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Historic Centre of Vienna
Site number:
1033
Type of site: Cultural
Date: Celtic-20th cen
Date of Inscription: 2001
Location: Europe, Austria, Vienna
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Description: From early Celtic and Roman settlements Vienna developed into a Medieval and Baroque city, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. From the grand age of Viennese Classicism all the way through to early 20th century, Vienna held the role of Europe’s musical centre. The city’s historic centre is rich in architectural illustrations, with Baroque castles and gardens, a late-19th-century Ringstrasse lined with luxurious buildings, and countless monuments and parks. --WHMNet paraphrase from the description at WHC Site, where additional information is available. For 360 degree imaging of this site, click here.
  Vienna (German: Wien) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primate city; with a population of about 1.7 million (2.3 million within the metropolitan area), and is by far the largest city in Austria as well as its cultural, economic and political centre. Vienna lies in the very east of Austria and is close to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an Economist Intelligence Unit study of 127 world cities ranked it third for quality of life. Founded around 500 BC, Vienna was originally a Celtic settlement. In 15 BC, Vienna became a Roman frontier city ("Vindobona") guarding the Roman Empire against Germanic tribes to the north. During the Middle Ages, Vienna was home of the Babenberg Dynasty and in 1440 became residence city of the Habsburg dynasties from where Vienna eventually grew to become the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and a cultural centre for arts and science, music and fine cuisine. The Ottoman conquers of Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries were stopped twice just outside Vienna (see Siege of Vienna, 1529 and Battle of Vienna, 1683). In 1804, Vienna became capital of the Austrian Empire and continued to play a major role in European and World politics, including hosting the 1815 Congress of Vienna. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 Vienna remained the capital of what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During the latter half of the 19th Century the city developed what had previously been the bastions and glacis into the Ringstraße, a major prestige project. In 1918, after World War I, Vienna became capital of the First Austrian Republic. During the 1920s and 1930s it was a bastion of Socialism in Austria, and became known as "Red Vienna." The city was stage to the Austrian Civil War of 1934, when Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss sent the Army to shell civilian housing occupied by the socialist militia. In 1938, after a triumphant entry into Austria, Adolf Hitler famously spoke to the Austrian people from the balcony of the Neue Burg, a part of the Hofburg at the Heldenplatz. Between 1938 (Anschluß) and the end of the Second World War, Vienna lost its status as a capital to Berlin. In 1945, the Vienna Offensive was successfully launched by the Soviets against the Germans holding Vienna. The city was besieged for about two weeks before it fell to the Soviets. After 1945, Vienna again became the capital of Austria. --Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. For 360 degree imaging of this site, click here.
Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1033
Reference: 1. UNESCO World Heritage Center, Site Page.
 
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