capital of Austria=Vienna,

If you visit Vienna Austria you find the traces of the habsburger monarchy everywhere. Here was the seat of the mighty souvereigns of the past centuries. But also the vienna coffee shops, called “Kaffeehaus” and the cultural life are famous. Every visitor feels the special flair of this metropolis with its pleasant charme.

Vienna is the capital of austria with 2.4 millions inhabitants. It lies in the north-east of austria near the eastern alps and divided by the river danube. The distance to Munich and Vienna is about 440 km and to Prague about 290 km. Vienna has excellent traffic connections. The vienna international airport is only 20 minutes from the city and can be reached by train or bus or the special CAT, the city airport train which is a high speed railway.

A few historical facts

• 100 p.C. the romans founded a military camp called Vindobona in today’s heart of the city of vienna. 1220 Vienna became one of the most important towns of the empire and the inner citywall was built 1529 the Turks occupied with more than 100,000 soldiers the town of Vienna for many months. But they didn’t succeed.
• 1679 a terrible plague epedemy raged in Vienna and left almost 50,000 victims.
• 1683 the second invasion of the Turks could be stroken back after 6 months of hard battles.
• 1740 – 1780 Maria Theresia of Habsburg ruled over the Habsburg empire and started a lot of reforms and improvements for the people.
• 1781 – 1791 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lived and worked in Vienna and composed his most important opus.
• 1791 he died in Vienna and was buried on cementary St. Marx.
• 1814/1815 Congress of Vienna. This was the convention of the monarchs and representatives of the most important states for political reorganisation of Europe after the Napolean wars.
• 1828 – 1898 The regency of the famous empress Elisabeth, called Sisi, the real queen of hearts.

Interesting Sightseeing Attractions

Vienna austria offers many sights worth seeing- from imperialistic monumental buildings and palaces to museums and opera houses. The cultural and social life in the inner city has the special flair of vienna. The Stephansdom is the landmark of vienna and austria’s most important gothic building. The dome embraces a lot of art treasures which can be admired in guided tours. The construction had begun in thirteenth century and lasted over two hundred years.

Under the Kapuzinerkirche at the place Neuer Markt is the Kaisergruft. Since 1633 members of the Habsburger dynasty lie in this famous graves. In 1989 the last of 145 persons was empress Zita, the wife of the last austrian emperor Karl I was buried here.

Walking through the Dorotheergasse where you can find many interesting shops for antiquities you reach the church Augustinerkirche. This was a private church of the Hapsburger where they celebrated many weddings of the emperor’s family. So for example the wedding of 16 year old Sissi with emperor Franz Joseph I in the year 1854.

Through narrow Old Town lanes one reaches the Kohlmarkt, vienna’s noblest shopping mile. Here is the traditional and famous Kaffehaus Demel. The former bakery provided the empress Sissi with fantastic sweets as for example a lilac coloured icecream made of the flowers violets.

More than seven centuries the Hapsburg emperors reigned their imperium from the Hofburg. The castle-chapell remembers the middle age. Here sings the world famous vienna boys choir, the Wiener Sängerknaben on sundays. The Hofburg was a castle built in the thirteenth century, but was modified by the family of the Habsburger as a magnificent residence. Today the official residence of the federal president is located there as well as a important congress center and a great number of art collections.

The spanish riding school in vienna is also situated in the Hofburg.It is the only institution in the world where the classical riding skills of the renaissance until today is preserved and exercised. The world famous Lipizzan horses show their arts in performances in the wonderful baroque riding hall.

Another center of attraction is palace Schönbrunn, the former summer residence of the emperor’s family. The palace is one of the most beautiful baroque buildings in Europe. The enormous wide park offers a palm house, a labyrinth and a famous zoo. The palace counts because of its historical importance and his unique equipment to the UNESCO – Cultural Heritage of the world.