89-787: The Belvedere is a historic building complex in Vienna , Austria, consisting of two Baroque palaces (the Upper and Lower Belvedere), the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. The buildings are set in a Baroque park landscape in the third district of the city, on the south-eastern edge of its centre. It currently houses the Belvedere museum known in German as the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere (in English, referred to both as
178-458: A humid subtropical ( Köppen : Cfa ) classification. The city has warm, showery summers, with average high temperatures ranging between 25 to 27 °C (77 to 81 °F) and a record maximum exceeding 38 °C (100 °F). Winters are relatively dry and cold with average temperatures at about freezing point. Spring is variable and autumn cool, with a chance of snow in November. Precipitation
267-630: A decline in the Viennese population. After World War II, the Soviets used force to repatriate key workers of Czech, Slovak and Hungarian origins to return to their ethnic homelands to further the Soviet bloc economy. The population of Vienna generally stagnated or declined through the remainder of the 20th century, not demonstrating significant growth again until the census of 2000. In 2020, Vienna's population remained significantly below its reported peak in 1916. Under
356-776: A different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene speakers call the city Dunaj , which in other Central European Slavic languages means the river Danube , on which the city stands. Duchy of Austria 1156–1453 [REDACTED] Archduchy of Austria 1453–1485, 1490–1804 [REDACTED] Principality of Hungary 1485–1490 [REDACTED] Austrian Empire 1804–1867 [REDACTED] Austria-Hungary 1867–1918 [REDACTED] First Austrian Republic 1919–1934 [REDACTED] Federal State of Austria 1934–1938 [REDACTED] Nazi Germany 1938–1945 [REDACTED] Allied-occupied Austria 1945–1955 [REDACTED] Austria 1955–present In
445-687: A few more days until the Soviet Navy ’s Danube Flotilla naval force arrived with reinforcements. The remaining defending soldiers surrendered that same day. After the war, Vienna was part of Soviet-occupied Eastern Austria until September 1945. That month, Vienna was divided into sectors by the four powers: the US, the UK, France, and the Soviet Union and supervised by an Allied Commission . The four-power occupation of Vienna differed in one key respect from that of Berlin:
534-630: A major prestige project. Former suburbs were incorporated, and the city of Vienna grew dramatically. In 1918, after World War I , Vienna became capital of the Republic of German-Austria , and then in 1919 of the First Republic of Austria . From the late-19th century to 1938, the city remained a center of high culture and of modernism . A world capital of music, Vienna played host to composers such as Johannes Brahms , Anton Bruckner , Gustav Mahler , and Richard Strauss . The city's cultural contributions in
623-618: A novel and published it. Occupied Vienna is also depicted in the 1991 Philip Kerr novel, A German Requiem . The four-power control of Vienna lasted until the Austrian State Treaty was signed in May 1955 and came into force on 27 July 1955. By October, all soldiers had left the country. That year, after years of reconstruction and restoration, the State Opera and the Burgtheater , both on
712-517: A riot broke out in the city. The protestors, enraged by the decision, set the Palace of Justice ablaze. The police attempted to end the revolt with force and killed at least 84 protestors, with 5 policemen also dying. In 1933, right-wing Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss dissolved the parliament , essentially letting him run the country as a dictatorship , banned the Communist Party and severely limited
801-790: A series of sculptures for the balustrades and other decorative sculpture for the Lower Belvedere in Vienna. Other works include the 1700 relief for the tombstone of Count Siegfried Sarau in the Deutschordenskirche, (Singerstrasse, Vienna), the relief on the gable of the Karlskirche , entitled the Apotheosis of St. Charles Borromeo in memory of the plague (1725), and a further plague monument in Baden bei Wien , featuring Mary Magdalene . In 1712, following
890-446: A ten-part publication between 1731 and 1740 containing a total of ninety plates, entitled Wunder würdiges Kriegs- und Siegs-Lager deß Unvergleichlichen Heldens Unserer Zeiten Eugenii Francisci Hertzogen zu Savoyen und Piemont ("Wondrous war and victory encampment of the supreme hero of our age Eugene Francis Duke of Savoy and Piedmont"), which documented in precise detail the state of the Belvedere complex. The Upper Belvedere appears on
979-643: A third of its population. In 1804, during the Napoleonic Wars , Vienna became the capital of the newly formed Austrian Empire . The city continued to play a major role in European and world politics, including hosting the Congress of Vienna in 1814–15. The city also saw major uprisings against Habsburg rule in 1848 , which were suppressed. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 , Vienna remained
