Academic titles

To this day, academic and job titles are considered part of the name in Austria, even if they are not legally recognised as such.

Malicious tongues claim that Austria's obsession with academic and professional titles began after World War I and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire with a law passed in 1919 that abolished the nobility and prohibited the use of the preposition “von” to denote a noble name, as well as forms of address such as “noble” or “highness” and various noble ranks (knight, baron, count, prince, duke, etc.). 

However, academic titles and official titles conferred on public employees (especially those of the “higher ranks”), such as ‘Hofrat’ (court counselor) and “Regierungsrat” (government councilor), for example, were not affected by the ban.

Thus, after the abolition of the nobility, the use of these titles made it possible to express education and status in forms of address.

Austrian academic titles may be used and entered in Austrian identity documents, but there is no obligation to do so (separate regulations apply to foreign academic titles). However, it is undisputed that academic titles are valued in Austria and that in certain situations, such as job applications, it is often expected that people know and use them.

Heads of public institutions (with some differentiation according to importance) are also often addressed in Tyrol in written and spoken language with their respective professional titles, e.g. “Herr/Frau Präsident:in” of the Chamber of Commerce or Chamber of Labour, or “Herr/Frau Direktor:in” of a school or bank.

We therefore recommend that you carefully research the titles of your future superiors when applying for jobs in Tyrol and use these correctly, at least in written form.

A well-known story in this context, which is firmly anchored in the collective Austrian memory, is that of an armed hostage-taking during an escape attempt from the high-security prison in Stein: The emergency was ended without bloodshed when Josef Holaubek, the then chief of police in Vienna, uttered the legendary words: “Kumm' ausse, I bin's, dein Präsident” (“Come out, it's me, your president”). In an interview, Josef Holaubek later corrected this famous quote. He explained that he had merely said “It's me, the president,” as he was not on familiar terms with the prisoners.