Austria by its Children

10 Euro Coin Series

Home are you to great daughters and sons

History, culture and landscape, together with other elements, combine to form the special character of a country. Like most countries, Austria has the first two in abundance, but one of the things that make the country truly unique is how synonymous it is with its spectacular landscape.

It is no surprise, then, that a class from Dr Jonas primary school in the town of Kapfenberg placed a delightful Alpine landscape at the heart of their concept for the Austria coin. The design came about by each child drawing individual elements that were brought together as one. Surrounded by a circle of smiling children holding hands, the design beat 4,000 other entries in the national competition to design the coin. It doing so it has provided the crowning glory to the Austrian Mint’s ambitious and educational Austria Piece by Piece series.

The idea

A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. That's why when we set about finding out exactly what Austria means to its people we decided that the simplest and best way to do so was to ask our junior citizens to draw it for us.

The response was terrific. Our charming ten-coin Austria Piece by Piece series is a testament to the talent of all the 9 to 10 year olds from the nine different provinces of Austria who entered our nationwide competition to draw their home province.

The winning design for each of the nine provinces of Austria is immortalised on the reverse of the 10 euro silver coin celebrating that province. These are complemented on the obverse with a depiction, expertly crafted by our world-renowned coin designers, of a UNESCO World Heritage site or a manifestation of “intangible” cultural heritage in the form of ancient traditions from each province. The series is crowned with a final coin depicting Austria in its entirety.

The Competition

In 2011, the Austrian Mint initiated a competition in which schoolchildren from all over Austria created images of their home province. Picked by a jury, each winning drawing was transformed into the face of a coin by our renowned coin designers. By 2016, a series of ten coins, representing each of Austria’s federal provinces, had come into being.

Steiermark/Styria: Viktoria Reicht

The reverse of the first coin in the series, "Steiermark", was designed by talented ten-year-old Viktoria Reicht from Kirchbach in Steiermark (Styria), who convinced the judges with her fresh depiction of the "green heart of Austria", as her province, famous for its forests, apples and pumpkins, is affectionately known. As befits an artist with such a high-profile commission, Viktoria has become something of a celebrity in her hometown after appearing on television, radio and in local newspapers.

Kärnten/Carinthia: Philip Ogris

Philip Ogris, also aged 10, is the lucky winner of our competition to design the second coin in the series. Philip, who has ten cats and would one day like to be a vet, drew ibexes, the legendary Lindwurm of Klagenfurt, the crystal clear waters of the Wörthersee and the shinning sun to depict his southern home province of Carinthia - all in just 15 minutes! From St. Margareten im Rosental, near the border with Slovenia, Philip attends a bilingual primary school, which is why he has written the name of his province in both German and Slovenian. Clearly an enterprising young man, Philip hopes his success will make him famous all over Austria.

Niederösterreich/Lower Austria: Christian Köpf

Christian Köpf is the lucky winner of the Lower Austria competition. Even though Christian drew his winning coin design in only five minutes he did think long and hard about its theme before eventually hitting on the great idea of an image featuring woodland, vineyards, industry and orchards.

Vorarlberg: Alissa de Mori

A design by Alissa de Mori won the first prize in the Vorarlberg school competition. The centrepiece of her charming drawing is the Bodensee, the emblematic lake that laps the northern border of Austria’s most westerly province.

Salzburg: Melisa Begic

Melisa Begic, a pupil at Neue Mittelschule in Nonntal, won the competition to design the Salzburg coin. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Hohensalzburg Castle, musical notes and traditional dress such as Lederhosen and Dirndl are the motifs she used to bring her home province expertly to life.

Tyrol: Neue Mittelschule Rattenberg

For the first time, an entire class, from Neue Mittelschule in Rattenberg, won the school competition in the Tyrol. Developed through teamwork, the drawing upon which the engravers based the coin design features a collage of iconic Tyrolese images.

Vienna: Viktoria Pinzer

It did not take long for Viennese schoolgirl Viktoria Pinzer to choose the subject of her design for the reverse of our Vienna coin - St. Stephen's is Vienna's most emblematic edifice, after all. The fact that Viktoria likes to sketch also made her decision to depict the cathedral in black and white rather than in colour an easy one. Still, the standard of the other designs was so high that she could not believe it when she actually won the competition.

Burgenland: Leonie Schrollenberger

The idea for the Burgenland coin came to winner Leonie Schrollenberger during a school project about her native province. Leonie and her classmates learnt about the natural and cultural diversity of Burgenland over the course of the week-long project and Leonie’s coin design shows what she finds so special about her homeland.