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#17328476147611068-646: A widespread prehistorical cult of Vindos , a Celtic deity who survives in Irish mythology as the warrior and seer Fionn mac Cumhaill. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech , Slovak , Polish and Ukrainian names of the city ( Vídeň , Viedeň , Wiedeń and Відень respectively) and in that of the city's district Wieden . The name of the city in Hungarian ( Bécs ), Serbo-Croatian ( Beč , Беч ) and Ottoman Turkish ( بچ , Beç ) has
1157-724: Is borrowed from the homonymous Italian name. The German name Wien comes from the name of the river Wien , mentioned ad UUeniam in 881 ( Wenia- in modern writing). The name of the Roman settlement on the same emplacement is of Celtic extraction Vindobona , probably meaning "white village, white settlement" from Celtic roots, vindo- , meaning "white" (Old Irish find "white", Welsh gwyn / gwenn , Old Breton guinn "white, bright" > Breton gwenn "white"), and -bona "foundation, settlement, village", related to Old Irish bun "base, foundation" and Welsh bon , same meaning. The Celtic word vindos may reflect
1246-452: Is completely surrounded by Lower Austria , and lies around 50 km (31 mi) west of Slovakia and its capital Bratislava , 60 km (37 mi) northwest of Hungary , and 60 km (37 mi) south of Moravia ( Czech Republic ). The once Celtic settlement of Vedunia was converted by the Romans into the castrum Vindobona (province of Pannonia ) in the 1st century, and
1335-461: Is generally moderate throughout the year, averaging around 600 mm (23.6 in) annually, with considerable local variations, the Vienna Woods region in the west being the wettest part (700 to 800 mm (28 to 31 in) annually) and the flat plains in the east being the driest part (500 to 550 mm (20 to 22 in) annually). Snow in winter is common, even if not so frequent compared to
1424-493: Is perhaps most well known for its Gemeindebauten , public housing buildings. Between 1925 and 1934, over 60,000 new apartments were built in the Gemeindebauten. Apartments were assigned on the basis of a point system favoring families and less affluent citizens. In July 1927 , after three nationalist far-right paramilitary members were acquitted of the killing of two social democratic Republikanischer Schutzbund members,
1513-601: Is plentiful. Remains of the military camp have been found under the city, as well as fragments of the canal system and figurines. Close ties with other Celtic peoples continued through the ages. The Irish monk Saint Colman (or Koloman, Irish Colmán , derived from colm "dove") is buried in Melk Abbey and Saint Fergil (Virgil the Geometer) served as Bishop of Salzburg for forty years. Irish Benedictines founded twelfth-century monastic settlements; evidence of these ties persists in
1602-413: Is the capital, most populous city , and one of nine federal states of Austria . It is Austria's primate city , with just over two million inhabitants. Its larger metropolitan area has a population of nearly 2.9 million, representing nearly one-third of the country's population. Vienna is the cultural , economic , and political center of the country, the fifth-largest city by population in
1691-580: Is the seat of the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna , in which is also vested the exempt Ordinariate for Byzantine-Rite Catholics in Austria; its Archbishop is Cardinal Christoph Schönborn . Many Catholic Churches in central Vienna feature performances of religious or other music, including masses sung to classical music and organ. Some of Vienna's most significant historical buildings are Catholic churches, including
1780-875: The Austrian Armed Forces shelled the Karl-Marx-Hof , a civilian housing estate, and the Schutzbund surrendered. On 15 March 1938, three days after German troops had first entered Austria, Adolf Hitler arrived in Vienna. 200,000 Austrians greeted him at the Heldenplatz , where he held a speech from a balcony in the Neue Burg, in which he announced that Austria would be absorbed into Nazi Germany . The persecution of Jews started almost immediately, Viennese Jews were harassed and hounded, their homes and businesses plundered. Some were forced to scrub pro-independence slogans off
1869-718: The European Union , and the most-populous of the cities on the Danube river . The city lies on the eastern edge of the Vienna Woods ( Wienerwald ), the northeasternmost foothills of the Alps , that separate Vienna from the more western parts of Austria, at the transition to the Pannonian Basin . It sits on the Danube , and is traversed by the highly regulated Wienfluss ( Vienna River ). Vienna
