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87-526: Kaunitz was born in Vienna , Austria , one of 19 children of Maximilian Ulrich, third Count of Kaunitz (1679–1746), and his consort Marie Ernestine, née Countess of Ostfriesland and Rietberg (1687–1758), an heiress of the House of Cirksena . The Kaunitz family ( Kounicové ) belonged to an ancient Czech nobility and, like the related Martinic dynasty , derived its lineage from the medieval Vršovci clan in

174-907: A chamberlain of the Habsburg emperor Charles VI , and continued his education for some years by a Grand Tour to Berlin , the Netherlands , Italy , Paris , and England . Back in Vienna, he was appointed a member of the Imperial Aulic Council in 1735. At the Imperial Diet of Regensburg ( Ratisbon ) in 1739, he was one of the emperor's commissaries. During the War of the Austrian Succession , in March 1741, he

261-463: A humid subtropical ( Köppen : Cfa ) classification. The city has warm, showery summers, with average high temperatures ranging between 25 to 27 °C (77 to 81 °F) and a record maximum exceeding 38 °C (100 °F). Winters are relatively dry and cold with average temperatures at about freezing point. Spring is variable and autumn cool, with a chance of snow in November. Precipitation

348-555: A decisive victory was not achieved. From about 1760, gradual exhaustion of all forces became obvious, and Kaunitz reacted by depriving his long-time foe Court Chancellor Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz of his powers. He replaced the office by founding the Austrian Council of State ( Staatsrat ) in 1761, overseeing the reorganization of the Austrian Army. Nevertheless, when the new tsar Peter III of Russia left

435-644: A decline in the Viennese population. After World War II, the Soviets used force to repatriate key workers of Czech, Slovak and Hungarian origins to return to their ethnic homelands to further the Soviet bloc economy. The population of Vienna generally stagnated or declined through the remainder of the 20th century, not demonstrating significant growth again until the census of 2000. In 2020, Vienna's population remained significantly below its reported peak in 1916. Under

522-776: A different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene speakers call the city Dunaj , which in other Central European Slavic languages means the river Danube , on which the city stands. Duchy of Austria 1156–1453 [REDACTED] Archduchy of Austria 1453–1485, 1490–1804 [REDACTED]   Principality of Hungary 1485–1490 [REDACTED]   Austrian Empire 1804–1867 [REDACTED]   Austria-Hungary 1867–1918 [REDACTED]   First Austrian Republic 1919–1934 [REDACTED]   Federal State of Austria 1934–1938 [REDACTED]   Nazi Germany 1938–1945 [REDACTED] Allied-occupied Austria 1945–1955 [REDACTED]   Austria 1955–present In

609-705: A few more days until the Soviet Navy ’s Danube Flotilla naval force arrived with reinforcements. The remaining defending soldiers surrendered that same day. After the war, Vienna was part of Soviet-occupied Eastern Austria until September 1945. That month, Vienna was divided into sectors by the four powers: the US, the UK, France, and the Soviet Union and supervised by an Allied Commission . The four-power occupation of Vienna differed in one key respect from that of Berlin:

696-618: A grandson through the same; a stillborn daughter by an unnamed mistress; a son, Charles Frédéric, by an unnamed mistress; a son, Jean Nicholas, and a daughter, Anne Françoise, by an unnamed mistress. With his mistress Regina Elisabeth Bartholotti von Porthenfeld (b.1725) he had a daughter, Maria Regina Johanna von Merey, later Baroness von Hackelberg-Landau (1744-1779). Some of his children were known to have lived in Dutch-speaking parts of Belgium temporarily or permanently. This included his first son Charles Alexandre Guillaume Joseph, who

783-642: A major prestige project. Former suburbs were incorporated, and the city of Vienna grew dramatically. In 1918, after World War I , Vienna became capital of the Republic of German-Austria , and then in 1919 of the First Republic of Austria . From the late-19th century to 1938, the city remained a center of high culture and of modernism . A world capital of music, Vienna played host to composers such as Johannes Brahms , Anton Bruckner , Gustav Mahler , and Richard Strauss . The city's cultural contributions in

870-642: A novel and published it. Occupied Vienna is also depicted in the 1991 Philip Kerr novel, A German Requiem . The four-power control of Vienna lasted until the Austrian State Treaty was signed in May 1955 and came into force on 27 July 1955. By October, all soldiers had left the country. That year, after years of reconstruction and restoration, the State Opera and the Burgtheater , both on

