Burgenland of Hungarians rapidly declined (14,931 people, 5%). This was due to the emigration of the Hungarian civil servants and intellectuals after the union with Austria. In 1923, emigration to the United States of America, which started in the late 19th century, reached its climax; in some places up to a quarter of the population went overseas. After the Nazi German "Anschluss" of Austria, the administrative unit of Burgenland was dissolved. Northern and central Burgenland joined the district of Niederdonau (Lower Danube) while southern Burgenland joined Steiermark (Styria). The policy of Germanization also affected other minorities, especially Burgenland Croats and Hungarians.
Burgenland 1990 Burgenland regained its traditional role as a bridge between the western and eastern parts of Central Europe. Cross-border links were strengthened when Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the European Union in 2004. All three countries became part of the Schengen zone in late 2007 when border controls finally ceased to exist in the region. Burgenland has notable Croatian (29,000–45,000) and Hungarian (5,000–15,000) populations. The Croats arrived after the devastating Ottoman war in 1532, when the Ottoman army destroyed some settlements in their ethnic territory. The emigration in great haste of the Catholic remained population of western Slavonia into the