Vienna (German: Wien; Vienna, located on the Danube River, is the capital and largest city of Austria, one of the country’s nine federal states, and a major cultural center in Europe, known as the “Music Capital of the World”. Vienna is Austria’s most populous city, with a population of 1.951 million as of April 1, 2022. Vienna is also the second most populous German-speaking city in the world, after Berlin. Vienna is both a city and a state, and the geographical coordinates of the city center are 48°12 ‘north latitude and 16°22’ east longitude. Vienna is made up of 23 districts, mainly in the east and west of the city, while the north and south are mainly industrial areas. In 2016, the city’s gross regional product reached $66.3 billion. Vienna is one of the four official residences of the United Nations and is home to the headquarters of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the International Atomic Energy Agency, among other international bodies. For many years in a row, Vienna has been named one of the world’s most livable cities by UN-Habitat. Vienna was the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, the Grand Duchy of Austria, the Austrian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire before World War I. Its old city centre is listed as a World Heritage Site.

Historical evolution
Prehistoric times
Archaeological finds that Vienna had human activities in the Paleolithic Age, and people have lived in the Vienna Basin since the Neolithic Age. Vienna’s good weather conditions and rich land resources provided a good living environment for farmers in the Neolithic Age, and the russet and green stones needed for casting stone tools could also be mined in Vienna. The Bronze, Bronze and Iron Ages also left traces of human habitation in Vienna.
The Romans lived in the area until the 5th century, the beginning of which saw a devastating fire in Vienna, followed by a battle with the Hungarians in 881.
In 955, Otto I, King of the East Frankish Kingdom, defeated the Magyars at the Battle of Lehrfeld, marking the rise of Vienna and Austria.
The Babenburg era
In 976, Leopold I of the Papenburg family was created by the Holy Roman Emperor Otto II as vassal of the Eastern border of Bavaria (Mark), a fiefdom on the Hungarian border that later became Austria. The name “Austria” first appeared in history in 996 AD, Ostarrichi meaning “Eastern Mark”. Already an important trading city in the 11th century, Vienna became the capital of Henry II in 1155, and on 17 September the following year, Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, granted Henry II of Austria some privileges, elevating Austria from a vassal territory attached to Bavaria to an independent duchy, with Vienna becoming the capital of the Duchy. Vienna became the second Austrian city after Enns in 1221 to enjoy the right to economic development, and merchants passing through Vienna had to offer their goods for sale within the city, which soon made Vienna a vital trading city on the Danube to Venice.
Habsburg
The Habsburgs ruled Vienna for hundreds of years, during which time Vienna developed into the cultural and political center of Europe.
In 1278, the Habsburg King Rudolf I of Germany (reigned from 1273 to 1291) defeated the Babenburg King Ottoka II of Bohemia after several campaigns, beginning the history of Habsburg rule in Austria. In Vienna, however, the Habsburgs took a long time to establish their dominance, and after the death of Ottoka II in battle in 1278, his supporters in Vienna remained strong, leading to several uprisings against King Albrecht I of Germany (reigned 1298-1308). When Henry VII of Luxembourg (reigned from 1308 to 1313, Holy Roman Emperor from 1312 to 1313), who succeeded Albrecht I, made Prague the capital, Vienna’s urban development fell into the shadow.
After the election of Duke Albrecht II of Austria (Duke of Austria from 1404 to 1439, King of Germany from 1438 to 1439) as King of Germany in 1438, Vienna became the capital again, but the first mass deportation and persecution of the Jews of Vienna occurred during his reign in 1421-22.
In 1469, Frederick III (King of Germany from 1440 to 1493, Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 to 1493, Grand Duke of Austria from 1457 to 1493) lost almost all of his Austrian possessions, including Vienna, in a war with Hunyat Magash, King of Hungary. After the incorporation of Hungary and Bohemia into the Habsburg Empire in 1556, Vienna eventually became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire.
Two Siege of Vienna and the glorious age of the Baroque
During the first Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1529, the Austrians, relying on walls left over from the Middle Ages, struggled to fend off the Turks, who were forced to withdraw in the face of an epidemic and the early onset of winter. The siege of Vienna by the Turks exposed the weakness of the city’s defenses, so from 1548 it was decided to transform Vienna into a fortress consisting of 11 forts and a trench. In 1683, the Turks laid siege to Vienna for a second time, and the rebuilt fortress defended Vienna for two months until the Polish King Jan Sobieski sent troops to lift the second siege of Vienna and lead to the decline of the Ottoman Empire.