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#17328476147611958-735: The Ringstraße , reopened to the public. In the Autumn of 1956, Vienna accepted many Hungarian refugees , who had fled Hungary after an attempted revolution . The city experienced another wave of refugees after the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia in 1968, as well as after the collapse of Yugoslavia in 1991. In 1972 the construction of the Donauinsel and the excavation of the New Danube began. In
2047-719: The Soviet air force . Only after the Allies had taken Italy did the next raids commence. From 17 March 1944, 51 air raids were carried out in Vienna. Targets of the bombings were primarily the city's oil refineries . However, around a third of the city center was destroyed, and culturally important buildings such as the State Opera and the Burgtheater were burned, and the Albertina was heavily damaged. These air raids lasted until March 1945, just before
2136-557: The St. Stephen's Cathedral ( Stephansdom ), Karlskirche , Peterskirche and the Votivkirche . On the banks of the Danube is a Buddhist Peace Pagoda , built in 1983 by the monks and nuns of Nipponzan Myohoji . Vienna is located in northeastern Austria, at the easternmost extension of the Alps in the Vienna Basin . The earliest settlement, at the location of today's inner city , was south of
2225-580: The Treaty of Pressburg in 1805, a new home had to be found for the imperial collection from Ambras Castle, near Innsbruck . At first, the collection was taken to Petrovaradin (now in Novi Sad , Vojvodina , Serbia ) to protect it from looting by French troops. In 1811 Emperor Francis II decreed that it should be installed in the Lower Belvedere, which was, in fact, far too small for the collection. This part of
2314-510: The Western and Eastern blocs , which deeply distrusted each other. The city experienced an economic upturn due to the Marshall Plan . The atmosphere of four-power Vienna is the background for Graham Greene 's screenplay for the film The Third Man (1949). The film's theme music was composed and performed by Viennese musician Anton Karas using a zither . Later he adapted the screenplay as
2403-488: The formal French manner with clipped hedges, gravelled walks and jeux d'eau by Dominique Girard , who had trained in the gardens of Versailles as a pupil of André Le Nôtre . Extensive mythological references throughout the gardens allude to the rise of Prince Eugene with a sculptural program linking him to the god Apollo. A great water basin in the upper parterre and the stairs and cascades peopled by nymphs and goddesses that links upper and lower parterres survive, but
2492-563: The k.u.k. Gemäldegalerie ("Imperial Picture Gallery") from the Imperial Stables – a part of the city's Hofburg Imperial Palace – to the Upper Belvedere. Inspired by the idea of enlightened absolutism , the intention was to make the imperial collection accessible to the general public. The gallery opened five years later, making it one of the first public museums in the world. A series of eminent painters served as directors in charge of
2581-528: The 16th century of the Habsburg emperors of the Holy Roman Empire with an interruption between at the turn to the 17th century until 1806, becoming an important center in the empire. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Christian forces twice stopped Ottoman armies outside Vienna, in the 1529 siege of Vienna and the 1683 Battle of Vienna . The Great Plague of Vienna ravaged the city in 1679, killing nearly
2670-504: The 1st century, the Romans set up the military camp of Vindobona in Pannonia on the site of today's Vienna city center near the Danube with an adjoining civilian town to secure the borders of the Roman Empire . Construction of the legionary camp began around 97 AD. At its peak, Vindobona had a population of around 15,000 people. It was a part of a trade and communications network across
2759-507: The 20-cent Austrian euro coin . When Prince Eugene died in his City Palace in Vienna on 21 April 1736, he did not leave a legally binding will . A commission set up by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI named the prince's niece Victoria as his heir. She was the daughter of his eldest brother Thomas and the only surviving member of the house of Savoy-Soissons. Princess Victoria moved into the Belvedere, known at that point as
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2848-590: The 2021 census, 49.0% of Viennese were Christian. Among them, 31.8% were Catholic , 11.2% were Eastern Orthodox , and 3.7% were Protestant , mostly Lutheran , 34.1% had no religious affiliation, 14.8% were Muslim , and 2% were of other religions, including Jewish. One sources estimates that Vienna's Jewish community is of 8,000 members meanwhile another suggest 15,000. Based on information provided to city officials by various religious organizations about their membership, Vienna's Statistical Yearbook 2019 reports in 2018 an estimated 610,269 Roman Catholics, or 32.3% of
