Vienna is the capital of Austria and the country’s economic and cultural center.
About 1.7 million people live in the city of Vienna, making it the largest city in Austria.
Vienna has an area of 160 square miles (415 kilometers).
The Danube River runs through Vienna. The Danube Canal is in the center of the city.
Today, Vienna is known for its many palaces and historic houses.
Tourists can visit Sigmund Freud’s house and Figarohaus, where Mozart lived when he was writing The Marriage of Figaro.
The palace of Prince Eugene of Savoy, the war hero of the Habsburg Empire, is known for its beautiful staircase.
Belvedere, where Prince Eugene’s summer palaces were located, now contains a number of art museums.
Other Viennese museums include the Historical Museum of the City of Vienna, the Museum of Applied Arts, the Natural History Museum and the Kunsthistorisches museum, which houses works of fine art going back to ancient times.
St Stephen’s Cathedral, or Stephansdom, is in the center of Vienna. Parts of the Cathedral are Romanesque, but the building’s design is mostly Gothic.
The Vienna Opera House, which opened in 1869, is a popular attraction. Most of it was destroyed by a bomb in 1945. It was rebuilt and reopened in 1955.
Visitors to Vienna will want to explore some of its many coffeehouses. The city also has many restaurants and bars.
History
The region around what is now Vienna was inhabited in the late Stone Age. The famous Stone Age Sculpture, “Venus of Willendorf” was discovered in Willendorf, a town that is very close to Vienna, in 1906.
Around 800 BC, a Bronze Age settlement was established where Vienna now stands.
The Celts settled in the area around 400 BC.
Around 100 BC, the Romans built a garrison, which they named Vindobona, there.
Charlemagne made Vienna part of the Holy Roman Empire in the 8th century.
Vienna was acquired by the Babenbergs, a German dynasty in the 10th century,
The city then became an important center for trade.
The Habsburgs gained control of Vienna in the 13th century.
Vienna was invaded by the Ottomans in the 16th century.
After the Ottomans were defeated in 1683, huge palaces were built in and around the city.
By the 18th century, Vienna had become an important cultural center.
In 1809, Vienna was occupied by Napoleon’s army.
Franz Joseph I became Emperor of Austria in 1848, and Vienna his fell under control.
Vienna came under the control of Hitler when Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938. The Allies took over Vienna at the end of World War II.
In 1955, Austria became a sovereign state, and Vienna became independent .