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Today, Vienna is home to several important international organizations: the [[United Nations]], [[OPEC]], and the International Atomic Energy Association.

Today, Vienna is home to several important international organizations: the [[United Nations]], [[OPEC]], and the International Atomic Energy Association.

Amongst its most impressive landmarks is the imposing 12th-century masterpiece of [[Gothic]] architecture,  [http://europeforvisitors.com/switzaustria/articles/st_stephens_cathedral_vienna.htm St. Stephen's Cathedral].

Amongst its most impressive landmarks is the imposing 12th century masterpiece of [[Gothic]] architecture,  [http://europeforvisitors.com/switzaustria/articles/st_stephens_cathedral_vienna.htm St. Stephen's Cathedral].

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==History and Culture==

==History and Culture==

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]]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.

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.

Vienna is located east of the Austrian [[Alps]], in the Vienna Basin, and immediately to the west of the city lie the Vienna Woods, which were immortalized in waltz form by Johann Strauss Jr. in ''Tales from the Vienna Woods''. The Danube and Danube canal run northwest to southeast through the city.

Vienna is located east of the Austrian [[Alps]], in the Vienna Basin, and immediately to the west of the city lie the Vienna Woods, which were immortalized in waltz form by Johann Strauss Jr. in ''Tales from the Vienna Woods''. The Danube and Danube canal run northwest to southeast through the city.

The old city, which was walled until the second half of the 19th-century, is in a circular shape, with St. Stephen's Cathedral marking the precise center of the circle. It is today known as the first of 23 municipal districts. Most of the main historical attractions are located either within first district, or just outside of it on the Ringstrasse. The whole district is bisected north to south by the famous shopping street Kärntnerstrasse which becomes Rotenturmstrasse after passing by St. Stephen's. Running perpendicular to this street is the Graben (or "Grave"), which contains a memorial to the [[Black Plague]].

The old city, which was walled until the second half of the 19th century, is in a circular shape, with St. Stephen's Cathedral marking the precise center of the circle. It is today known as the first of 23 municipal districts. Most of the main historical attractions are located either within first district, or just outside of it on the Ringstrasse. The whole district is bisected north to south by the famous shopping street Kärntnerstrasse which becomes Rotenturmstrasse after passing by St. Stephen's. Running perpendicular to this street is the Graben (or "Grave"), which contains a memorial to the [[Black Plague]].

The other 22 districts also have long histories as suburbs or villages, and each accordingly has a distinct architectural flavor. For example, the third district, just east of the city center, is named "Landstrasse," or "Country Road," and accordingly contains many 18th and 19th-century buildings which were country estates, including the house on Ungargasse where Beethoven finished his 9th symphony. As another example, the second district, Leopoldstadt, was a Jewish ghetto from the early 17th-century through the [[WWII|second world war]], and thus has a strikingly different style of architecture.

The other 22 districts also have long histories as suburbs or villages, and each accordingly has a distinct architectural flavor. For example, the third district, just east of the city center, is named "Landstrasse," or "Country Road," and accordingly contains many 18th and 19th century buildings which were country estates, including the house on Ungargasse where Beethoven finished his 9th symphony. As another example, the second district, Leopoldstadt, was a Jewish ghetto from the early 17th century through the [[WWII|second world war]], and thus has a strikingly different style of architecture.

==Vienna Today==

==Vienna Today==