2937-559: The Belvedere Garden to the WMF Watch List to highlight "the state of disrepair of the much-loved Viennese landmark." Multiple restoration plans emerged during the late 1990s to address these physical and aesthetic issues under a federal plan to modernize the nation's museums, a program that returned the gardens to their original Baroque character and significantly renovated the sala terrena and grand staircase. The Lower Belvedere and
3026-478: The Belvedere Museum and Austrian Gallery). The grounds are set on a gentle gradient and include decorative tiered fountains and cascades, Baroque sculptures, and majestic wrought iron gates. The Baroque palace complex was built as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy . The Belvedere was built during a period of extensive construction in Vienna, which at the time was both the imperial capital and home to
3115-505: The Belvedere palace complex was also laid down in the draft document to reorganize the former imperial collections drawn up by Hans Tietze in 1920–21. In addition to the museums that still exist today, it also included plans to set up an Österreichische Galerie (Austrian Gallery) and a Moderne Galerie . During the 1921–23 reorganization, the Baroque Museum in the Lower Belvedere was added to the existing museum ensemble. The Moderne Galerie
3204-788: The Belvedere thus also took on the function of a museum and had already started to draw considerable numbers of visitors by the time of the Congress of Vienna (1814–15). Under the directorship of the Prefect of the Imperial Court Library, Moritz, Count of Dietrichstein-Proskau-Leslie, the Collection of Egyptian Antiquities and the Antiquities Room were added to the Ambras Collection in the Lower Belvedere collection from 1833 onwards. In 1844,
3293-601: The Empire. Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius may have died here in 180 AD during a campaign against the Marcomanni . After a Germanic invasion in the second century the city was rebuilt. It served as a seat of the Roman government until the fifth century, when the population fled due to the Huns invasion of Pannonia. The city was abandoned for several centuries. Evidence of the Romans in the city
3382-604: The Gartenpalais, on 6 July 1736, but immediately made clear that she was not interested in her inheritance and aimed to auction off the palace complex as soon as possible. On 15 April 1738, she married Prince Joseph of Saxe-Hildburghausen (1702–87), who was several years her junior, in the presence of the royal family in the Schlosshof in the Marchfeld region, Lower Austria . Her choice of husband proved an unfortunate one, however, and
3471-616: The Imperial Princess Maria Antonia's marriage with the French Dauphin, who was later to become Louis XVI . The Lord High Chamberlain Prince Johann Joseph Khevenhüller-Metsch and the court architect Nicolaus Pacassi were charged with taking care of the extensive preparations for the ball to which 16,000 guests were invited. In 1776, Maria Theresa and her son, Emperor Joseph II decided to transfer
3560-430: The Lower Belvedere reopened with the show Vienna – Paris. The redesign of the building was carried out by the Berlin architect Wilfried Kuehn, who moved the entrance back to its place in the cour d'honneur, thereby once more freeing up the original line of vision from the main gate of the Lower Belvedere via the Marble Hall to the garden facade of the Upper Belvedere. The various sections of the original orangeries annexed to
3649-443: The Marble Hall were returned to their original condition and now provide space for the new exhibition rooms. The magnificent Baroque state rooms – the Marble Gallery, the Golden Room, and the Hall of Grotesques – remain unchanged and are open to the public. Vienna Vienna ( / v i ˈ ɛ n ə / vee- EN -ə ; German: Wien [viːn] ; Austro-Bavarian : Wean [veɐ̯n] )
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3738-402: The Marble Hall, which he executed from 1721 to 1723. The building was completed in 1723. The Sala Terrena , however, was at risk of collapsing due to structural problems, and in the winter of 1732–33 Hildebrandt was forced to install a vaulted ceiling supported by four Atlas pillars, giving the room its current appearance. Salomon Kleiner, an engineer from the Mainz elector 's court, produced
3827-486: The Nazi regime, 65,000 Jews were deported and murdered in concentration camps by Nazi forces; approximately 130,000 fled. By 2001, 16% of people living in Austria had nationalities other than Austrian, nearly half of whom were from former Yugoslavia ; the next most numerous nationalities in Vienna were Turks (39,000; 2.5%), Poles (13,600; 0.9%) and Germans (12,700; 0.8%). As of 2012 , an official report from Statistics Austria showed that more than 660,000 (38.8%) of
3916-404: The Orangery have been specially adapted to stage special exhibitions. After winning an invitation-only competition, architect Susanne Zottl turned the Orangery into a modern exhibition hall whilst still preserving the building's original Baroque fabric. This venue opened in March 2007 with the exhibition Gartenlust: Der Garten in der Kunst ( Garden Pleasures: The Garden in Art ). A few months later
