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First settled by the Celts around 500 B.C., Vienna was an important settlement in the Roman Empire, which called it Vindobona. By the 17th century - when the court was moved from [[Prague]] to Vienna -  it was the seat of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], ruled by the Hapsburg dynasty, which continued to reign into the early years of the 20th-century. In the "Anschluss" of 1938, Vienna capitulated under control of the [[Third Reich]]. After [[WWII]], the city  was governed by the [[Allied Commission for Austria]]  for ten years. (Like Germany, Austria became divided into an American, British, French and Russian zone, and this division was mimicked by the administration of Vienna.) Since 1955, Vienna has been the capital of the Republic of Austria.

First settled by the Celts around 500 B.C., Vienna was an important settlement in the Roman Empire, which called it Vindobona. By the 17th century - when the court was moved from [[Prague]] to Vienna -  it was the seat of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], ruled by the Hapsburg dynasty, which continued to reign into the early years of the 20th-century. In the "Anschluss" of 1938, Vienna capitulated under control of the [[Third Reich]]. After [[WWII]], the city  was governed by the [[Allied Commission for Austria]]  for ten years. (Like Germany, Austria became divided into an American, British, French and Russian zone, and this division was mimicked by the administration of Vienna.) Since 1955, Vienna has been the capital of the Republic of Austria.

Vienna has one of the richest cultural histories of any city in [[Europe]], with a particularly impressive musical tradition - the First Viennese School of composers consisted of [[Haydn]], [[Mozart]], [[Beethoven]] and [[Schubert]], whilst later the [[Waltz|waltzes]] and operettas of [[Johann Strauss]] Jr. came to epitomize the city's imperial grandeur and elegance. Johannes [[Brahms]] also made his home in Vienna, whose streets he claimed to know inside-and-out from his long walks around the city. Anton Bruckner, the composer of nine symphonies, taught harmony at the Vienna Academy for Music and Dramatic Arts; his admirer  [[Gustav Mahler]] became conductor of the Vienna State Opera in 1897 and wrote his nine symphonies evoking Vienna's peculiar juxtaposition of the urban and the pastoral.

Vienna has one of the richest cultural histories of any city in [[Europe]], with a particularly impressive musical tradition - the First Viennese School of composers consisted of [[Haydn]], [[Mozart]], [[Beethoven]] and [[Schubert]], whilst later the [[waltz]]es and operettas of [[Johann Strauss]] Jr. came to epitomize the city's imperial grandeur and elegance. Johannes [[Brahms]] also made his home in Vienna, whose streets he claimed to know inside-and-out from his long walks around the city. Anton Bruckner, the composer of nine symphonies, taught harmony at the Vienna Academy for Music and Dramatic Arts; his admirer  [[Gustav Mahler]] became conductor of the Vienna State Opera in 1897 and wrote his nine symphonies evoking Vienna's peculiar juxtaposition of the urban and the pastoral.

During the long reign of [[Kaiser]] Franz Joseph I, who occupied the throne from just after the revolution of 1848 to his death in 1916, Vienna enjoyed a golden age of culture. Franz Joseph was responsible, among other things, for taking down the city walls and commissioning numerous grand buildings on the "Ringstrasse," the name for the circular street which encompasses the city center. Among these numerous stunning examples of imperial architecture are the State Opera House, City Hall, the Musikverein (home of the Vienna Philharmonic), the symmetrical pair of museums known as the Museum of Historical Art and Natural History, the Parliament building, and the Votive Church (commissioned in neo-Gothic style as a thanks to God after a failed assassination attempt in 1853).

During the long reign of [[Kaiser]] Franz Joseph I, who occupied the throne from just after the revolution of 1848 to his death in 1916, Vienna enjoyed a golden age of culture. Franz Joseph was responsible, among other things, for taking down the city walls and commissioning numerous grand buildings on the "Ringstrasse," the name for the circular street which encompasses the city center. Among these numerous stunning examples of imperial architecture are the State Opera House, City Hall, the Musikverein (home of the Vienna Philharmonic), the symmetrical pair of museums known as the Museum of Historical Art and Natural History, the Parliament building, and the Votive Church (commissioned in neo-Gothic style as a thanks to God after a failed assassination attempt in 1853).

==Vienna Today==

==Vienna Today==

As with many European cities, the population of Vienna is growing rapidly as a result of immigration.<ref>Between 2006 and 2007, the net migration increased by 25%, see http://www.wien.gv.at/english/politics/statistics/pdf/vienna-in-figures.pdf</ref>. The city boasts one of Europe's most active cultural landscapes, with 70 museums and 44 theaters putting on a total of 3,777 performances a year.<ref>http://www.wien.gv.at/english/politics/statistics/pdf/vienna-in-figures.pdf Vienna in Figures</ref> Its citizens enjoy a very high quality of life, and was given the #1 ranking in Mercer's 2009 Quality of Life index.<ref>http://www.mercer.com/qualityofliving Quality of Living</ref>

As with many European cities, the population of Vienna is growing rapidly as a result of immigration.<ref>Between 2006 and 2007, the net migration increased by 25%, see http://www.wien.gv.at/english/politics/statistics/pdf/vienna-in-figures.pdf</ref> The city boasts one of Europe's most active cultural landscapes, with 70 museums and 44 theaters putting on a total of 3,777 performances a year.<ref>http://www.wien.gv.at/english/politics/statistics/pdf/vienna-in-figures.pdf Vienna in Figures</ref> Its citizens enjoy a very high quality of life, and was given the #1 ranking in Mercer's 2009 Quality of Life index.<ref>http://www.mercer.com/qualityofliving Quality of Living</ref>

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==See Also==

==See also==

*[[London]]

*[[London]]

*[[Art cities]]

*[[Art cities]]

==References==

==References==

{{reflist}}

{{reflist}}

{{Template:AUBundeslaender}}

{{AUBundeslaender}}

[[Category:Capital Cities]]

[[Category:Capital Cities]]

[[Category:Austrian Cities and Towns]]

[[Category:Austrian Cities and Towns]]

[[Category:German History]]

[[Category:German History]]