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HToday, the fact that Austria and Germany used to form a political entity and kept striving towards one another seems as far-fetched and past as the fact that France and Germany were once a single country under Charlemagne.
The autonomy of the language has almost become a national obsession. If expressions from the north like the greeting bye march in, this is perceived as a threat to identity. Very few are aware that even the word that the Austrians use to distinguish themselves from the Germans was introduced from Prussia.