Request a quote
Servus

German voice over for Austria

Austria writes and broadcasts in German, yet a voice from Hamburg reads as imported the moment it says Januar, Tomate or Kaffee with the stress on the first syllable. This page lists what changes when the audience is Austrian.

Request German (Austria) samples

Austria at a glance

Speakers
German is the state language of the Republic of Austria (Federal Constitutional Law, Article 8). Austria had 9,215,956 residents on 1 January 2026.12
Where it is used
Nationwide: television, radio, public administration, schools and advertising. Croatian, Slovene and Hungarian are recognised in some districts of Burgenland and Carinthia. Most of the country speaks Bavarian-Austrian dialects at home; Vorarlberg speaks Alemannic, closer to Swiss German.
Script
Latin (with ä, ö, ü, ß)
Region
Europe
Our availability
We cast it

Decide before the booth.

What to settle for Austria before anyone records: it saves a second session.

  1. Length

    Time the German script, not the English source: German copy usually runs longer. A script written for Germany needs an Austrian pass before timing, because swapped words change length.

  2. Formal or informal address

    Sie for corporate, public-sector and most e-learning; du is common in retail and youth advertising. Decide per brand before casting, and keep it consistent across every module.

  3. Names and brands

    List brand names, English loanwords and people's titles with how they should sound. Agree whether Austrian place names keep their local pronunciation in national spots.

  4. Numbers, prices and dates

    January is Jänner in dates read aloud and on screen. Dates are day.month.year, decimals take a comma, prices are in euros. Agree whether large numbers are read in full.

  5. Script on screen

    Latin script with ä, ö, ü and ß, as in Germany. Check that subtitles and on-screen text use the same Austrian terms the voice reads.

How Austria sounds different

Austrian Standard German is its own standard, not a regional accent of Germany's. Austria's EU accession treaty (Protocol No. 10) even lists 23 Austrian food terms that EU law must use alongside the German ones. Product names, months and everyday nouns change, and listeners notice.

Austrian words and their equivalents
AustrianElsewhereEnglish
JännerJanuarJanuary
ParadeiserTomatetomato
ErdäpfelKartoffelnpotatoes
TopfenQuarkcurd cheese
MarilleAprikoseapricot
ObersSahnecream
SackerlTütebag
heuerdieses Jahrthis year

Accent

Word-final -ig is said as -ik (König, billig). Chemie and China begin with a k sound. Kaffee is stressed on the last syllable. The overall melody is softer and slower than northern German delivery.

Register

Academic and professional titles are part of formal address (Frau Magistra, Herr Doktor). Grüß Gott is a neutral greeting; Servus is informal. In speech the perfect tense replaces the simple past.

German (Austria) voices

Native voices from Austria, chosen for the brief. Every demo here is a real recording.

  • Voice 1
  • Voice 2

A line written for Austria

Example radio line for a supermarket, written for this page.

German (Austria)
Heuer gibt's die ersten Marillen schon im Juni. Rein ins Sackerl, und am Sonntag gibt's Marillenknödel. Frisch aus der Wachau, nur bei uns.
In English

This year the first apricots arrive as early as June. Into the bag they go, and on Sunday it's apricot dumplings. Fresh from the Wachau, only at our shops.

Who records in German for Austria

The briefs this market usually brings, and what each one needs from the voice.

  • Retail and food brandsAdvertising and in-store audio where product names must be Austrian (Paradeiser, Topfen, Marillen).
  • Companies with staff in AustriaCompliance training, onboarding and safety e-learning in the register Austrian employees expect.
  • Tourism regions, hotels and ski resortsFilms and audio guides that should sound like the place itself.
  • Public bodies and campaignsInformation spots and explainers addressed to Austrian residents.

German (Austria): questions

Can a voice from Germany record for Austria?

For international corporate films, often yes. For advertising, retail and anything addressed to Austrians as Austrians, cast an Austrian voice: the vocabulary and the stress of everyday words give a German voice away within seconds.

Our script was written for Germany. Can it be used as it is?

Usually it needs an Austrian pass first: months, food and product names, and sometimes the form of address. Do it before timing, so the recording matches the final length.

Is Austrian German the same as Bavarian?

No. Bavarian-Austrian dialects are spoken across most of Austria and in Bavaria, but voice-over uses Austrian Standard German, which has its own vocabulary and pronunciation norms. Vorarlberg's dialects are Alemannic.

Other German markets

Sources

  1. 1Federal Constitutional Law (B-VG), Article 8 · consulted 2026-11-01
  2. 2Statistik Austria, population at 1 January 2026 (revised release) · 2026-06-29
  3. 3Der Standard: Austrian German exists in the EU only on the menu (Protocol No. 10, 23 terms) · consulted 2026-11-01

Brief a German (Austria) voice-over

It takes a few short questions. We reply with voice options and a quote for each market.

Tell us about your project