HereWeGoAgain: Intro to Vienna

Sharing Information on Vienna in Anticipation of our Journey!

WHY GO?

Vienna today is robed in 18th-century charm and 19th-century grandeur. Its old-world ambience comes from the friendliness of its inhabitants as well as the history of its architecture. The Viennese invented the cafe society, and they continue to perfect the art of sophisticated relaxation.

Spend some time chatting with residents in a Vienna coffeehouse, or go to a concert of waltzes by Johann Strauss. Vienna is also where you'll find the fabled Spanish Riding School with its magnificent white Lipizzaner stallions.

Vienna is a safe, clean city, and it has an excellent public-transportation system. Use it to visit the many museums, galleries, parks and restaurants that make Vienna such a pleasant place.

GEOGRAPHY

Vienna lies in the northeastern corner of Austria, at the crossroads of eastern and western Europe. Nestled in the foothills of the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods), Vienna's city center is generally flat, although the terrain slopes higher as you get closer to the woods. The Danube (Donau) River of waltz fame flows through the city to the east, and the Danube Canal (Donaukanal), a tributary often mistaken for the Danube proper, runs closer to the city center.

The heart of the city is the ancient streets and hidden courtyards around the Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral). Karntner Strasse, a lively street lined with shops and reserved for pedestrian traffic, leads away from the cathedral and out toward the Ring, or Ringstrasse, a broad and grand curving boulevard. The 1-sq-mi/2.6-sq-km area within the Ring is the Innere Stadt (inner city). Within the Innere Stadt and along the Ring are most of Vienna's imposing and historic structures.

HISTORY

Vienna officially became a city in 1137, but its true historical significance dates from 1278, when the Bohemian King Ottakar was defeated by Rudolf von Habsburg, who made Vienna his capital. The resulting Habsburg dynasty endured until just after World War I.

Those intervening years were far from stable, however. Plague decimated Vienna's population in the mid-1300s, and various military sieges against the city were to come: the Turks in the 16th and 17th centuries, and Napoleon twice in the early 19th century. During the reign of Emperor Franz Josef I, Europe's longest-serving monarch (1848-1916), Vienna saw many changes. Walls surrounding the city center were removed and replaced by the Ringstrasse, fortifications along the outskirts were torn down to allow for the growth of suburbs, and the government changed to a dual monarchy with Hungary.

Austria became a republic on 12 November 1918, at the conclusion of World War I, and its former empire was dismantled. World War II was also turbulent for the city, marked by occupation, anti-Semitism and heavy fighting. But since then, Vienna has rebuilt itself and grown into a major cosmopolitan capital, as well as an increasingly popular tourist destination. In 1995, Austria united with other European countries and became part of the European Union, further securing Vienna's future as a flourishing European capital.

DID YOU KNOW?

The famous French croissant was actually invented by a Viennese baker who was inspired by the Turkish war insignia at the siege of Vienna in 1683, which showed a crescent. Marie Antoinette introduced it into France.

The first coffee in Vienna is said to have been brewed when the Turks left behind bags filled with green coffee beans in 1683, and only a Polish spy knew what to do with them.

Most parts of Vienna enjoy some of the cleanest tap water in the world: Since 1873, it has been piped directly from the mountains, to the chagrin of the mineral-water industry.

When Beethoven lived in Vienna, he changed his domicile dozens of times. The three most important houses he lived and worked in are the Eroica-Haus in Doblinger Hauptstrasse 92, the Pasqualati-Haus in Molker Bastei 8 and the Heilgenstadter-Testament-Haus in Probusgasse 6.

Are you joining me here May 2015? See the last photo on this post for a view of our hotel.

St. Stephan's