41% to 34% — Muslims finally take Vienna

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Muslim students outnumber Christians in Vienna elementary schools

  • 41.2% of students identify as Muslim, 34.5% as Christian

  • Teachers quitting, exodus of ethnic Austrian families in Vienna

For the first time in Vienna’s history, ethnic Austrians are poised to become a minority in the city’s elementary schools, with new figures revealing that Muslim pupils now outnumber all other religious groups.

According to official data from the city's school council, 41.2 per cent of students in Vienna’s elementary schools identify as Muslim, compared to 34.5 per cent identifying as Christian.

The statistics, which also show German is increasingly a second language in many classrooms, have ignited heated political debate and raised concerns about integration, language barriers, and educational standards.

The data, by the office of Vienna’s City Councillor for Education Bettina Emmerling (Neos), covers around 112,600 children across primary, secondary, special education, and polytechnic schools.

According to the Austrian website The Local, While the proportion of Muslim students has grown, Christian faiths now account for a combined 34.5 per cent, including 17.5 per cent Roman Catholic and 14.5 per cent Orthodox.

A further 23 per cent of pupils declare no religious affiliation at all. Smaller groups include Buddhists (0.2 per cent), Jews (0.1 per cent), and other faiths (0.9 per cent).]

Austria’s largest opposition party, the right-wing Freedom Party (FP), has sharply criticized the development. “41.2% Muslim pupils — it's no longer a minority, it's becoming the new majority. This isn't immigration anymore, it's displacement,” said Max Weinzierl, head of the FP’s youth wing, in a statement shared widely on social media.

FP security policy spokesman Hannes Amesbauer echoed those concerns, warning, “Austrians will soon be strangers in their own country.”

Educators and parent organisations are also voicing frustration, claiming the rapid demographic shift has created major difficulties in classrooms. Evelyn Kometter, president of the Austrian Parents' Association, described a chaotic learning environment: “The teacher has to repeat every sentence 10 to 12 times before it is understood.”

Reports suggest that a growing number of teachers are quitting posts, and an exodus of ethnic Austrian families from Vienna to rural areas is underway, with many seeking schools where German remains the dominant language and incidents of classroom violence are low.

After sweeping through much of the Hapsburg empire, slaughtering civilians by the tens of thousands as the came, Turks were finally stopped and defeated at the gates of Vienna on September 11, 1683;

This time, the inhabitants have surrendered.