Oberösterreich/Upper Austria: Klara Baumgartner

The ninth and final school competition in the province of Oberösterreich (Upper Austria) chose Klara Baumgartner from Dachsberg secondary school to design its coin. Her design shows the church on Pöstlingberg Hill in Linz, Mount Traunstein and Lake Traunsee, as well as three ‘Glöcklers’ with their elaborate traditional headdress. In its centre lies the provincial coat of arms.

Austria: Class 4A Dr Jonas School Kapfenberg

Eighteen children from Dr Jonas primary school in Kapfenberg, Steiermark (Styria), together created a picture for the ‘Austria’ coin, which the Austrian public chose as the winning design in an online vote. Children holding each other’s hands form an outer circle, in the middle of which lies Austria itself with a heart in its centre. Could there be a more fitting conclusion to our Austria Piece by Piece series?

UNESCO World Cultural Heritage

From 2012 to 2016, the winning design for each province was immortalised on the reverse of each of our 10 euro silver coins celebrating the nine provinces of Austria. These are complemented on the obverse with a depiction, expertly crafted by our world-renowned coin designers, of a UNESCO World Heritage site or a manifestation of “intangible” cultural heritage in the form of ancient traditions from each province. Province by province, they are as follows:

Salzburg

As the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, it is small wonder that Salzburg is synonymous with classical music. Indeed, nestled among snow-capped peaks, few cities have a more dramatic and inspirational setting or more atmospheric streets. The city’s wonderful assortment of perfectly preserved buildings, which have made it a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1997, speak volumes about its historical importance and guarantee that it will remain a magnet for tourists for years to come.

Kärnten/Carinthia

One of the most popular holiday destinations in Austria, the southern province of Carinthia is famous for its crystal-clear lakes and abundance of summer sunshine. But it is the ancient art of falconry that has led it to be recognised by UNESCO as a place of intangible cultural heritage. Closely linked to natural techniques, the training and use of birds of prey for hunting conserves natural habitat and respects and protects livestock.

Steiermark/Styria

Lush, green and fertile it may be, but the province of Styria is so much more than a pastoral paradise. It has been an important cultural crossroads for centuries and nowhere is this more visible than in the historic centre of its capital city, Graz. Here, the Germanic, Balkan and Mediterranean meet in harmonious architectural splendour beneath the imposing Schloss Eggenberg, the crowning glory of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tirol/Tyrol

A tradition recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage since 2001, the “Telfer Schleicherlaufen”, a folkloric dance festival centering around Shrove Tuesday, which sees some 500 men from Telf in Tyrol, many from families that have participated for generations, come together once every five years to exchange knowledge and skills in order to create the festival’s elaborate and spectacular costumes.

Vorarlberg

Austria’s most westerly province, Vorarlberg is a land rich in ancient traditions. The “Bodensee-Radhaube” from the shores of Lake Constance is a wheel-shaped bonnet worn on festive occasions. No written records or manuals detailing the production of the bonnet can be found but the craftsmanship involved has instead been handed down from generation to generation and is therefore considered intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.

Niederösterreich/Lower Austria

Little known outside Austria, the Wachau boasts a spectacular riverine landscape and sense of history to match any of the world’s most famous river valleys. Winding its way through the hilly vineyards of Lower Austria, the mighty Danube is bordered by a physical and cultural landscape that has changed little since medieval times. Its UNESCO World Heritage status is a testament to how it has managed to do that.

Wien/Vienna

Like any great capital, Vienna is a vibrant hub of commercial, cultural and political activity. But few cities manage to encapsulate mankind’s development from the medieval to the modern quite so successfully. Several key periods in this journey are magnificently preserved and illustrated by the urban and architectural heritage of the Historic Centre of Vienna UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Burgenland

The province of Burgenland’s Neusiedlersee is both Europe’s second largest steppe lake and a unique physical and cultural landscape. Straddling the Austro-Hungarian border as it does, it has been a natural meeting point for different cultures for millennia, which is evident from the many architecturally splendid settlements that can be found on its shores in both countries.

Oberösterreich/Upper Austria

Not just a place of unparalleled picture-postcard beauty, Hallstadt is also a place of scientific, historic and cultural interest, as its UNESCO World Heritage status shows. Sitting beneath the awe-inspiring mass of the Dachstein, Austria’s most beautiful and iconic peak, the lakeside town owes its existence to the ancient salt mines that its inhabitants have been exploiting for some 3,000 years.

Latest Coin