to colleges
and universities. Both from the Hauptschule and the
upper secondary level is the transition to vocational
training and apprenticeship. The Austrian vocational
training traditionally has a rich offer of education of
varying length, partly as an apprentice in the working life
with one day at school and partly as a further schooling for
youth with professional letters. See TOPSCHOOLSINTHEUSA for TOEFL, ACT, SAT testing locations and high school codes in Austria.
Austria has 12 universities and 6 colleges for the arts
and music. The University of Vienna (founded 1365) is the
oldest university in the German-speaking countries. The
other universities were founded in the 19th and 20th
centuries, except for the University of Graz (1585),
Innsbruck (1669) and Salzburg (1622-1810, restored 1962).

After several crises, the Habsburgs surrendered in power
in 1490, but Maximillian the 1st, after Friedrich the 2nd,
was the heir to the Austrian royal house and the German
empire, while his son, Philip the 1st, was married to
Princess Juana, made king of Spain.
At the end of the Middle Ages, the Habsburg royal house
gathered together the alpine lands, and it corresponds quite
closely to the Austria we know today. The Habsburgs
constantly sought to gain supremacy over Bohemia and
Hungary; a pre-existing Maximillian knew to keep alive.
Despite this gathering, each region retained its
distinctiveness and set of rules. During this period, cities
developed, while employment in the agricultural sector
suffered setbacks, especially in Lower Austria, where
interest was gathered on the mining industry.
Under the protection of certain noble families, Lutherans
appeared in Austria, especially in the southern and central
parts of the country. In 1521 the Protestant propaganda was
printed in full openness in Vienna and the ban on its
propagation, which had been in effect since 1523, had no
practical significance.
During these years, a number of peasant uprisings were
witnessed in Tyrol, Salzburg and Inner Austria. The
Baptists, a sect with a background in Protestantism,
rejected child baptism as inadequate and introduced adult
baptism. They had many followers among the peasants and were
subjected to fierce persecution from the beginning because
they did not have the slightest support among the country's
rulers and because they were considered the most radical.
The leader of the Baptists in the Danube and in the
southern Moravia, Balthasar Hubmaier, was burned in the fire
in Vienna in 1528, as was the Tyrolean Jakob Hutter, who was
sentenced to death in Innsbruck, 1536, after preaching to
his followers in the Moravia.
After the death of King Jagiellon of Bohemia and Hungary,
Vienna saw the opportunity to expand the Habsburgs' sphere
of power. Ferdinand the 1st was declared king of Bohemia in
1526, but his troops, with the assistance of the Turks, were
knocked back as he tried to force the Hungarians to accept
him as king.
With the signing of the Peace Agreement in Constantinople
in 1562, Hungary was divided into 3 sectors: the northern
and western ones joined the Habsburgs; the central became
Turkish; and Transylvania, and its adjoining areas came
under Hungarian control, by Janos Zapolya and his
supporters.
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