Vienna Background

First mention of Vienna dates back to the first century, when it was known by its Roman-Celtic name, Vindobona. Vindobona was a fortified outpost of the Roman Empire, overlooking a valuable stretch of the Danube River. The excellence of this trading crossroads was not overlooked by rulers like Charlemagne, the Babenberg Dukes, or the imperial Hapsburg family, who made it their home and transformed it into a lavish metropolis. Always capitol for classical music, in the 20th century Vienna became a center for iconoclastic modernist art—with the work of Gustav Klimmt and Egon Schiele—and equally iconoclastic thought—through the invention of psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud. Today Vienna is an extremely clean and well-maintained architectural showcase, where 1.7 million citizens gladly pay sky-high taxes to ensure a high quality of life in their city. Conservative politics and social practices have not lost their hold on the city: Vienna’s beauty continues to be ceremonious and grand, long after the monarchy have taken leave of their palaces.

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Vienna Background

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