City guide · Wien

Vienna

Imperial capital of the Habsburgs and city of music: palaces, a cathedral and old cafés

Photo: Andrzej Otrębski · CC BY-SA 4.0

Vienna was the residence of the Habsburg emperors and capital of the Austrian Empire: Schönbrunn, the Hofburg and the opera house on the Ringstrasse speak of imperial splendour, St Stephen's Cathedral stands at the heart of the old town, and everyday life happens in old coffee houses where one coffee buys you an afternoon.

History

How the city came to be

In the 1st century the Romans built the fort of Vindobona on the Danube, begun around AD 97. In 976 the Babenberg family was granted the eastern march, and in 1155 Duke Henry II moved his residence to Vienna. In 1365 Rudolf IV founded the University of Vienna, the oldest university in the German-speaking world. Ottoman armies besieged the city twice, in 1529 and 1683, and both times Vienna held. It was the residence of the Habsburg emperors from 1611 to 1740 and from 1745 to 1806; in 1804 it became capital of the Austrian Empire, and the Congress of Vienna met here in 1814–1815. In the second half of the 19th century the city walls and the open ground before them were turned into the Ringstrasse. After the Second World War Vienna was divided into four occupation zones until the Austrian State Treaty came into force in 1955.

c. 97The Romans began building the fort of Vindobona
1155The Babenberg family moved their residence to Vienna
1365Rudolf IV founded the University of Vienna
1683Battle of Vienna: the second Ottoman siege failed
1804Became capital of the Austrian Empire
1814–1815The Congress of Vienna was held
1955The Austrian State Treaty came into force, ending four-power occupation

Stories

Stories of the city

History · Schönbrunn Palace

The empress's wedding present

Schönbrunn was the Habsburgs' main summer palace. Maria Theresa rebuilt and enlarged the estate, which she had received on her marriage, into its present form in the 1740s and 1750s; she also ordered the Gloriette on the heights of the garden, to glorify Habsburg power. After the empire's fall in 1918 the palace passed to the Republic of Austria and was preserved as a museum, and it was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1996.

History · Sachertorte

One layer of jam or two

The Sachertorte was created by the pastry chef Franz Sacher in the mid-19th century. In the 20th century, Vienna's Hotel Sacher and the confectioner Demel went to court over ownership of the cake and its trademark, and argued over how many layers of sponge the original had: Hotel Sacher insists on two, Demel on one. To this day their cakes carry round and triangular chocolate seals respectively.

Legend · Viennese coffee houses

Coffee beans left behind by the Ottomans

During the Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683, Kulczycki dressed in Turkish clothes and crossed the enemy camp singing Ottoman songs to contact the relief army, and was hailed by the citizens as a hero. Legend says he used coffee beans left behind by the retreating Ottoman army to open Vienna's first coffee house. More recent research, however, suggests that Vienna's first coffee house was opened in 1685 by the Armenian Johannes Diodato.

People