4005-413: The Parliament, the French in Hotel Kummer on Mariahilferstraße, the Americans in the National Bank , and the British in Schönnbrunn Palace . The division of the city was not comparable to that of Berlin . Although the borders between the sectors were marked, travel between them was freely possible. During the ten years of the four-power occupation, Vienna was a hotbed for international espionage between
4094-407: The Roman milestones, which had been stored in the catacombs of the Theseus Temple up to that point, were relocated to an open-air location in the Privy Garden. Watercolors by Carl Goebel the Younger pay testimony to the Lower Belvedere's beginnings as a museum, as does Joseph Bergmann 's descriptive guide to the collection that dates from 1846. This situation remained almost unchanged until the move to
4183-399: The Soviet troops started the Vienna offensive . The Red Army , who had previously marched through Hungary , first entered Vienna on 6 April. They first attacked the eastern and southern suburbs, before moving on to the western suburbs. By the 8th they had the center of the city surrounded. The following day the Soviets started with the infiltration of the city center. Fighting continued for
4272-519: The Union of Austrian Artists, known as the Vienna Secession . The aim was to juxtapose Austrian art with international modernism . From the outset, major works by Vincent van Gogh , Claude Monet , and Giovanni Segantini were bought for the Moderne Galerie. The museum was then renamed the k.u.k. Staatsgalerie (" Imperial and Royal Gallery") in 1911 after it was decided to expand the focus beyond modern art to include works from earlier eras. The assassination of heir-apparent Franz Ferdinand and his wife,
4361-422: The Viennese population have full or partial migrant background, mostly from Ex-Yugoslavia, Turkey, Germany, Poland, Romania and Hungary. From 2005 to 2015 the city's population grew by 10.1%. According to UN-Habitat , Vienna could be the fastest growing city out of 17 European metropolitan areas until 2025 with an increase of 4.65% of its population, compared to 2010. Religion in Vienna (2021) According to
4450-497: The Western and Southern regions of Austria. Vienna is composed of 23 districts ( Bezirke ). Administrative district offices in Vienna, called Magistratische Bezirksämter, serve functions similar to those in the other Austrian states (called Bezirkshauptmannschaften), the officers being subject to the mayor of Vienna; with the notable exception of the police, which is under federal supervision. Giovanni Stanetti Johann Stanety , known as Giovanni Stanetti (1663 – 19 July 1726)
4539-402: The capital of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918). In 1910, Vienna had more than two million inhabitants and was the third largest city in Europe after London and Paris. Around the start of the 20th century, Vienna was the city with the second-largest Czech population in the world (after Prague ). After World War I, many Czechs and Hungarians returned to their ancestral countries, resulting in
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#17328476147614628-404: The capital of what became the Austro-Hungarian Empire . The city functioned as a center of classical music, for which the title of the First Viennese School (Haydn/Mozart/Beethoven) is sometimes applied. During the latter half of the 19th century, Vienna developed what had previously been the bastions and glacis into the Ringstraße , a new boulevard surrounding the historical town and
4717-408: The central area of the city, known as the first district, constituted an international zone in which the four powers alternated control on a monthly basis. The city was policed by the four powers on a day-to-day basis using the "four soldiers in a jeep" method, which had one soldier from each nation sitting together. The four powers all had separate headquarters, the Soviets in Palais Epstein next to
4806-605: The chief architect for this project rather than Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach , the creator of his Stadtpalais. Hildebrandt (1668–1745), whom the general had met whilst engaged in a military campaign in Piedmont , had already built Ráckeve Palace for him in 1702 on Csepel , an island in the Danube south of Budapest . He later went on to build numerous other edifices in his service. The architect had studied civil engineering in Rome under Carlo Fontana and had gone into imperial service in 1695–96 in order to learn how to build fortifications. From 1696 onwards, records show that he
4895-410: The city were arrested. Adolf Eichmann held office in the expropriated Palais Rothschild and organized the expropriation and persecution of the Jews. Of the almost 200,000 Jews in Vienna, around 120,000 were driven to emigrate and around 65,000 were killed. After the end of the war, the Jewish population of Vienna was only about 5,000. In 1942 the city suffered its first air raid , carried out by