957-528: A riot broke out in the city. The protestors, enraged by the decision, set the Palace of Justice ablaze. The police attempted to end the revolt with force and killed at least 84 protestors, with 5 policemen also dying. In 1933, right-wing Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss dissolved the parliament , essentially letting him run the country as a dictatorship , banned the Communist Party and severely limited

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1044-479: A situation in which his mistress Elisabeth de Vaux and their children had to be kept secret. His children were to present themselves only under the surnames of their mothers in public if they were in the Netherlands. Though there is obscurity about his private affairs after the death of Maria Anna, it is known that from his mistress Elisabeth de Vaux, Charles had a son, Charles Alexandre Guillaume Joseph, and

1131-493: A successor in the office of State Chancellor, Prince Klemens von Metternich . As the second son, it was at first intended that Wenzel Anton should become a clergyman, and at thirteen he held a canonry at the Westphalian Diocese of Münster . With the death of his elder brother, however, he decided on a secular career, and studied law and diplomacy at the universities of Vienna , Leipzig and Leiden . He became

1218-671: A third of its population. In 1804, during the Napoleonic Wars , Vienna became the capital of the newly formed Austrian Empire . The city continued to play a major role in European and world politics, including hosting the Congress of Vienna in 1814–15. The city also saw major uprisings against Habsburg rule in 1848 , which were suppressed. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 , Vienna remained

1305-659: A widespread prehistorical cult of Vindos , a Celtic deity who survives in Irish mythology as the warrior and seer Fionn mac Cumhaill. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech , Slovak , Polish and Ukrainian names of the city ( Vídeň , Viedeň , Wiedeń and Відень respectively) and in that of the city's district Wieden . The name of the city in Hungarian ( Bécs ), Serbo-Croatian ( Beč , Беч ) and Ottoman Turkish ( بچ , Beç ) has

1392-728: Is borrowed from the homonymous Italian name. The German name Wien comes from the name of the river Wien , mentioned ad UUeniam in 881 ( Wenia- in modern writing). The name of the Roman settlement on the same emplacement is of Celtic extraction Vindobona , probably meaning "white village, white settlement" from Celtic roots, vindo- , meaning "white" (Old Irish find "white", Welsh gwyn / gwenn , Old Breton guinn "white, bright" > Breton gwenn "white"), and -bona "foundation, settlement, village", related to Old Irish bun "base, foundation" and Welsh bon , same meaning. The Celtic word vindos may reflect

1479-456: Is completely surrounded by Lower Austria , and lies around 50 km (31 mi) west of Slovakia and its capital Bratislava , 60 km (37 mi) northwest of Hungary , and 60 km (37 mi) south of Moravia ( Czech Republic ). The once Celtic settlement of Vedunia was converted by the Romans into the castrum Vindobona (province of Pannonia ) in the 1st century, and

1566-467: Is generally moderate throughout the year, averaging around 600 mm (23.6 in) annually, with considerable local variations, the Vienna Woods region in the west being the wettest part (700 to 800 mm (28 to 31 in) annually) and the flat plains in the east being the driest part (500 to 550 mm (20 to 22 in) annually). Snow in winter is common, even if not so frequent compared to

1653-687: Is lost for all time"). In 1777, Joseph's hasty military action led to the War of the Bavarian Succession . When the Austrian position became untenable, Kaunitz carried the peace negotiations on his own initiative; by the 1779 Treaty of Teschen , he won the Bavarian Innviertel region for Austria. In Imperial matters, he was able to dominate the Perpetual Diet of Regensburg ; in 1780 he was also successful in placing

1740-500: Is perhaps most well known for its Gemeindebauten , public housing buildings. Between 1925 and 1934, over 60,000 new apartments were built in the Gemeindebauten. Apartments were assigned on the basis of a point system favoring families and less affluent citizens. In July 1927 , after three nationalist far-right paramilitary members were acquitted of the killing of two social democratic Republikanischer Schutzbund members,

1827-612: Is plentiful. Remains of the military camp have been found under the city, as well as fragments of the canal system and figurines. Close ties with other Celtic peoples continued through the ages. The Irish monk Saint Colman (or Koloman, Irish Colmán , derived from colm "dove") is buried in Melk Abbey and Saint Fergil (Virgil the Geometer) served as Bishop of Salzburg for forty years. Irish Benedictines founded twelfth-century monastic settlements; evidence of these ties persists in

