Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]; Hungarian: Bécs, Czech: Vídeň, Slovak: Viedeň, Romany Vidnya; Serbian: Beč) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austria's nine states (Land Wien). With a population of about 1.6 million, Vienna is the largest city and the cultural and political centre of Austria. Situated on both sides of the river Danube, Vienna is 60 kilometres (37 miles) from the Austrian-Slovak border, i.e. also from the Slovak capital, Bratislava. Vienna is surrounded by the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is one of the best-known cities in Europe and has a prominent place in the history of Western civilization, world culture and history.

Many United Nations offices and international institutions and companies are located in Vienna, including the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

During the Cold War, Vienna was a hotbed of international espionage because of its location in neutral Austria, between the Western and Eastern blocs.

History

Vienna was originally the Celtic settlement "Uindobona" 'Fair Bottomland' (Modern Irish *Fionnbhun) founded around 500 BC. In 15 BC, it became a frontier city ("Vindobona") guarding the Roman Empire against the German tribes to the north. In the Middle Ages, it became the home of the Babenberg and, later, the Habsburg dynasties and through the latter the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Ottoman Turkish invasions of Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries were stopped twice at Vienna. See the Siege of Vienna (1529) and the Battle of Vienna (1683). In 1815, Vienna was the site of the Congress of Vienna which redrew national boundaries in Europe after the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo.

During the Cold War, Vienna was a hotbed of international espionage because of its location in neutral Austria, between the Western and Eastern blocs.

Other famous Viennese features include the Lipizzaner stallions of the Spanish Riding School, the Vienna Boys' Choir (Wiener Sängerknaben), Wiener Schnitzel, Sachertorte, and various pastries. Viennese cafes claim to have invented the process of filtering coffee from the captured baggage after the second Turkish siege in 1683.

Culture

Music, Theatre and Opera
Art and culture have a long tradition in Vienna, in the areas of theatre, opera and the fine arts. Aside from the Burgtheater which, together with its branch, the Akademie theater is considered one of the best theatres in the German-speaking world, the Volkstheater and the Theater in der Josefstadt also offer high-quality theatre entertainment. Also, there is a multitude of smaller theatres, often equal in quality to their larger counterparts and in many cases devoted to less mainstream forms of performing arts such as modern, experimental plays or cabaret.

Vienna also offers a great many opportunities for fans of the opera: The Staatsoper and the Volksoper offer something for everyone, the latter being especially devoted to the typical Viennese operetta. Concerts of classical music are performed, among others, in the well - known Great Hall of the Wiener Musikverein and in the Wiener Konzerthaus. In addition, various concert venues offer concerts aimed at visitors, featuring the best known highlights of Viennese music (particularly the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Strauss).

In recent years, the Theater an der Wien has become widely known for hosting premieres of musicals. The most successful by far was "Elisabeth" which was afterwards translated into several foreign languages and performed all over the world. With the opening of the Haus der Musik in 2000, Vienna also has a "Museum of Sound" for all ages now.

Finally, many Roman Catholic churches in central Vienna feature performances of religious or other music, including masses sung with classical music and organ.

Museums

In the Hofburg, the Sisi Museum allows visitors to see the Imperial apartments as well as the silver cabinet. Directly opposite the Hofburg is the Kunsthistorisches Museum (along with Vienna's Natural History Museum) that houses multiple paintings by the old masters.

Albertina in Vienna

The group is completed by the Museumsquartier, the former Imperial Stalls which were converted into a complex of museums in the 1990s. This houses the Museum of Modern Art (Ludwig Foundation), the Leopold Museum (which primarily displays works of the Viennese Secession, Viennese Modernism, and Austrian Expressionism), and additional halls with changing exhibitions as well as the Tanzquartier. The Liechtenstein Palace presents one of the world's largest private art collections. Additionally there are a multitude of other museums, from the Military History Museum to the Technical Museum, from the Vienna Clock Museum to the Burial Museum. The museums of Vienna's districts are not to be missed as they offer a view into the history of their respective Bezirke.

Architecture

There are buildings of all architectural styles in Vienna, from the Romanesque Ruprechtskirche to the Baroque Karlskirche, and classicist buildings all the way through to modern architecture. Likewise, Art Nouveau left many architectural traces in Vienna. The Secession, Karlsplatz Metropolitan Railway Station, and the Kirche am Steinhof by Otto Wagner rank among the best known examples of Art Nouveau in the world.