4984-456: The early part of the 20th century. Vienna was home to the world's first psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud . The historic center of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque palaces and gardens, and the late-19th-century Ringstraße , which is lined with grand buildings, monuments, and parks. In 2024, Vienna retained its position as most livable city per the Economist Intelligence Unit , and has spent every year since 2015 in
5073-411: The first half of the 20th century included, among many, the Vienna Secession movement in art, the Second Viennese School , the architecture of Adolf Loos , the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein , and the Vienna Circle . The city of Vienna became the center of socialist politics from 1919 to 1934, a period referred to as Red Vienna ( Das rote Wien ). After a new breed of socialist politicians won
5162-438: The following summer. Girard, who was employed as fontainier du roi, or the king's water engineer, in Versailles from 1707 to 1715, had started working as a garden inspector for the Bavarian elector Maximilian Emanuel from 1715 onwards. It was on the latter's recommendation that he entered Prince Eugene's employ. The statuary for the balustrade is the best known work of Giovanni Stanetti . The Belvedere Gardens were designed in
5251-408: The form of Vienna's great Schottenstift monastery (Scots Abbey), once home to many Irish monks. In 976, Leopold I of Babenberg became count of the Eastern March , a district centered on the Danube on the eastern frontier of Bavaria . This initial district grew into the duchy of Austria . Each succeeding Babenberg ruler expanded the march east along the Danube, eventually encompassing Vienna and
5340-440: The imperial collection in the Upper Belvedere up to 1891 when it was transferred to the newly built Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts) on Vienna's Ringstrasse. While the Upper Belvedere was transformed into a picture gallery at the end of the eighteenth century, the Lower Belvedere served chiefly to royal family members fleeing from the French Revolution . Most notably these included Princess Marie Thérèse Charlotte ,
5429-403: The influence of the Social Democratic Party . This led to a civil war between the right-wing government and socialist forces the following year, which started in Linz and quickly spread to Vienna. Socialist members of the Republikanischer Schutzbund barricaded themselves inside the housing estates and exchanged fire with the police and paramilitary groups. The fighting in Vienna ended after
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#17328476147615518-406: The interior started as early as 1718. In 1719 he commissioned the Italian painter Francesco Solimena to execute both the altarpiece for the Palace Chapel and the ceiling fresco in the Golden Room. In the same year Gaetano Fanti was commissioned to execute the illusionistic quadratura painting in the Marble Hall. In 1720 Carlo Carlone was entrusted with the task of painting the ceiling fresco in
5607-410: The land on the outskirts of Vienna for his Belvedere project, the area was completely undeveloped – an ideal place to construct a landscaped garden and summer palace. However, a month before the prince made his acquisition, the imperial Grand Marshal Count Heinrich Franz von Mansfeld , Prince of Fondi, purchased the neighboring plot and commissioned Hildebrandt to build a garden palace on the land. To buy
5696-420: The lands immediately east. In 1155, Henry II, Duke of Austria moved the Babenberg family residence with the founding of the Schottenstift from Klosterneuburg in Lower Austria to Vienna. From that time, Vienna remained the center of the Babenberg dynasty. Hungary occupied the city between 1485 and 1490. Vienna became at the turn to the 16th century the seat of the Aulic Council and subsequently later in
5785-410: The largest German-speaking cities in the world, being the largest in the 18th and 19th century, peaking at two million inhabitants before it was overtaken by Berlin at the beginning of the 20th century. Vienna is host to many major international organizations , including the United Nations, OPEC and the OSCE . In 2001, the city center was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site . In July 2017, it
5874-422: The local elections they engaged in a brief but ambitious municipal experiment. Social democrats had won an absolute majority in the May 1919 municipal election and commanded the city council with 100 of the 165 seats. Jakob Reumann was appointed by the city council as city mayor. The theoretical foundations of so-called Austromarxism were established by Otto Bauer , Karl Renner , and Max Adler . Red Vienna
5963-412: The meandering Danube while the city now spans both sides of the river. Elevation ranges from 151 to 542 m (495 to 1,778 ft). The city has a total area of 414.65 square kilometers (160.1 sq mi), making it the largest city in Austria by area. Vienna has a borderline oceanic ( Köppen : Cfb ) and humid continental climate ( Köppen : Dfb ), with some parts of the urban core being warm enough for
