On 21 February 2026, we celebrated UNESCO’s International Mother Language Day. The preservation and protection of linguistic and cultural diversity is brought more strongly into focus on this day – from minority languages to dialects. International Mother Language Day was established by UNESCO in 1999 to highlight the importance of mother tongues and linguistic diversity. Today, around 7.000 languages are spoken worldwide, at least 40 percent of which are endangered.
Austria’s linguistic landscape is also impressively diverse. Around 250 languages are spoken in the country. In addition to German as the official state language, Croatian, Hungarian, Slovene, Czech, Slovak, Romani, and Austrian Sign Language are officially recognized minority languages. Besides languages in the narrower sense, dialects also play an important role. They reflect regional identity, history, and everyday culture. Their preservation largely depends on them being actively spoken and passed on, international Mother Language DAY is so offering a chance to reflect the value of the language and to recognise its very important role in the coexistance.
