Vienna Introduction

City Introduction

Vienna is the capital as well as the largest city of Austria. The city is situated in north-east Austria alongside the Danube river with approximately 1.8 million inhabitants. It is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Until the beginning of the 20th century, it was the largest German-speaking city in the world, and before the splitting of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I, the city had 2 million inhabitants. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin. Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the eastern part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. Apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be "The City of Dreams" because it was home to the world's first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud.

(Image source: www.wien.info)

History

A fortified Celtic settlement at the premises of nowadays Vienna was Roman coin founded around 500 BC and was known as “Vedunia”. Around 15 BC Vienna came under Roman dominance and was from then on dedicated as a frontier city to guard the external borders. Between 1938 (after the Anschluss) and the end of the Second World War, Vienna lost its status as a capital as Austria ceased to exist and became a part of Nazi Germany. It was not until 1955 that Austria gained full sovereignty.

Natural Environment

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 the meandering Danube while the city now spans both sides of the river. Elevation ranges from 151 to 542 m. The city has a total area of 414.65 square kilometers, making it the largest city in Austria by area.

Climate

Vienna has a mild continental climate. With warm winter and cool summer, it enjoys small temperature differences during a year.Even if the occasional winter day is icy and some days in high summer can bring sweltering heat to the palaces of the old city, most days of the year the weather matches the residents of the city: friendly, mild and moderate in every respect.

Holidays:

1 Jan. New Year's Day

6 Jan. Epiphany

1 May May Day

Ascension Day

Whit Monday

Corpus Christi

15 Aug. Assumption Day

26 Oct. Austrian National Day

1 Nov. All Saints' Day

8 Dec. Feast of the Immaculate Conception (shops open)

25 Dec. Christmas