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1914-413: Is the capital, most populous city , and one of nine federal states of Austria . It is Austria's primate city , with just over two million inhabitants. Its larger metropolitan area has a population of nearly 2.9 million, representing nearly one-third of the country's population. Vienna is the cultural , economic , and political center of the country, the fifth-largest city by population in

2001-600: Is the seat of the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna , in which is also vested the exempt Ordinariate for Byzantine-Rite Catholics in Austria; its Archbishop is Cardinal Christoph Schönborn . Many Catholic Churches in central Vienna feature performances of religious or other music, including masses sung to classical music and organ. Some of Vienna's most significant historical buildings are Catholic churches, including

2088-618: The Lumières movement and several Encyclopédistes . Staying in France until 1752, he co-operated in laying the groundwork for the future Bourbon-Habsburg alliance. Kaunitz's most important and influential office was that of State Chancellor and minister of foreign affairs, which he held from 1753 to 1792 and where he had Empress Maria Theresa's full trust—against the opposition of her husband, Francis Stephen. He had reluctantly accepted his appointment and demanded complete freedom to re-organise

2175-908: The Austrian Armed Forces shelled the Karl-Marx-Hof , a civilian housing estate, and the Schutzbund surrendered. On 15 March 1938, three days after German troops had first entered Austria, Adolf Hitler arrived in Vienna. 200,000 Austrians greeted him at the Heldenplatz , where he held a speech from a balcony in the Neue Burg, in which he announced that Austria would be absorbed into Nazi Germany . The persecution of Jews started almost immediately, Viennese Jews were harassed and hounded, their homes and businesses plundered. Some were forced to scrub pro-independence slogans off

2262-552: The Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium). Although Maria Anna died later the same year after marriage, Charles' popularity and lack of clear replacement allowed him to continue as governor and de facto sovereign until his own death in 1780. Charles also became Grand Master of the Teutonic Order in 1761. During the War of the Austrian Succession , he was one of the principal Austrian military commanders. He

2349-793: The Duchy of Lorraine to the ex-Polish king Stanisław Leszczyński in exchange for the Grand Duchy of Tuscany as one of the terms ending the War of the Polish Succession in November 1738, the ducal title to Lorraine and Bar passed beyond Charles to King Louis XV of France upon Leszczynski's death in 1766, though Francis and his successors retained the right to style themselves as dukes of Lorraine and Bar. On 7 January 1744 he married Maria Theresa's only sister, Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria , thus making him doubly Maria Theresa's brother-in-law. The couple were jointly made Governors of

2436-750: The European Union , and the most-populous of the cities on the Danube river . The city lies on the eastern edge of the Vienna Woods ( Wienerwald ), the northeasternmost foothills of the Alps , that separate Vienna from the more western parts of Austria, at the transition to the Pannonian Basin . It sits on the Danube , and is traversed by the highly regulated Wienfluss ( Vienna River ). Vienna

2523-512: The Kingdom of Bohemia . First mentioned in the 14th century, they originally lived in the Silesian duchy of Troppau , but in 1509, they moved to Slavkov ( Austerlitz ) Castle near Brno . Wenzel Anton's grandfather, Dominik Andreas von Kaunitz (1655–1705), served as a Habsburg Geheimrat and envoy. Elevated to the hereditary rank of a Count ( Graf ) in 1683, his diplomacy contributed to

2610-771: The Ringstraße , reopened to the public. In the Autumn of 1956, Vienna accepted many Hungarian refugees , who had fled Hungary after an attempted revolution . The city experienced another wave of refugees after the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia in 1968, as well as after the collapse of Yugoslavia in 1991. In 1972 the construction of the Donauinsel and the excavation of the New Danube began. In

2697-744: The Soviet air force . Only after the Allies had taken Italy did the next raids commence. From 17 March 1944, 51 air raids were carried out in Vienna. Targets of the bombings were primarily the city's oil refineries . However, around a third of the city center was destroyed, and culturally important buildings such as the State Opera and the Burgtheater were burned, and the Albertina was heavily damaged. These air raids lasted until March 1945, just before

