THIS BOOK gives a very thorough and sober account of the history of freethought in Austria. It is a book which should be in any freethought library of any importance. The book recounts the history of organised freethought, in a wide sense, from its beginnings under the name of 'free religious' 1848-1851 until the end of 1994. From 1887 on freethought has had a permanent place in Austrian cultural life, albeit with a number of split-ups and interruptions. With the rise of Marxism, freethought in Austria has ordinarily been divided into a socialist and a 'bourgeois' branch, and the tensions between these two branches have often been very sharp.

Today freethinkers in Austria ordinarily are socialists in a wide sense, whereas this 'bourgeois' freethought branch since 1956 has called itself 'churchless' (kirchenfrel~ or 'creedless' (konfessionslos): Osterreichische K6rperschaft der Statsburger ohne religioses Bekenntnis, Sonnenuhrgasse 6, A1060 Vienna. This organisation publishes, somewhat irregularly, the Europ~'ische Kirchen£reie Rundschau.

The freethinkers trace their history back to 1887 when the 'Vereinder Konfessionslosen' changed its name into Werein der Freidenker'. Nowadays the Austrian freethinkers are organised under the name of 'Freidenkerbund Osterreichs', a name which goes back to 1921. The present address of the 'Freidenker Osterreichs' is Postfach 54, A-1153 Vienna, and its present chairman is dr. Wolfgang Soos. This organisation has since 1970 published the quarterly Der Freidenker, Geist and Geselleschafl. In 1989 this journal had a circulation of about 500.

Whereas the total number of organised Austrian freethinkers or churchless in 1989 hardly exceeded more than 1,000 persons, this figure was reached already in 1890. In 1910 there were 23,000 organised Austrian freethinkers. This figure declined to 10,000 in 1921, but then reached a maximum of 100,000 members in 1925. During the following years the membership declined unto 30,000 in 1932. In 1933 the organisation of freethinkers was prohibited, and it could only be reestablished in 1945. But after 1945 the organisational strength of the Austrian freethinkers has remained a shadow of its days of greatness in the 1920s. The bourgeois churchless have since their re-foundation in 1956 also remained a small group, although precise figures have not been made available to me.

Most of what I have written has been derived from Franz Sertl's book. Those who want to know more about freethought in Austria 3an be referred to this book, the most thorough account of freethought in that country which has appeared so far.