After two sieges by the Turks, Vienna began a glorious era of construction, which continued to show Baroque art during the reconstruction process, and the nobles built gardens and palaces within the walls, the most famous of which was Prince Eugen’s Belfody Palace.
With the rapid development of the city, Vienna soon became one of the most important cultural centers in Europe, and Franz Joseph Haydn, Antonio Salieri, Wolfgang Amaduis Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert pushed Viennese classicism to its peak.
During the French Revolutionary Wars, Vienna was twice occupied by Napoleon Bonaparte’s forces.
The first took place on November 13, 1805, when the French army entered Vienna without resistance, and the citizens of Vienna even welcomed them with curiosity. Franz II assumed the Austrian crown in 1804 in response to Napoleon’s declaration as emperor and became the first emperor of Austria, beginning the history of the Austrian Empire. Napoleon dissolved the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, and Franz II had to remove the crown of the Holy Roman Empire and became the last emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (1792-1806).
In 1809 Napoleon captured Vienna for the second time, but this time he met stiff resistance and soon after his capture of Vienna suffered his first major defeat at the Battle of Aspen. After Napoleon’s final defeat, the Congress of Vienna was held from September 18, 1814 to June 9, 1815, a diplomatic conference of European powers initiated by Austrian diplomat Clemens Wenzel von Metternich to readjust the political map of Europe after Napoleon’s defeat.
The French February Revolution of 1848 also had an impact on Vienna, starting with the German March Revolution on 13 March, which forced Chancellor Clemens Metternich from office, and then the Vienna October Uprising on 6 October, which was finally suppressed by the Emperor’s troops.
Vienna began to expand in 1850, again showing its glory, in 1867, the establishment of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the famous musician Johann Strauss composed the waltz “Blue Danube”. Then came the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a period in which Vienna reached the cultural peak represented by Viennese Modernism.
World War I period
Although World War I did not directly affect Vienna, the prolonged fighting caused a crisis in the supply of food and clothing. After the end of the First World War, which brought an end to six centuries of Habsburg rule and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the former German Republic of Austria was established in the Parliament of Vienna on November 12, 1918, and was renamed the Republic of Austria in 1919, namely the First Austrian Republic.
Almost half of Austria’s population lived in Lower Austria, where Vienna was located. The other six federal states feared permanent domination by Lower Austria, and there was serious political rivalry between social-democratic Vienna and the rest of conservative Lower Austria. Vienna became a federal state of Austria in 1922. At the same time, in 1919, Vienna introduced equal elections for men and women, and since then social Democrats have always won absolute majorities in the city Senate, state assembly and local assembly elections, thus giving Vienna the nickname “Red Vienna”. During the First Austrian Republic, Vienna experienced inflation from 1918 to 1925, the world economic crisis of 1929, and high unemployment. In addition, the conservative Austrian federal government has cut Austria’s tax support year after year.
Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, and in 1938, as Chancellor of the German Empire, Hitler invaded and annexed Austria, ending the First Austrian Republic and establishing the Nazi dictatorship.
Nazi period
The first Allied air raid on Vienna on 17 March 1944 destroyed a fifth of the city. On April 2, 1945, Vienna was declared a Nazi defensive zone, and women and children were asked to leave the city, which meant that the war reached a fever pitch and Soviet troops were only a few thousand meters away from Vienna. The Battle of Vienna lasted eight days and killed 40,000 people. Vienna’s Stephens Cathedral was not damaged during the air raids and the war, but was caught in flames during a sack.
Allied occupation
Vienna was occupied by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II, and soon after the Soviet Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army began to build a new city administration, first with a Communist as provisional mayor, who was replaced three days later by an Austrian Social Democrat. On 27 April 1945, representatives of the Austrian Social Democratic Party, the Austrian People’s Party and the Austrian Communist Party proclaimed Austria’s independence at the Vienna City Hall, and on 29 April, the occupying authorities handed over the Parliament building to a new provisional government and the “Austrian Democratic Republic” was re-established. In the autumn of 1945, the Soviet Union allowed the troops of the three other anti-fascist Allies to enter Vienna, and the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union jointly occupied Vienna until the signing of the Austrian State Treaty on May 15, 1955, when the Allied forces withdrew and Austria became fully independent.