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2784-572: The St. Stephen's Cathedral ( Stephansdom ), Karlskirche , Peterskirche and the Votivkirche . On the banks of the Danube is a Buddhist Peace Pagoda , built in 1983 by the monks and nuns of Nipponzan Myohoji . 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

2871-522: The Western and Eastern blocs , which deeply distrusted each other. The city experienced an economic upturn due to the Marshall Plan . The atmosphere of four-power Vienna is the background for Graham Greene 's screenplay for the film The Third Man (1949). The film's theme music was composed and performed by Viennese musician Anton Karas using a zither . Later he adapted the screenplay as

2958-520: The 1686 League of Augsburg against King Louis XIV of France and the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick that ended the Nine Years' War . Wenzel Anton's father, Count Maximilian Ulrich, was appointed a member of the Aulic Council ( Reichshofrat ) in 1706; he served as Imperial envoy and as governor ( Landeshauptmann ) of Moravia from 1720. By his marriage with Marie Ernestine in 1699, he inherited

3045-486: The 16th century of the Habsburg emperors of the Holy Roman Empire with an interruption between at the turn to the 17th century until 1806, becoming an important center in the empire. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Christian forces twice stopped Ottoman armies outside Vienna, in the 1529 siege of Vienna and the 1683 Battle of Vienna . The Great Plague of Vienna ravaged the city in 1679, killing nearly

3132-515: The 1st century, the Romans set up the military camp of Vindobona in Pannonia on the site of today's Vienna city center near the Danube with an adjoining civilian town to secure the borders of the Roman Empire . Construction of the legionary camp began around 97 AD. At its peak, Vindobona had a population of around 15,000 people. It was a part of a trade and communications network across

3219-590: The 2021 census, 49.0% of Viennese were Christian. Among them, 31.8% were Catholic , 11.2% were Eastern Orthodox , and 3.7% were Protestant , mostly Lutheran , 34.1% had no religious affiliation, 14.8% were Muslim , and 2% were of other religions, including Jewish. One sources estimates that Vienna's Jewish community is of 8,000 members meanwhile another suggest 15,000. Based on information provided to city officials by various religious organizations about their membership, Vienna's Statistical Yearbook 2019 reports in 2018 an estimated 610,269 Roman Catholics, or 32.3% of

3306-694: The Austrian army in Bohemia against King Frederick II of Prussia . Upon the December 1744 death of Charles' consort and co-governor, Archduchess Maria Anna , a sister of Maria Theresa, Kaunitz was virtually the head of government. In 1746, however, he was forced to leave Brussels after it was besieged by French forces under Count Maurice de Saxe . He moved with the government of the Austrian Netherlands, first to Antwerp , then to Aachen . His request to be recalled from his difficult situation

3393-635: The Austrians were overwhelmingly defeated by an army half their size, with fewer guns, and tired after a long march over 12 days. Charles and his second in command, Count Leopold Joseph von Daun , sank "in the depths of despondency", and the Prince could not fathom what had happened. Charles had a mixed record against Frederick in past encounters but had never fared so badly as at Leuthen. After this crushing defeat, Maria Theresa replaced him with Daun; Charles retired from military service and subsequently served as

3480-619: The Empire. Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius may have died here in 180 AD during a campaign against the Marcomanni . After a Germanic invasion in the second century the city was rebuilt. It served as a seat of the Roman government until the fifth century, when the population fled due to the Huns invasion of Pannonia. The city was abandoned for several centuries. Evidence of the Romans in the city

3567-515: The Habsburg Archduke Maximilian Francis of Austria , Joseph's younger brother, as a coadjutor bishop in the Electorate of Cologne and the Prince-Bishopric of Münster . Kaunitz worked around the objections of Joseph II to initiate the Austro-Turkish War of 1788–1791. The goal was to humiliate Austria's old enemy, Prussia. However, it misfired: it proved a costly military operation to help Russia, but it did not achieve any anti-Prussian objective. After Joseph II's death, Leopold II became emperor;

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3654-486: The Nazi regime, 65,000 Jews were deported and murdered in concentration camps by Nazi forces; approximately 130,000 fled. By 2001, 16% of people living in Austria had nationalities other than Austrian, nearly half of whom were from former Yugoslavia ; the next most numerous nationalities in Vienna were Turks (39,000; 2.5%), Poles (13,600; 0.9%) and Germans (12,700; 0.8%). As of 2012 , an official report from Statistics Austria showed that more than 660,000 (38.8%) of

