Bachelor's degree
Until the 19th century, a bachelor's degree represented the first degree in a particular faculty, with Arts representing undergraduate study, thus the Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) at Oxford and the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) at Cambridge, for example, were postgraduate degrees. Vestiges of this system still remain in the ancient universities, with Oxford and Cambridge awarding BAs for undergraduate degrees in both arts and sciences (although both award undergraduate BTh degrees through associated theological colleges, and Oxford awards BFA degrees in addition to the BA) and defining other bachelor's degrees (e.g. BPhil, BCL) as postgraduate awards equivalent to master's degrees, although many postgraduate bachelor's degrees have now been replaced by equivalent master's degrees (e.g. LLM for the LLB at Cambridge and MSc for the BSc at Oxford). The same historical usage of indicating an undergraduate degree by it being in the faculty of arts rather than being a bachelor's degree gives rise to the Oxbridge MA and the Scottish MA).
Bachelor's degree
The historical situation in Austria was very similar to that in Germany, with the traditional first degrees being the "Magister" and the "Diplom", which are master's-level qualifications. From 2004, bachelor's degrees have been reintroduced as part of the Bologna Process reforms. These can be studied at universities, leading to a bachelor's degree (BA or BSc) after three or four years, and at Fachhochschulen (universities of applied science), leading to a "Bachelor (FH)" after three years.