Like other cities in Austria and Western Europe, Vienna experienced economic recovery and urban reconstruction with the help of the Marshall Plan after World War II.

Administrative division


As of 2016, Vienna is composed of 23 districts, They were Frolidsdorf, Kagelang, Studlau, Herchsterton, Aspen, Streebersdorf, Burgenland, Kernton, Upper Vienna, Lower Vienna, Esenstadt, Klagenfurt, St. Pelten, Linz, Graz, Innsbruck, Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Bregenz, Haro, Bruegen, Brein and Honingsvog.
Vienna is divided into three parts by the Danube River, the inner city, the outer city and the suburbs. The inhabitants of Vienna are mainly located in the west and east of Vienna. The north is the industrial center of Vienna, while the south is the political, cultural and communication center of Vienna.
Geographical environment


Location boundary
Vienna is located in a basin at the northern foot of the Alps, the city center coordinates at 48°12 ‘north latitude, 16°22’ east longitude, an area of about 414.65 square kilometers, is the smallest federal state in Austria, and is the only federal state that is not adjacent to other countries
Landform
Vienna’s elevation ranges from the island of Roburg on the Danube at 151 meters, to the highest peak in the Vienna forest at 542 meters. To the east of Vienna is the March River Plain and to the southeast is the Danube Steppe National Park. Vienna is surrounded to the northwest, west and southwest by the Vienna Forest, which extends into the city. In addition to the Danube, which flows through the city, there are many small rivers flowing into the city from the Vienna forest, including the Vienna River. The mountains to the west connect to the glacier corridor to the south, and this area is the Viennese wine-growing region.
Climate
Vienna has a transitional climate, with both a maritime climate from the west and a continental climate from the east. The precipitation in Vienna is very small, the dry period is longer, the winter is warmer than other Austrian cities, the average temperature in the city center is 10.4 ° C, the city suburbs are about 9.8 ° C, the average precipitation is about 600 mm, about 60 days a year is summer, 70 days is freezing, the weather is unusually cold.
Hydrology
The total area of rivers and lakes in Vienna is 19.1km², accounting for 4.6% of the total area of Vienna, second only to Burgenland.
The Danube is the main river of Vienna, the length of the river in Europe after the Volga River, is the second longest river in Europe. It rises on the eastern slope of the Black Forest Mountains in southwest Germany, flows from west to east through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine, and empies into the Black Sea in south-central Ukraine. It flows through nine countries, making it the largest river in the world. The tributary extends to seven countries, Switzerland, Poland, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Moldova, and finally drains into the Black Sea at Surina in eastern Romania. The Danube River has a total length of 2,850 kilometers, a watershed area of 817,000 square kilometers, with an average annual discharge of 6,430 cubic meters per second at the mouth and an average annual runoff of 203 billion cubic meters.
Natural resources
Water resources
Vienna is rich in water resources, and the famous Danube River flows through it. The Danube River is upstream from its source to Vienna, middle from Vienna to Tiemen, and downstream below Tiemen, with an area of 81.7km² and an annual discharge of more than 20 million cubic meters.
Plant resources
Vienna’s forest resources are very rich, there are pine, cypress and birch trees, vegetation coverage of about 43.2%, there are about 400 hectares of forest farms, wood storage volume of about 990,000 cubic meters.
Animal resources
Vienna’s animal resources are relatively scarce, with only a few common species such as the house swallow, magpie and grouse.
Mineral resources
Vienna’s mineral resources are mainly graphite, magnesium, coal, iron, oil and natural gas.
Population
1.951 million (as of April 1, 2022)
Political
Vienna is the political center of the Republic of Austria, the Austrian Federal Parliament, the National Assembly, the presidency, the Chancellery, the national government ministries and the highest judicial body are gathered in the city. At the same time, the city of Vienna enjoys an important international position. Both the United Nations and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have offices in Vienna.