3741-413: The Parliament, the French in Hotel Kummer on Mariahilferstraße, the Americans in the National Bank , and the British in Schönnbrunn Palace . The division of the city was not comparable to that of Berlin . Although the borders between the sectors were marked, travel between them was freely possible. During the ten years of the four-power occupation, Vienna was a hotbed for international espionage between

3828-399: The Soviet troops started the Vienna offensive . The Red Army , who had previously marched through Hungary , first entered Vienna on 6 April. They first attacked the eastern and southern suburbs, before moving on to the western suburbs. By the 8th they had the center of the city surrounded. The following day the Soviets started with the infiltration of the city center. Fighting continued for

3915-422: The Viennese population have full or partial migrant background, mostly from Ex-Yugoslavia, Turkey, Germany, Poland, Romania and Hungary. From 2005 to 2015 the city's population grew by 10.1%. According to UN-Habitat , Vienna could be the fastest growing city out of 17 European metropolitan areas until 2025 with an increase of 4.65% of its population, compared to 2010. Religion in Vienna (2021) According to

4002-674: The Western and Southern regions of Austria. Vienna is composed of 23 districts ( Bezirke ). Administrative district offices in Vienna, called Magistratische Bezirksämter, serve functions similar to those in the other Austrian states (called Bezirkshauptmannschaften), the officers being subject to the mayor of Vienna; with the notable exception of the police, which is under federal supervision. Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine Prince Charles Alexander Emanuel of Lorraine ( French : Charles Alexandre Emanuel, Prince de Lorraine ; German : Karl Alexander von Lothringen und Bar ; 12 December 1712 in Lunéville – 4 July 1780 in Tervuren )

4089-424: The alliance in 1762, Kaunitz entered into peace negotiations that led to the 1763 Treaty of Hubertusburg . Following the end of war, Kaunitz gained the title of Reichsfürst (Prince of the Holy Roman Empire). The lack of a navy during the war had demonstrated Austria's vulnerability at sea, and he was instrumental in the creation of a small Austrian navy to boost the state's presence in the Mediterranean Sea , laying

4176-402: The capital of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918). In 1910, Vienna had more than two million inhabitants and was the third largest city in Europe after London and Paris. Around the start of the 20th century, Vienna was the city with the second-largest Czech population in the world (after Prague ). After World War I, many Czechs and Hungarians returned to their ancestral countries, resulting in

4263-404: The capital of what became the Austro-Hungarian Empire . The city functioned as a center of classical music, for which the title of the First Viennese School (Haydn/Mozart/Beethoven) is sometimes applied. During the latter half of the 19th century, Vienna developed what had previously been the bastions and glacis into the Ringstraße , a new boulevard surrounding the historical town and

4350-408: The central area of the city, known as the first district, constituted an international zone in which the four powers alternated control on a monthly basis. The city was policed by the four powers on a day-to-day basis using the "four soldiers in a jeep" method, which had one soldier from each nation sitting together. The four powers all had separate headquarters, the Soviets in Palais Epstein next to

4437-453: The changed conditions produced by the rise of Prussia . The great majority of them, including her husband Francis Stephen of Lorraine , were of the opinion that the old alliance with the sea powers, England and Holland, should be maintained. Kaunitz had long been a strong opponent of the Anglo-Austrian Alliance , which had existed since 1731, and gave his opinion that Frederick II was now the "most wicked and dangerous enemy of Austria," that it

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4524-410: The city were arrested. Adolf Eichmann held office in the expropriated Palais Rothschild and organized the expropriation and persecution of the Jews. Of the almost 200,000 Jews in Vienna, around 120,000 were driven to emigrate and around 65,000 were killed. After the end of the war, the Jewish population of Vienna was only about 5,000. In 1942 the city suffered its first air raid , carried out by

4611-456: The early part of the 20th century. Vienna was home to the world's first psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud . The historic center of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque palaces and gardens, and the late-19th-century Ringstraße , which is lined with grand buildings, monuments, and parks. In 2024, Vienna retained its position as most livable city per the Economist Intelligence Unit , and has spent every year since 2015 in

4698-411: The first half of the 20th century included, among many, the Vienna Secession movement in art, the Second Viennese School , the architecture of Adolf Loos , the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein , and the Vienna Circle . The city of Vienna became the center of socialist politics from 1919 to 1934, a period referred to as Red Vienna ( Das rote Wien ). After a new breed of socialist politicians won

