Guide of Vienna
Presentation of ViennA
Vienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria. It is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. As the former home of the Habsburg court and its various empires, the city still has the trappings of the imperial capital it once was, and the historic city centre is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Traditional Vienna is one of the many façades of this city, the downtown area of which is a UNESCO world heritage site and is sometimes compared to an open air museum. But Vienna is also a dynamic young city, famous for its (electronic) music scene with independent labels, cult-status underground record stores, a vibrant club scene, multitudes of street performers.
Vienna is also famous for its coffee culture. "Let's have a coffee" is a very commonly heard phrase, because despite incursions by Starbucks and Italian-style espresso bars, the Kaffeehauskultur is still the traditional way to drink a cup of coffee, read the newspaper, meet friends, or fall in love.
History of Vienna
After 1945, Vienna again became the capital of Austria, was initially divided into zones by the four powers, and was governed by the Allied Commission for Austria. The four-power occupation of Vienna differed in some respects from the four-power occupation of Berlin: the central area of Vienna had an international zone in which the four powers alternated on a monthly basis. When the Berlin blockade occurred in 1948, Vienna was even more vulnerable because there was no airport in the western sectors. However, despite fears, the Soviets did not blockade Vienna. Some have argued that this was because the Potsdam Agreement gave written rights of land access to the western sectors, whereas no such written guarantees had been given regarding Berlin. The true reason will, however, always remain a matter of speculation. During the 10 years of foreign occupation, Vienna became a hot-bed for international espionage between the Western and Eastern blocs. The atmosphere of four-power Vienna is captured in the Graham Greene novel The Third Man and by the movie which followed.
In the 1970s, Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky inaugurated the Vienna International Centre, a new area of the city created to host international institutions. Vienna has regained a part of its former international relevance by hosting international organizations, such as the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
See the full history of Vienna on Wikipedia
Sister cities of Vienna
Tunis inTunisia
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