History History

To the north of the river, between the Pre-Alps and Pannonia, this site appears favourable for early human occupation and settlement. Archaeological excavations attest, indeed, to the first settlements as early as the Palaeolithic period. Similarly, permanent human occupation of this area with its favourable climate and fertile soils has been proven since the Neolithic period.

First settlers, the Celts arrived in the basin and developed a city they called Vindobona, which means white city.

It's the Romans' turn to colonize the area. Vindobona, like the whole of the ancient Norse kingdom of the Celts, was annexed to the Roman Empire and became an important military post within the province of Pannonia. As early as 97, a Roman camp was established there. As the Danube became the new natural frontier of the Roman Empire, fortifications were built along the river, while on the other side of the Danube a Germanic city developed. The Graben or moat is believed to be the site of an ancient Roman protective moat. During the conflicts with the Marcomans, Emperor Marcus Aurelius set up his headquarters in Vindobona. It is here that he died in the year 180.

In 212, this small centre for crafts and viticulture obtained the status of municipium, a town of Roman citizens with the right to vote and administration. The city remained under the control of the Roman Empire until the^5th century. On the borders of the Empire, Vindobona, a small strategic city with prosperous trade, is coveted. It will not resist the barbarian invasions. The Avars, a Germanic people, take possession of the territory they dominate for two centuries, from the 6th to the 8th century.

Exit Vindobona! We don't know exactly when the Celtic and then Roman denomination of the city disappeared. However, the first written reference to Wien (Vienna) dates back to the Middle Ages. In the annals of Salzburg of 881, an episode mentions a battle apud Weniam against the Magyars. Weniam can be translated as a forest stream. But there is still doubt as to whether Wenian then refers to the river named Wien or already to the city it waters. Today, in any case, people talk about the city of Vienna and rarely about the brook. For a long time, the brook served as a driving force for the mills before it was channelled and domesticated. Now partly covered in the city, it is now emerging wild and rich in biodiversity in the 13th district with a 7 km path along the banks in an oasis of greenery.

Integrated on the eastern border of the Germanic territories, within the Carolingian Empire, Vienna lost its influence during the High Middle Ages, under the Holy Roman Empire. It regained its splendour by becoming the fief of the Dukes of Babenberg, then of the Habsburgs, Germanic emperors of the area from 1437.

Acquired during the Reformation, Vienna was again Catholicised by the Habsburgs in 1551, becoming the political centre of the Counter-Reformation. But this radiant capital attracted the covetousness of the Ottomans. Twice the Ottoman armies besieged it: in 1529, under Suleiman the Magnificent, then in 1683, when Vienna was saved in extremis by the army of the Polish king John III Sobieski.

It is the time of classicism and splendour during the reign of the great Empress Maria Theresa. The noble families had sumptuous palaces built. Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (1656-1723) was the principal architect of this new baroque Vienna, but let us not forget his rival, Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, official court architect from 1700, who designed many palaces. Vienna became one of the cultural capitals of the German world, the city of Haydn and Mozart, at a time when the decline of the Habsburgs was beginning in the face of the rise of Prussia.

The troops of Emperor Franz II were defeated by the French at the battles of Austerlitz and Pressburg. After the dissolution of the former Holy Roman Empire in 1806, Vienna became the capital of the new Austrian Empire. The fighting was still raging. In 1809, Napoleon and his troops triumphed against the Archduke Charles of Austria-Teschen at Wagram (nearly 80,000 dead), 10 km northeast of Vienna. The way is clear, Napoleon, even very weakened, besieges the city. He was finally defeated in 1813. The Congress of Vienna in 1815 redefined the borders of Europe and also democratized... the waltz of Vienna. Between two meetings the Congress danced, according to the formula that became famous, adopting this new dance for two, romantic and still decried by the good society. A powerful bourgeois culture developed, and the city modernized with the arrival of the tramway, the construction of the Danube Canal, the electrification of the city and a redevelopment of the city around the main boulevards. Vienna became industrialized while social problems emerged. The proletariat lived in miserable neighborhoods, while the imperial family, with the famous Franz Josef and Sissi, danced in splendor.

The Austrian Empire gave birth to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Franz Josef I (1830-1916), the unhappy husband of the romantic and popular Sissi, was named Emperor of Austria and Apostolic King of Hungary. This member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine ruled Austria and Hungary from 1848 to 1916, and presided over the German Confederation from 1850 to 1866. Franz Josef I^preserved the imperial values while giving some new advantages to the people. He opened the gates to the balls and the gates of the Prater. The kingdoms of Austria and Hungary concretized their equality during the signature of the Compromise of 1867. Following this treaty, Vienna became the capital of the new empire. In 1873, Vienna hosted the World's Fair and, for the occasion, built its beautiful opera house. The empire continued to expand until the First World War and its capital developed into a major cultural center in Europe, a melting pot of intellectual and artistic creativity. Between 1870 and 1910, Vienna became urbanized and its population doubled from 1 to 2 million inhabitants. The 1914-1918 war stopped the cultural effervescence and the expansion of Vienna. At the end of the war, it is the social crisis which takes the top. Austria became a republic

At the end of the war, the country was ruined and its territory divided. When the Republic of Austria was created in 1919, Vienna became its capital. The 1920s were the years of "Red Vienna" and of Austro-Marxism. In the 1920s and 1930s, urbanization was accompanied by pioneering architectural achievements for social housing. The Karl Marx Hof is the most famous Viennese social housing, built between 1926 and 1933 by Karl Ehn, a student of Otto Wagner, champion of Art Nouveau.

The 1930s saw the rise of fascism. Following the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria by the Third Reich in 1938, Vienna became part of Nazi Germany. Of Vienna's 200,000 Jews, 120,000 were forced into exile and 60,000 perished in Nazi camps. The Allied powers liberated Vienna, which was then divided into four regions, each governed by one of the victorious countries.

The city was freed from this hold in 1955. Having become independent, the country immediately declared its perpetual neutrality and its capital was transformed to host international meetings and the headquarters of several United Nations bodies. Reconstruction was driven by the economic miracle of the 1960s: Vienna prospered and innovated. Postmodern literature, with Thomas Bernhard, Peter Handke and Elfriede Jelinek, made its contribution, while the artist Hundertwasser made the utopia of a new social habitat a reality. It is the construction of the international city, the third seat of the UN, green spaces, the underground: Vienna turns its back on classicism while retaining its dynamism and audacity. After 1989, it resumed its role as regional capital by welcoming many immigrants from South-Eastern Europe.

In 2001, the center of Vienna was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The new century also saw the birth of a sublime cultural and popular complex with the creation of the MuseumsQuartier.

For the tenth year in a row, Vienna wins first place in the Mercer World Rankings of the Most Liveable City! Quality of life, a secure economic and political climate, modern infrastructure and transport, cultural and sports leisure facilities, and good environmental conditions are all assets that attract and satisfy millions of visitors and inhabitants every year. However, a shadow in the picture is the rise of populism, which worries the advocates of enlightened democracy and cultural freedom.

In the 2020 municipal elections, the left came out on top and the far right collapsed.