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Austria is the homeland of the Link royal family. Originally, the Austrian people were known only by a single name. The process by which hereditary surnames were adopted in Austria is extremely interesting. The process took place during the Middle Ages when people began to assume an extra name to avoid confusion and to further identify themselves. Often they adopted names that were derived from nicknames.

The distinguished surname Link has been traced to Austria, which was occupied by the Celts and then the Romans. Between the 3rd and 5th centuries a series of invasions by the Vandals, Goths, Huns, and Alemans swept in from the east and from the north. In the 9th century, the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne made this territory an eastern border region, as a bulwark against the determined Hungarian and Slavic invasions. Otto the Great finally defeated the Hungarian forces in 955, and Austria, a word meaning "Kingdom of the East," became a Bavarian protectorate Research into the history of this name brings us to Austria, where the name became noted for its many branches within the region, each house acquiring a status and influence which was envied and enrolled by the princes of the region. Chronicles mention one Francze Lynke (Lynkehand) of Liegnitz in 1397, and one Herman Lynkfuss of Sorau in 1381. The literal meaning of the name was "left-handed," or even "one who is clumsy or awkward," but was taken on by numerous branches of the family. They became a power unto themselves, and were elevated to the ranks of nobility as they grew wealthier and more influential.

The Babenberger dynasty ruled Austria until 1278, when the house of Habsburg rose to power and began its territorial expansion, not by going to war, but by going to the altar; by marrying into various influential houses, the Habsburgs acquired Tyrol, the Krain region, Styria, Trieste, and the Alemanian Voralberg. They also gained the Netherlands from the Dukes of Burgundy in 1482, and married into the Spanish royal family. Charles V left his Austrian territories to his brother Ferdinand I, who acquired Hungary and Bohemia in 1526. Austria faced in the 16th century the religious troubles of the Reformation and the expansion of the Turkish Empire. Austria became the Catholic center of the Counter￾Reformation, and despite Ferdinand's expanding power, the Turks laid siege to Vienna in 1529. The Treaty of Westphalia (1648) put an end to the Thirty Years War and divided up the Empire. The Turks invaded Austria again in 1699, only to be driven back by Prince Eugene of Savoy, who conquered large parts of the Balkans, acquiring Transylvania. However, after the Spanish and Austrian lines of Habsburg died out in 1700 and 1740, Maria Theresa became the only woman to be Empress on a German throne. They also became Kings of Hungary, which became the basis for the powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire. Meanwhile, the surname Link has been traced to Austria, where they continued to be am important contributor to the life of Europe in the Middle Ages. From the 16th century onwards the name branched to Saxony. They held significant positions of prestige and power, becoming involved in the racial and tribal struggles for supremacy. They became allied with many notable houses including Schenck zu Schweinsberg, Ulner, Widmarkter, von Friedrich and von Lossow. The most prominent branch of the Linker variation of the name was known as Linker-Luetzenwiek, barons and counts of Austria. They were first made barons in 1658 when Conrad Linker, Lord of Daeberhausen, emissary and court councillor at Darmstadt, received the title. They were made counts in 1816 in the person of Baron Clemens Wenzel von Linker, Lord of Schluesselburg in Bohemia. This important family originally stemmed from Upper Hessen and Wetterau, where they were already part of the nobility in the first half of the 14th century. Chronicles first mention Heintze Linker

(b.1286), who was the mayor (Schultheiss) of Wetzlar.

Notable among the name Link in this early period are Johann Heinrich Linck the elder (1674-1734), a German pharmacist and naturalist; and his son, Johann Heinrich Linck the younger (1734-1807); and Conrad Linker, the Lord of Daeberhausen, who was made a baron in 1658. This highly educated man filled the position of emissary to many European courts, and fought throughout the entire Thirty Years War, suffering many injuries along with the near total destruction of Daeberhausen. After the declaration of peace, Conrad once again raised the family to strength and prominence. Hermann Lingg (1820-1905) was a medical officer in the Bavarian army before devoting himself to poetry. King Maximillian II honored him with a pension.

Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Vienna was chosen as the site of the famous Congress of Vienna, at which the victors decided how the nations of Europe were to share the spoils. Following this period Austria reached the peak of its prestige. Vienna loosened its hold on its widespread possessions, particularly in the rebellious Balkan regions. In 1914, the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo, Serbia, started the Great War. The empire was broken up by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, when Austria became a republic, its Sudeten Germans now citizens of the new nation of Czechoslovakia. Hitler's forces annexed it in 1938 and made it a part of greater Germany, and after the war Austria became a democratic republic.