4785-410: The foreign office on Ballhausplatz . Thanks in large part to him, Habsburg Austria established itself as a sovereign great power , entering into the Treaty of Versailles (1756) with her old enemy, the French ancien régime , commonly known as Diplomatic Revolution ( renversement des alliances ). The new Franco-Austrian Alliance was considered a great feat of diplomacy, and it established Kaunitz as

4872-408: The form of Vienna's great Schottenstift monastery (Scots Abbey), once home to many Irish monks. In 976, Leopold I of Babenberg became count of the Eastern March , a district centered on the Danube on the eastern frontier of Bavaria . This initial district grew into the duchy of Austria . Each succeeding Babenberg ruler expanded the march east along the Danube, eventually encompassing Vienna and

4959-425: The foundations for the future Austro-Hungarian Navy . The State Chancellor was a liberal patron of education and art, a notable collector, one of the founders of the Royal Academy in Brussels, and sponsor of Christoph Willibald Gluck and one of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ’s first and lifelong patrons. He worked towards the goal of subjecting the Catholic Church to the state, most notably against tax exemption and

5046-406: The governor of the Austrian Netherlands . Though an unsuccessful military leader, Charles proved to be a competent administrator, well-liked by the population. Under him, the Austrian Netherlands flourished, and he was deeply involved in the cultural life of his province. Because Charles ruled by right of his marriage to Maria Anna of Austria, Maria Anna's death very shortly after marriage created

5133-457: The immediate County of Rietberg in Westphalia . Wenzel Anton himself married Countess Maria Ernestine von Starhemberg (1717–1749), a granddaughter of Imperial Chamber president Count Gundaker Thomas von Starhemberg (1663–1745), on 6 May 1736. Four sons were born of the marriage, among them the Austrian general Count Franz Wenzel von Kaunitz-Rietberg (1742–1825). Wenzel Anton's granddaughter Eleonora (daughter of his eldest son, Ernest) married

5220-403: The influence of the Social Democratic Party . This led to a civil war between the right-wing government and socialist forces the following year, which started in Linz and quickly spread to Vienna. Socialist members of the Republikanischer Schutzbund barricaded themselves inside the housing estates and exchanged fire with the police and paramilitary groups. The fighting in Vienna ended after

5307-420: The lands immediately east. In 1155, Henry II, Duke of Austria moved the Babenberg family residence with the founding of the Schottenstift from Klosterneuburg in Lower Austria to Vienna. From that time, Vienna remained the center of the Babenberg dynasty. Hungary occupied the city between 1485 and 1490. Vienna became at the turn to the 16th century the seat of the Aulic Council and subsequently later in

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5394-410: The largest German-speaking cities in the world, being the largest in the 18th and 19th century, peaking at two million inhabitants before it was overtaken by Berlin at the beginning of the 20th century. Vienna is host to many major international organizations , including the United Nations, OPEC and the OSCE . In 2001, the city center was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site . In July 2017, it

5481-422: The local elections they engaged in a brief but ambitious municipal experiment. Social democrats had won an absolute majority in the May 1919 municipal election and commanded the city council with 100 of the 165 seats. Jakob Reumann was appointed by the city council as city mayor. The theoretical foundations of so-called Austromarxism were established by Otto Bauer , Karl Renner , and Max Adler . Red Vienna

5568-474: The lost provinces back to Austria. On 29 August 1756, King Frederick's Prussian Army invaded the Electorate of Saxony in a preemptive strike ; they rolled over the Saxon forces and occupied Dresden . While the Austrian allies were not able to reach agreement on joint action, the politico-military situation remained inconclusive. Kaunitz urged for the replacement of the hesitant field marshal Count Leopold Joseph von Daun by Ernst Gideon von Laudon , however,

5655-412: The meandering Danube while the city now spans both sides of the river. Elevation ranges from 151 to 542 m (495 to 1,778 ft). The city has a total area of 414.65 square kilometers (160.1 sq mi), making it the largest city in Austria by area. Vienna has a borderline oceanic ( Köppen : Cfb ) and humid continental climate ( Köppen : Dfb ), with some parts of the urban core being warm enough for

