VIENNA

German Wien, Czech Viden, Hungarian Bcs, city and Bundesland (federal state), the capital of Austria. Of the country's nine states, Vienna is the smallest in area but the largest in population. Modern Vienna has undergone several historical incarnations. From 1558 to 1918 it was an imperial cityuntil 1806 the seat of the Holy Roman Empire and then the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1918 it became the capital of the truncated, landlocked central European country that emerged from World War I as a republic. From 1938 to 1945 Austria was a part of Hitler's Greater Germany, and Vienna became Greater Vienna, reflecting the Nazi revision of the city limits. In the decade following World War II, Austria was occupied by British, French, American, and Soviet forces, and Vienna was divided into five zones, including an international zone, covering the Innere Stadt (Inner City). In 1955 the State Treaty, by which the country regained independence, was signed with the four occupying powers, and Vienna became once again the capital of a sovereign Austria. Vienna is among the least spoiled of the great old western European capitals. Its central core, the Innere Stadt, is easily manageable by foot and public transportation. In a city renowned for its architecture, many of Vienna's urban prospects remain basically those devised over several centuries by imperial gardeners and architects. The skyline is still dominated by the spire of St. Stephen's Cathedral and by the giant Ferris wheel in the city's chief park, the Prater. The city suffered heavy damage in the last months of World War II, and much rebuilding was done after the war. Nevertheless, the character of Vienna as a whole remains much the same as in the years before 1914. Viennese Lebenskunst (art of living) has survived changing rulers and times. It is still possible to live in Vienna at almost the same pace and in much the same style as it was a century ago. The same music is played in the same rebuilt concert halls, and a theatrical or operatic success still stimulates lively conversation. One can drink the same sourish local wines in the taverns on the outskirts of town, consume the same mountains of whipped cream at Sacher's and Demel's, and sample the same infinite varieties of coffee in countless cafs. Thick woolen suits and overcoats in shades of green, gray, or brown loden cloth and colourful dirndl dresses are still the fashion. It is even possible for tourists, and for others on festive occasions, to ride in a traditional fiacre, the two-horse carriage driven by a bowler-hatted coachman. Austria's capital has avoided many of the problemsfinancial crises, social unrest, urban decaythat afflict other European cities. Its people enjoy an enlightened health and welfare system, which originated in the reforms of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Joseph II in the 18th century. A city of green parks with ponds, cafs, and playing bands; opulent stores and elegant shopping streets; banks, bookshops, and crowded theatres; and boulevards for leisurely saunteringVienna is an invigorating distillation of human energy and imagination. German Wien, Czech Viden, Hungarian Bcs city and Bundesland (federal state), the capital of Austria. It is located along the Danube (Donau) River and serves as a gateway between western and eastern Europe. Vienna was the seat of the Holy Roman Empire from 1558 to 1806, of the Austrian (and Habsburg) Empire from 1806 to 1867, and then of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918. It is a city of nobility and vast cultural achievement, renowned for its architecture and music. Vienna borders the Danube where the Pannonian Basin begins to rise toward the Alpine regions to the west. The highest area within the city is called the Wiener Wald (Vienna Woods); it descends rapidly toward the Danube in four roughly semicircular terraces. The climate is typically midcontinental, with a January average of 31 F (-0.5 C) and a July average of 67 F (19.5 C); rainfall amounts to about 26 inches (660 mm). Trade and industry are the basis of Vienna's economy; principal manufactures include electrical appliances, paper, clothing, and machine tools. The city government plays a large role in the economy, including the management of many enterprises. Much evidence of Vienna's rich history remains. One of its most famous buildings, St. Stephen's Cathedral, was built during the middle of the 12th century, destroyed by fire, and rebuilt two centuries later. Other notable medieval buildings include the Hofburg, the late 13th-century palace of the Habsburg rulers; and the 14th-century churches of the Friars Minor (Minoritenkirche) and of Maria am Gestade. Toward the end of the 17th century, Baroque architecture began to appear, notably in the building of the Plague Column. The Viennese style of Baroque remained popular for more than 70 years, giving way eventually to an architectural style called Ring architecture, for the buildings lining the Ringstrasse. Buildings constructed in this style include the neo-French Renaissance State Opera house, the pseudo-Gothic Votive Church, the neo-Italian Renaissance University of Vienna, and the neo-Flemish Gothic Rathaus (City Hall). In addition to possessing remarkable architecture, Vienna was for centuries the music capital of the world. Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Johann Strauss, Gustav Mahler, Arnold Schoenberg, and many other great figures in Western music made it their home. The waltz, derived from Tirolean folk dances, was established in Vienna by 1820, and the great age of the Viennese operetta began shortly thereafter. Vienna is the home of one of the world's great symphony orchestras, the Vienna Philharmonic. There are more than 30 museums in Vienna. One of the city's most striking collections, lodged in the treasure room of the Hofburg Palace, is the regalia of the Habsburgs and the Holy Roman emperors. The palace also houses the world's largest collection of graphic arts, including works by Rembrandt and Albrecht Drer among its more than 1 million pieces. The Fine Arts Museum contains the Habsburg collection of old masters. The former residences of Sigmund Freud and of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert have also been established as museums. Subways encircle the central city and extend to the suburbs. Railways run to the north, east, and south, and major road arteries radiate in all directions. Vienna's international airport is located 11 miles (18 km) to the southeast, at Schwechat. Area city, 160 square miles (415 square km); metropolitan area, 1,491 square miles (3,862 square km). Pop. (1981) city, 1,515,666; metropolitan area, 1,973,758. Additional reading General descriptions of Vienna include Christa Esterhzy, Vienna (1966); Joseph Wechsberg, Vienna My Vienna (also published as Sounds of Vienna, 1968); and Martin Hurlimann, Vienna (1970; originally published in German, 1968). The city's historical geography is presented in Wiener Stadt- Und Landesarchiv, Ludwig Boltzmann Institut Fr Stadtgeschichtsforschung, Historische Atlas von Wien (1981 ), issued in parts. Photographs of Vienna with accompanying essays may be found in Maria Neusser-Hromatka, Beautiful Vienna, 8th ed. (1969; originally published in German, 1959); Anton Macku, Vienna (1957; originally published in German, 1956); Inge Morath et al., Bilder aus Wien: der liebe Augustin (1981); Anna Giubertoni, Claudio Magris, and Toni Nicolini, Austria (1981), with Italian text; and Gnter Driegl, Wien auf alten Photographies (1981). Hans Pemmer and Nini Lackner, Der Prater: von den Anfngen bis zur Gegenwart, 2nd ed. rev. by Gnter Driegl and Ludwig Sackmauer (1974), describes the Prater. Aspects of city life are discussed in E. Bodzenta, I. Speiser, and K. Thum, Wo sind Grossstdter daheim?: Studien ber Bindungen an das Wohnviertel (1981). Leopold Redl and Hans Wsendorfer, Die Donauinsel: ein Beispiel politischer Planung in Wien (1980), analyzes economic conditions and municipal government.Vienna's intellectual and cultural life is discussed by Marcel Brion, Daily Life in the Vienna of Mozart and Schubert (1961; originally published in French, 1959); and by William M. Johnston, Vienna, Vienna: The Golden Age, 18151914, trans. from Italian (1981); Carl E. Schorske, Fin-de-Sicle Vienna: Politics and Culture (1979), on the growth of modern art and thinking out of the political and social disintegration of turn-of-the-century Vienna; Robert Waissenberger (ed.), Vienna, 18901920 (1984, originally published in German, 1984); and Mark Francis (ed.), The Viennese Enlightenment (1985). Viennese artists and musicians are portrayed in Peter Vergo, Art in Vienna 18981918: Klimt, Kokoschka, Schiele, and Their Contemporaries (1975, reissued 1981); Kirk Varnedoe, Vienna 1900: Art, Architecture, & Design (1986); Egon Gartenberg, Vienna: Its Musical Heritage (1968); and Richard Rickett, Music and Musicians in Vienna, 2nd ed. (1981). Erna Lesky, The Vienna Medical School of the 19th Century (1976; originally published in German, 1965), gives an account of Viennese medicine in its heyday.Overviews of Vienna's history are provided by Peter Csendes, Geschichte Wiens (1981); Walter B. Goldstein, 1000 Jahre Wien und die Habsburger: eine europische Legende (1981), focusing especially on the house of Habsburg; Inge Lehne and Lonnie Johnson, ViennaThe Past in the Present: A Historical Survey (1985); and Paul Hofmann, The Viennese: Splendor, Twilight, and Exile (1988), a cultural history. Important events and times are further examined in Historischen Museum Der Stadt Wien, Die Trken vor Wien: Europa und die Entscheidung an der Donau, 1683 (1982); R. John Rath, The Viennese Revolution of 1848 (1957, reprinted 1977), a dramatic reconstruction of events; Frederic Morton, A Nervous Splendor: Vienna, 1888/1889 (1979); John W. Boyer, Political Radicalism in Late Imperial Vienna: Origins of the Christian Social Movement, 18481897 (1981); and Robert Pick, The Last Days of Imperial Vienna (1975). Studies of the Jewish community in Vienna include Ivar Oxaal, Michael Pollak, and Gerhard Botz (eds.), Jews, Antisemitism, and Culture in Vienna (1987), a collection of essays; and George E. Berkley, Vienna and Its Jews: The Tragedy of Success (1987). Blake Ehrlich Roland John Hill