Der Vertrag von St. Germain und die österreichische Bundesverfassung

Abstract

The Treaty of Saint Germain (1919) and the Austrian Federal Constitutional Law (1920) were the two legal pillowsof the First Austrian Republic. The Treaty demarcated in terms of international law the limits within which theconstitution could evolve, whereas the latter made direct references to individual Treaty provisions, thus giving themthe special status of constitutional clauses. Austria’s federal structure, in particular, is closely linked to the ‘Anschlussverbot’,i.e. the Treaty provision that prevented Austria from joining the German Reich. This contributionemphasizes the significance of the Treaty for Austrian constitutional history and the current Austrian constitutionallaw.