5742-434: The outbreak of the French and Indian War overseas in 1754, he had the Austrian ambassador in Paris, Prince Georg Adam of Starhemberg , raise the topic of forming a defensive league. King Louis XV finally accepted, after the Anglo-Prussian Treaty of Westminster was signed in 1756. The alliance was expanded in 1757 to include Russia and Sweden . Thus began the Seven Years' War in Europe, which ultimately failed to bring

5829-441: The population, and 200,000 (10.4%) Muslims, 70,298 (3.7%) Orthodox, 57,502 (3.0%) other Christians, and 9,504 (0.5%) other religions. A study conducted by the Vienna Institute of Demography estimated the 2018 proportions to be 34% Catholic, 30% unaffiliated, 15% Muslim, 10% Orthodox, 4% Protestant, and 6% other religions. As of the spring of 2014, Muslims made up 30% of the total proportion of schoolchildren in Vienna. Vienna

5916-478: The recognized master of the art. Kaunitz was the mastermind of the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756, which involved the dramatic shakeup of traditional military alliances in Europe. Austria went from an ally of Britain to an ally of France and Russia. Prussia became an ally of Britain, along with Hanover. The result was the basic lineup of forces in the Seven Years' War. Once he was State Chancellor, Kaunitz pursued his policies seeking rapprochement with France. Upon

6003-440: The same decade, Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky inaugurated the Vienna International Centre , a new area of the city created to host international institutions. Vienna has regained much of its former international stature by hosting international organisations, such as the United Nations. Because of the industrialization and migration from other parts of the Empire, the population of Vienna increased sharply during its time as

6090-409: The state chancellor. Kaunitz advocated a reconciliation with the former enemy Prussia; he accompanied Joseph II when he met Frederick II two times in 1769 and 1770. The Prussian king was annoyed by Kaunitz' arrogance and patronising manners, nevertheless the approach realised in the First Partition of Poland in 1772, backed by both Kaunitz and Joseph II against the concerns of Maria Theresa ("good faith

6177-448: The streets. This culminated in the Kristallnacht , a nationwide pogrom against the Jews carried out by the Schutzstaffel and the Sturmabteilung , with support of the Hitler Youth and German civilians. All synagogues and prayer houses in the city were destroyed, bar the Stadttempel , due to its proximity to residential buildings. Vienna lost its status as a capital to Berlin , as Austria had ceased to exist. The few resistors in

6264-554: The top 2 places, bar 2021 due to the COVID-19 lockdowns . The place is mentioned as Οϋι[νδ]όβονα (Oui[nd]obona) in the 2nd century AD (Ptolemy, Geography , II, 14, 3); Vindobona in the 3rd century ( Itinerarium Antonini Augusti 233, 8); Vindobona in the 4th century ( Tabula Peutingeriana , V, 1); Vindomana ab. 400 ( Notitia Dignitatum , 145, 16); Vindomina, Vendomina in the 6th century ( Jordanes , De origine actibusque Getarum , 50, 264). The English name Vienna

6351-485: The traditional institution of mortmain ownership of real estates. Kaunitz followed the thoughts of Jansenism and the Age of Enlightenment ; among his aims was also the better education of the commoners. Although Maria Theresa's son and heir, Emperor Joseph II generally shared such ideas, his reforms moved too fast and too thoroughly for Kaunitz. The ongoing disputes between the two men led to several resignation requests by

6438-664: The war was ended and Kaunitz's power collapsed. The renunciation of Kaunitz' balancing policies led to a serious deterioration of Austria's domestic and international affairs. Meanwhile, Prussia established the Protestant Fürstenbund league, and the Brabant Revolution broke out in the Austrian Netherlands. Joseph II's successor, Leopold II, blamed Kaunitz for the failure and decisively restricted his competences. Kaunitz rejected further rapprochement with Prussia against Revolutionary France in view of

6525-400: The warlike King of Prussia, he reluctantly signed the resulting Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle on 23 October 1748. Both fearing a nascent Prussia, the Austrian and French sides began to make overtures to each other. From 1749, Kaunitz served as a Geheimrat at the court of Maria Theresa. The empress appealed to all her counsellors for advice as to the policy Austria ought to pursue in view of

6612-860: The weak rule of Frederick's successor, King Frederick William II , an assessment that was proved to be correct in the War of the First Coalition . Kaunitz finally resigned his office upon the accession of Emperor Francis II in July 1792. Kaunitz died in 1794 at his city palace in Vienna and was buried in his family vault beneath the Chapel of St. John the Baptist in Slavkov cemetery. Vienna Vienna ( / v i ˈ ɛ n ə / vee- EN -ə ; German: Wien [viːn] ; Austro-Bavarian : Wean [veɐ̯n] )