Vienna is also the third United Nations city in the world after New York and Geneva, and has been positioned as a city for international conferences and conflict resolution since 1979, when the Austrian International Center was established in Vienna.
Vienna was granted the status of a federal state under the Federal Constitution of 1920, the city Council is also the state parliament, and the mayor can function as a governor in addition to his own functions. City Hall has the offices of the mayor and the state government. The city is governed by a number of departments, with members of municipally led offices providing political oversight in accordance with the Vienna Constitution.
Economy


Summarize
Vienna is located in the northeast of Austria, is an important transportation hub in Austria, the economic development is fast, the economic growth rate is higher than the EU average. Vienna’s industry is characterized by a high degree of nationalization, state-owned enterprises control 95% of the basic industry and more than 85% of the power industry, its output value and the number of employees accounted for 70% of its total.
Primary industry
In 2016, the output value of agro-forestry in Vienna was about 3.96 billion euros, an increase of 4.4% year-on-year, and the number of agro-forestry employees was 520,000. Vienna’s agriculture is very developed, a high degree of mechanization, and the main agricultural products are more than self-sufficient.
Secondary industry
Vienna’s main industrial sectors are steel, machine building, chemicals, mining, electronics and automobile engine manufacturing. The machinery industry, including metal processing, machinery and equipment manufacturing, is the largest industry in Vienna, with about 1,900 enterprises, accounting for about 1/4 of Austria’s industrial output value. The Vienna Machinery industry invests around 480 million euros annually in research and development. Special machinery, custom machinery and boiler construction are the core competencies of the Austrian machinery industry. The chemical industry is also one of the important industrial sectors in Vienna. According to the Austrian State Investment Promotion Agency, the chemical industry accounts for about 1/10 of the total industrial output value.
Tertiary industry
Vienna has a well-developed service sector, which contributes about 69.8% of its GDP to the economy. Vienna has a moderate share of services compared to other advanced economies, and this economic structure is considered to be relatively resilient to crises.
Social undertaking
Social construction
Vienna city streets are radiating rings, 50 meters wide, on both sides of the shady ring avenue within the inner city. The inner city is criss-crossed with cobbled streets, with few high-rise houses and mostly baroque, Gothic and Romanesque buildings. The medieval Cathedral of St. Stefan and the spire of the twin-tower Church rise into the clouds, and its south tower is 138 meters high and overlooks the city. Chamblen Palace was the summer house of the Habsburg dynasty, with Greek architecture, statues and fountains. There are large parks on the island between the Danube River and the Donau Canal. The National Opera House, built in 1869, is known as the world Opera Center. Built in 1857, the 57-meter-wide, 4,000-meter-long ring road is lined with important buildings such as museums, the city Hall, the Congress, the university and the National Opera House. Between the Ring road and another parallel ring road is the middle level, which is built between commercial and residential areas, as well as palaces and churches. Outside the second ring Road is the outer layer, with parks, villas and other palace buildings in the west of the city. The outer city Road extends to the edge of the forest. The Danube River flows close to the inner city, and the Donau Park has a towering Donau tower, which is about 252 meters high.
Educational cause
There are hundreds of primary, secondary and special schools in Vienna. The University of Vienna is the oldest and largest comprehensive university in German-speaking countries, founded in 1365, which is especially famous for its medical discipline, and in 2004, the Department of Medicine became the Medical University of Vienna. In addition, there are Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna University of Applied Arts, Vienna University of Agriculture and Vienna University of Economics and Management and other famous universities.
Medicine and psychology in Vienna are internationally leading, represented by Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis and the First Vienna School, Alfred Adler, founder of individual psychology and the second Vienna School, Erwin Ringel, representative of individual psychology, Meaning therapy, existentialist analysis, and the founder of the Third Vienna School, Victor Frank. In addition, Boltzmann, the founder of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics; Victor Kaplan, who invented the Kaplan turbine; Ernst Mach, the physicist and philosopher who proposed the Doppler effect; and Robert Adler, the father of the television remote control, all studied and worked in Vienna.
Vienna is also the birthplace of the Vienna School of Philosophy and the Austrian School of Economics, represented by Ludwig Wittgenstein, Karl Popper, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and Eugen Bohm-Bavik.