6052-412: The newly built Kunsthistorisches Museum in the Ringstrasse in 1888–89. Following the relocation of the imperial collections, both of the Belvedere Palaces ceased to be public museums for a while at least. In 1896, Emperor Franz Joseph I decided that the Upper Belvedere should serve as a residence for the heir to the throne, his nephew Franz Ferdinand . The heir presumptive had the palace remodeled under
6141-403: The outbreak of World War I , and the ensuing collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918 marked the start of a new era for the Belvedere. Shortly after the end of the war in November 1918, the art historian Franz Haberditzl submitted a request to the Ministry of Education, asking for the palaces to be left to the Staatsgalerie. This application was granted the very next year. The nationalization of
6230-415: The patterned bedding has long been grassed over; it is currently being restored. The painting View of Vienna from the Belvedere by Bernardo Bellotto depicts a famous perspective of the city center of Vienna called the Canaletto Blick . This view as seen from the Upper Belvedere Palace with the Gardens in the foreground still plays a significant role in urban planning discussions when it comes to altering
6319-517: The plot, Prince Eugene was forced to take out a large loan secured against his Stadtpalais, which was still in the process of being built. He bought additional neighboring areas of land in 1708, 1716, and again in 1717–18 to allow him to expand the garden in stages. Records indicate that the construction of the Lower Belvedere had started by 1712, as Prince Eugene submitted the request for a building inspection on 5 July 1713. Work proceeded swiftly, and Marcantonio Chiarini from Bologna started painting
6408-416: The poorly-matched couple divorced in 1744. Yet it was only when Princess Victoria finally decided to leave Vienna and return to her home city of Turin , Italy, eight years later that Maria Theresa , the daughter of Charles VI, was able to purchase the estate. The imperial couple never moved into the Gartenpalais, which was first described as the Belvedere in their sales contract of November 1752. The complex
6497-499: The population, and 200,000 (10.4%) Muslims, 70,298 (3.7%) Orthodox, 57,502 (3.0%) other Christians, and 9,504 (0.5%) other religions. A study conducted by the Vienna Institute of Demography estimated the 2018 proportions to be 34% Catholic, 30% unaffiliated, 15% Muslim, 10% Orthodox, 4% Protestant, and 6% other religions. As of the spring of 2014, Muslims made up 30% of the total proportion of schoolchildren in Vienna. Vienna
6586-672: The quadratura in the central hall in 1715. The ambassador from the Spanish Flanders visited the Lower Belvedere, as well as the Stadtpalais, in April 1716. Extensive work was carried out on the grounds at the same time as construction went ahead on the Lustschloss , as the Lower Belvedere was described on an early cityscape. Dominique Girard changed the plans for the garden significantly between January and May 1717, so that it could be completed by
6675-657: The ruling Habsburg dynasty. This period of prosperity followed on from the commander-in-chief Prince Eugene of Savoy's successful conclusion of a series of wars against the Ottoman Empire . On 30 November 1697, one year after commencing with the construction of the Stadtpalais , Prince Eugene purchased a sizable plot of land south of the Rennweg, the main road to Hungary. Plans for the Belvedere garden complex were drawn up immediately. The prince chose Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt as
6764-566: The same decade, Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky inaugurated the Vienna International Centre , a new area of the city created to host international institutions. Vienna has regained much of its former international stature by hosting international organisations, such as the United Nations. Because of the industrialization and migration from other parts of the Empire, the population of Vienna increased sharply during its time as
6853-459: The skyline of the historic city center. The construction of the Upper Belvedere began as early as 1717, as testified by two letters that Prince Eugene sent from Belgrade to his servant Benedetti in summer 1718, describing the progress of work on the palace. Construction was so far advanced by 2 October 1719 that the prince was able to receive the Turkish ambassador Ibrahim Pasha there. The decoration of
6942-528: The sole surviving child of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI , and Archduke Ferdinand. Marie Thérèse Charlotte resided in the palace until her marriage with Prince Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême , in 1799. Archduke Ferdinand, the former Governor of the Duchy of Milan up to 1796, went to live there after the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797. After the Habsburg Monarchy was forced to cede Tyrol to Bavaria in