6699-645: Was a Lorraine -born Austrian general and soldier, field marshal of the Imperial Army , and governor of the Austrian Netherlands . Charles was the son of Leopold, Duke of Lorraine , and Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans . When his elder brother Francis III, Duke of Lorraine , married the Archduchess Maria Theresa , daughter of Emperor Charles VI , Charles Alexander entered the Imperial service in 1737. When his brother Francis traded

6786-575: Was able to inflict heavy casualties on the larger Prussian forces . He subsequently defeated a much smaller Prussian army in 1757 at the Battle of Breslau before being completely routed by Frederick the Great at the Battle of Leuthen , which is considered one of Frederick's most brilliant victories. During the battle, he was commander of the Imperial Army as appointed by Maria Theresa. At Leuthen,

6873-487: Was able to retain his position. He was able to attain command ahead of the more popular Marshal Browne because of the support of his brother who had significant influence over military appointments. During Austria's Third Silesian War against Prussia (part of the wider Seven Years' War ), he commanded the Imperial Army at the Battle of Prague , where he was again defeated by Frederick the Great , king in Prussia , but

6960-635: Was elevated to a municipium with Roman city rights in 212. This was followed by a time in the sphere of influence of the Lombards and later the Pannonian Avars , when Slavs formed the majority of the region's population. From the 8th century on, the region was settled by the Baiuvarii . In 1155, Vienna became the seat of the Babenbergs , who ruled Austria from 976 to 1246. In 1221, Vienna

7047-614: Was granted city rights. During the 16th century, the Habsburgs , who had succeeded the Babenbergs, established Vienna as the seat of the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire , a position it held until the empire's dissolution in 1806, with only a brief interruption. With the formation of the Austrian Empire in 1804, Vienna became the capital of it and all its successor states. Throughout the modern era Vienna has been among

7134-589: Was heeded in June 1746. On a journey to Westphalia in September 1746, he laid the foundation stone of the parish church in the village of Kaunitz  [ de ] . Two years later, he represented Maria Theresa at the Congress of Aachen at the close of the War of the Austrian Succession . Extremely displeased with the provisions that deprived Austria of the provinces of Silesia and Glatz and guaranteed them to

7221-523: Was hopeless to expect the support of Protestant nations against him, and that the only way of recovering Silesia was by an alliance with Russia and France. The empress eagerly accepted views which were already her own, and entrusted the adviser with the execution of his own plans. Thus, Kaunitz was made Imperial ambassador at the French court in Versailles in 1750, where he had extensive contact with

7308-567: Was later known to have returned to Lunéville in Lorraine to claim a substantial inheritance, and to have a son named Gustav Auguste in 1788. He died in Nancy. He had the Château de la Favorite (Lunéville) constructed as his retreat. In Brussels, he had constructed the Palace of Charles of Lorraine . Also, he renovated Tervuren castle and the Château of Mariemont . Further, he commissioned

7395-471: Was most notable for his defeats by better trained and superior forces under Frederick the Great . At the Battle of Chotusitz in 1742, his forces lost the battle but were able to inflict greater loss of life and retreat in good order. However, he lost more decisively to Frederick at the Battle of Hohenfriedberg and the Battle of Soor in 1745. He was also defeated by Maurice de Saxe at the Battle of Rocoux in 1746. Despite his record of defeats, he

7482-487: Was moved to the list of World Heritage in Danger . Vienna has been called the "City of Music" due to its musical legacy, as many famous classical musicians such as Beethoven , Brahms , Bruckner , Haydn , Mahler , Mozart , Schoenberg , Schubert , Johann Strauss I and Johann Strauss II lived and worked there. It played a pivotal role as a leading European music center, from the age of Viennese Classicism through

7569-470: Was sent on a diplomatic mission to Florence , Rome , and to the Kingdom of Sardinia . In August 1742, he was appointed ambassador at Turin and reached the support of King Charles Emmanuel III for Maria Theresa . In October 1744, he was appointed minister plenipotentiary in the Austrian Netherlands , while its governor , Prince Charles of Lorraine , fought in the Silesian Wars , commanding

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