Medical and health care
Vienna implements the social insurance and relief system of the whole city, which mainly includes medical insurance, unemployment insurance, pension insurance and accident insurance. There are 3,831 professional doctors, 26 hospitals and 6,554 beds in the city.
transportation
Aviation
Vienna International Airport, also known as Schweishart Airport, is 16 km from the city. There are many ways to get from the airport to the city, such as airport bus, airport express train and taxi.
railway
Vienna is part of the Austrian railway system. The Vienna Railcard is valid on all Austrian Federal Railways routes and gives you a 50% discount on any Austrian Federal Railways and Danube shipping routes.
Water transport
The Danube River connects the two capitals of Vienna and Budapest, Hungary, and water transport is the main mode of transport between the two capitals. It takes 5 hours to sail upstream from Vienna to Budapest and 6 hours 20 minutes to sail upstream from Budapest to Vienna.
Custom and culture
The main religions of Vienna residents are Catholicism, Islam, Orthodox Christianity, Protestantism and Judaism, and Vienna is the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese.
Vienna has a long history of art and culture, famous for its theatre, opera, classical music and fine arts.
Special food
Vienna is known as the city of food, the local specialty is a piece of veal or pressed pork, spread in flour, eggs and bread crumbs, and then add butter, this dish is called sauce.
Vienna also has a long tradition of cakes and desserts, with pastry chefs often making a kind of chocolate cake with hot apples, custard pancakes and dumplings. This cake is very popular in Europe. In addition, Vienna also has pure wine from the vineyards to the world’s most popular Austrian coffee.
Scenic spot
Famous scenic spot
Famous attractions include Vienna Forest, Albertina Museum, Stephens Cathedral, Hofburg Palace, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna Art History Museum, [8] Vienna State Opera and so on.
Vienna spreads out from the inner city to the outer city and is divided into three levels. The inner city, the Old Town, is known as the “heart of Vienna”, with its narrow, cobbled streets crisscrossed by Baroque, Gothic and Romanesque buildings, as well as the medieval St. Stefan’s Cathedral and the spires of the twin-tower church. The inner ring road around the inner city, up to 50 meters wide, is lined with trees and is lined with important buildings such as museums, city Hall, Congress, university and State Opera. Between the inner ring line and the outer Ring Line is the middle layer of the city, where there are dense commercial and residential areas, but also churches, palaces and other buildings. To the south and east of the outer ring road are industrial areas, and to the west are villa areas, park areas, palaces, etc., extending to the edge of the forest. Donau Park, located in the north of the city, is also a popular place for tourists.
The Golden Hall of the Old Town
The Musikverein is the oldest and most modern concert hall in Vienna. It is the legal venue for the annual “Vienna New Year’s Concert”. Since 1939, the “Vienna New Year’s Concert” has been held here every January 1.
The Musikverein was built in 1867 and completed in 1869. It’s Italian Renaissance architecture. Between the yellow and red exterior walls, there are many statues of the goddess of music on the roof, which are quaint and chic. The Vienna Symphony Orchestra gives at least 12 concerts here every quarter. On January 6, 1870, the first performance was held in the Grand Golden Recital Hall of the Concert Hall. From 1872 to 1875, the famous musician Brahms was in charge of organizing concerts. The Musikverein belongs to the Austrian Association of Friends of Music, which, with more than 7,000 members, is the oldest and largest music organization in the world.
Famous person


Vienna nurtured the representatives of Viennese neoclassical music, Schonberg, Webern and Berg. Also born in Vienna were Schubert, Johann Strauss the Elder, Johann Strauss the Younger, Lanner and Krzynek. Numerous musicians have studied, lived and composed music in Vienna, including the three outstanding representatives of the Viennese classical school, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, as well as Liszt, Lehrer, Bruckner, Mahler, Gluck, Brahms and Vivaldi.
City honor


According to the 2017 Global Liveable Cities Survey, Vienna is the most liveable city in Europe.
Vienna is also known as the “music Capital of the world”.
In November 2018, the World City Ranking was released, and Vienna entered the ranks of the world’s first-tier cities.
On December 26, 2019, it ranked 13th on the list of Top 500 Global Cities in 2019.
In April 2020, it was selected into the “2020 Global Summer City List”.
In June 2022, it ranked first in the World’s “Most Livable Cities” list 2022.