Vienna was probably already an important trading post for the Celts when the Romans arrived around 15 BC. They named it Vidobona, after the Celtic tribe Vinid. The city changed hands multiple times and then ended up in the hands of the Hapsburg empire until the cit was besieged by the Ottoman Turks in 1529. Vienna had problems with revolting citizens, religious bickering during the reformation and counter-reformation, and also plague at the end of the 17th century. However, the beginning of the 18th century was a golden age for the city especially for architecture and classical music. Things turned again and Napoleon conquered and occupied the city in 1805 and again in 1809. Once his reign was over, the city prospered again.
Schloss Schönbrunn (Beautiful Spring Castle) was purchased by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II in 1569 to be used as a hunting and recreation grounds.
The Lipizzaner Stallion breed dates back to the 1520s when Ferdinand I imported the first horses from Spain for the imperial palace. Originally they were bred and trained in Lipizza (now in Slovenia) and that is why they are called Lipizzaner Stallions. Their shows are impressive due to the difficulty of the movements. The shows are not on in the summer so I had to settle for a tour of the facility.
The Lipazzaners are known for being able to complete difficult movements. The levade requires the horse to hold a position approximately 30-35 degrees from the ground. The capriole is an upward leap made by a trained horse without going forward and with a backward kick of the hind legs at the height of the leap. In the courbette, the horse raises its forehand off the ground, tucks up forelegs evenly, and then jumps forward, never allowing the forelegs to touch down, in a series of “hops”.
The tack room. The saddles on the bottom are the training ones. The ones on the top, are the show saddles.
A church has been sitting on this sight since the 12th century and this building was started in 1359. Officially it’s called Stephandsdom, but all the locals call it Steffl (Little Steffan).
The roof is covered with 230,000 glazed tiles.
The roof is so steep that it is sufficiently cleaned by the rain alone and is seldom covered by snow.
Views from the top of the Stephansdom.
The Reisenrad was built in 1897 and was the world’s tallest ferris wheel until 1985. It is 65 meters/212 feet high and weighs 430 tonnes. It takes 20 minutes to rotate one complete circle. A permit for its demolition was issued in 1916, but due to a lack of funds with which to carry out the destruction, it survived and today it’s one of Vienna’s top tourist spots. It originally had 30 gondolas, but was severely damaged in World War II and when subsequently rebuilt only 15 gondolas were replaced.
The Vienna State Opera House was started in 1861 and completed in 1869.
Out of the eleven years that Mozart lived in Vienna, he spent 2.5 of them on the bottom floor of this building.
The architecture of Vienna is amazing!
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