Austria Translation Style Guide

Full name: Republic of Austria. Note that the Austrian Bundesländer are called ‘provinces’ in English.

Official language: German.

Geography

Cities

Write Vienna for Wien. Otherwise, retain the original spelling, including any accents (e.g. Sankt Pölten).

Lakes

Write Lake Constance for Bodensee.

Mountains

Anglicise the Alps.

Regions

ÖSTERREICH	AUSTRIA
Ostösterreich	East Austria
Burgenland	Burgenland
Niederösterreich	Lower Austria
Wien	Vienna
Südösterreich	South Austria
Kärnten	Carinthia
Steiermark	Styria
Westösterreich	West Austria
Oberösterreich	Upper Austria
Salzburg	Salzburg
Tirol	Tyrol
Vorarlberg	Vorarlberg

Judicial bodies

Arbeits- und Sozialgericht Wien	Labour and Social Court, Vienna
Bezirksanwalt	District Prosecutor
Bezirksgericht	District Court
Bundesfinanzgericht	Federal Fiscal Court (as of 1.1.2014)
Bundesvergabeamt	Federal Procurement Office (obsolete as of 1.1.2014)
Bundesverwaltungsgericht	Federal Administrative Court (as of 1.1.2014)
Erster Generalanwalt	First Solicitor General
Generalanwalt	Solicitor General
Generalprokurator	Procurator General
Generalprokuratur	Procurator General’s Office
Handelsgericht Wien	Commercial Court, Vienna
Landesgericht	Regional Court
Landesvergabeamt	Regional Procurement Office
Landesverwaltungsgericht	Regional Administrative Court (as of 1.1.2014)
Oberlandesgericht	Higher Regional Court
Oberstaatsanwalt	Senior Public Prosecutor
Oberster Gerichtshof	Supreme Court of Justice / Supreme Court
Rechnungshof	Public Audit Office
Sprengelrichter	substitute judge
Staatsanwalt	Public Prosecutor
Unabhängiger Bundesasylsenat	Independent Federal Asylum Tribunal (obsolete since 2008)
Unabhängiger Finanzsenat	Independent Finance Tribunal (obsolete as of 1.1.2014)
Unabhängiger Verwaltungssenat	Independent Administrative Tribunal (obsolete as of 1.1.2014)
Verfassungsgerichtshof	Constitutional Court
Vergabekontrollsenat Wien	Public Procurement Review Chamber, Vienna (obsolete as of 1.1.2014)
Verwaltungsgerichtshof	Administrative Court
Volksanwaltschaft	Ombudsman Board

Legal instruments

Bescheid	decision
Bundesgesetz	federal act/law
Bundesverfassung	Constitution
Durchführungsverordnung	implementing regulation(s)
Erlass (= generelle Weisung)	general (administrative) circular
Gesetz	act/law
(Rechts)bestimmungen	provisions (of law)/legislation/laws
(Rechts)verordnung	regulation
(Rechts)vorschrift	(legal) provision/provision (of law)
(Rechts)vorschriften	provisions (of law)/legislation/laws
Rundschreiben	circular
Weisung	administrative circular

For English translations of Austrian acts see: Bundeskanzleramt Legal Information System – Austrian Laws in English.

Government bodies and administrative divisions

Bezirk	Translate as ‘district’ or ‘district authority’ [an Austrian Bezirk corresponds to a German Kreis in the NUTS breakdown].
Bezirkshauptmann	Translate as ‘head of the district authority, District of …’.
Bundesland, Bundesländer	Bundesland/länder are the usual terms in Austria and, for Austria, are translated as ‘province(s)’.
Bundesrat	Write ‘Bundesrat’. Where a gloss is considered necessary, add ‘Upper House of Parliament’ in brackets after the first occurrence. Alternatively, consideration can be given to adding the literal translation, ‘Federal Council’, as a gloss.
Bundesversammlung	Translate as ‘Bundesversammlung’, adding ‘Federal Assembly’ in brackets after the first occurrence, if a gloss if considered necessary.
Gemeinde	Translate as ‘municipality’.
Land, Länder	See Bundesland, Bundesländer above.
Landeshauptmann	Translate as ‘Governor’.
Nationalrat	Write ‘Nationalrat’. Where a gloss is considered necessary, add ‘Lower House of Parliament’ in brackets after the first occurrence. Alternatively, consideration can be given to adding the literal translation, ‘National Council’, as a gloss.

Source: European Commission Directorate-General for Translation