This article provides an overview of censorship and book bans in Austria between 1751 and 1848. It is based on the catalogues and lists of banned manuscripts and books and the available censorship regulations and censors’ protocols; moreover, the most important persons involved in censorship such as Gerard van Swieten, Count Sedlnitzky, and Metternich are introduced, and their impact on the book trade is shown. From an instrument encouraging Enlightenment and defending morality during the reign of Maria Teresa and Joseph II, censorship became a major factor of political repression after the French Revolution. The focus moved from the protection of Catholicism against Protestant “heresy” and superstition to the defense of monarchy against liberalism and nationalism. The aim of enlightening the citizens and promoting their happiness pursued during the second half of the eighteenth century was replaced by the will to maintain the “peace” of the state and suppress any ideas that confounded its interests. Razprava preučuje cenzuro in prepovedi knjig v Avstriji med letoma 1751 in 1848. Temelji na katalogih in seznamih prepovedanih rokopisov in knjig ter razpoložljivih predpisih o cenzuri in cenzorskih protokolih; poleg tega so predstavljene najpomembnejše osebe, vpletene v cenzuro, kot so Gerard van Swieten, grof Sedlnitzky in Metternich, in prikazan njihov vpliv na knjižni trg. Od instrumenta, ki je spodbujal razsvetljenske ideje in branil moralo, kar je bilo značilno za vladavino Marije Terezije in Jožefa II., je cenzura po francoski revoluciji postala glavni dejavnik politične represije. Težišče se je premaknilo z zaščite katolištva pred protestantsko herezijo« in vraževerjem k obrambi monarhije pred liberalizmom in nacionalizmom. Cilj razsvetljenja državljanov in spodbujanje njihove sreče, ki ga je zasledovala cenzura v drugi polovici 18. stoletja, sta nadomestila volja po ohranjanju »miru« države in za-tiranje vseh idej, ki so bile v navzkrižju z njenimi interesi.