7031-768: The streets. This culminated in the Kristallnacht , a nationwide pogrom against the Jews carried out by the Schutzstaffel and the Sturmabteilung , with support of the Hitler Youth and German civilians. All synagogues and prayer houses in the city were destroyed, bar the Stadttempel , due to its proximity to residential buildings. Vienna lost its status as a capital to Berlin , as Austria had ceased to exist. The few resistors in
7120-458: The supervision of the architect Emil von Förster , who was also imperial undersecretary, and it served from that point onwards as Franz Ferdinand's residence. By contrast, the Moderne Galerie was opened a few years later, on 2 May 1903, in the Lower Belvedere. This museum was the first state collection in Austria that was exclusively dedicated to modern art and came about upon the instigation of
7209-549: The top 2 places, bar 2021 due to the COVID-19 lockdowns . The place is mentioned as Οϋι[νδ]όβονα (Oui[nd]obona) in the 2nd century AD (Ptolemy, Geography , II, 14, 3); Vindobona in the 3rd century ( Itinerarium Antonini Augusti 233, 8); Vindobona in the 4th century ( Tabula Peutingeriana , V, 1); Vindomana ab. 400 ( Notitia Dignitatum , 145, 16); Vindomina, Vendomina in the 6th century ( Jordanes , De origine actibusque Getarum , 50, 264). The English name Vienna
7298-486: The Österreichische Galerie reopened, followed by the Baroque Museum. The Museum mittelalterlicher österreichischer Kunst ("Museum of Medieval Austrian Art") opened in the Orangery on 5 December 1953. In 1996, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) released a report citing inadequate postwar restorations that had left the sala terrena and grand staircase without "much of their original character." That same year, it added
7387-719: Was an Austrian sculptor who learned his craft in Venice. His most famous works are the sculptures and balustrade of the Lower Belvedere, in the Belvedere Castle, Vienna. He was born in Oberglogau (Głogówek) near Neustadt (Prudnik), Upper Silesia , which was then part of Austria. He had a sculpture workshop in Venice . Prince Eugene of Savoy managed to persuade him to move to Vienna, along with his workshop. From 1700 to 1721, in collaboration with architect Lukas von Hildebrandt , he created
7476-612: Was elevated to a municipium with Roman city rights in 212. This was followed by a time in the sphere of influence of the Lombards and later the Pannonian Avars , when Slavs formed the majority of the region's population. From the 8th century on, the region was settled by the Baiuvarii . In 1155, Vienna became the seat of the Babenbergs , who ruled Austria from 976 to 1246. In 1221, Vienna
7565-709: Was employed as a court architect in Vienna. As well as the Belvedere, Hildebrandt's most outstanding achievements include the Schloss Hof Palace, which was also commissioned by Prince Eugene, the Schwarzenberg Palace (formerly known as the Mansfeld–Fondi Palace), the Kinsky Palace , as well as the entire Göttweig Monastery estate in the Wachau Valley. At the time that the prince was planning to buy
7654-596: Was granted city rights. During the 16th century, the Habsburgs , who had succeeded the Babenbergs, established Vienna as the seat of the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire , a position it held until the empire's dissolution in 1806, with only a brief interruption. With the formation of the Austrian Empire in 1804, Vienna became the capital of it and all its successor states. Throughout the modern era Vienna has been among
7743-483: Was moved to the list of World Heritage in Danger . Vienna has been called the "City of Music" due to its musical legacy, as many famous classical musicians such as Beethoven , Brahms , Bruckner , Haydn , Mahler , Mozart , Schoenberg , Schubert , Johann Strauss I and Johann Strauss II lived and worked there. It played a pivotal role as a leading European music center, from the age of Viennese Classicism through
7832-622: Was opened in the Orangery in 1929. The palaces suffered considerable damage during World War II , with parts of the Marble Hall in the Upper Belvedere and the Hall of Grotesques in the Lower Belvedere destroyed by bombs. Postwar restoration extended from 1945 to 1953, during which time, in 1950, a major fire beginning in the Golden Chamber on the upper floor of Upper Belvedere destroyed several important rooms and works displayed there. On 4 February 1953,
7921-451: Was somewhat eclipsed by the other imperial palaces, and at first the buildings were left unused. Maria Theresa later created an ancestors' gallery of the Habsburg dynasty in the Lower Belvedere, as was the custom in all other palaces belonging to the imperial family. The palace was only once awakened from its slumbers in 1770 when a masked ball was staged there on 17 April to mark the occasion of
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