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An elegant, cultured capital of empires -- the Holy Roman, Austrian and Austro-Hungarian -- and a bountiful source of music and the arts, Vienna reflects its historic past with Hapsburg palaces, museums, concert halls and stately parks along the Danube. Formal in their attire and polite in demeanor, yet trendy in their embrace of Kaffeehauskultur and the pulsing nightlife in the museum quarter, the Viennese enjoy the best of the old and new worlds. In this city of abundant pleasures, a concert of works by favorite sons like Mozart, Beethoven or Schubert at the Konzerthaus might well be followed by late-night cocktails and dancing at one of the hip clubs on the Ringstrasse.
The Austrian capital of Vienna (Wien), with a population of more than 1.6 million, is a city forever implanted into the international imagination as a dreamy place of cream-filled pastries and angelic choir boys, of prancing white horses and swirling Strauss waltzes. It is a city where legend overrules reality -- the Danube River, which flows through Vienna, may not be true blue, yet, the "Blue Danube" waltz has permanently painted the waterway that hue in the mind's eye. The imperial seat of the Habsburg court since the 17th century, Vienna was one of the world's most powerful cities, both culturally and politically, until World War I, when the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire left it humbled by the redefinition of Europe's political structure. Despite having the power plug pulled, the city has retained its cultural cache. Music is the soul of Vienna -- the great composers of Europe, from Mozart to Beethoven, Haydn to Schubert, Strauss to Mahler, called the city home. And at every opportunity, from the grand Opera Ball to the smallest of musical gatherings, Viennese swoon together in the city's famously romantic waltz. Or they gather for dramatic musical stagings at the Staatsopera (State Opera House), one of the world's great opera venues. Vienna celebrates its well-composed heritage with numerous festivals and concerts, as well as well-preserved landmarks such as Schubert's birthplace and the homes of Mozart and Beethoven. Another noteworthy Viennese note-taker, Sigmund Freud, is honored at a museum devoted to his life and work as the father of psychotherapy. Art and architecture are also Viennese trademarks, and with 90 museums, many devoted to art, the city is awash in great works. Art Nouveau (known locally as "Jungendstil," or Young Style) took hold here, born of the Vienna Secession which straddled the turn of the 20th century. The movement's most famous member was Viennese painter Gustav Klimt, and his work, as well as that of other secessionists, is showcased at the Secession Pavilion, designed by Josef Maria Olbrich. Vienna's most famous art museum, however, is the Kunsthistorisches, housing works by such greats as the Dutch master Pieter Brueghel the Elder. As for Vienna's other cultural icons, they still thrive: from the Spanish Riding School, home of the world-famous, high-stepping Royal Lipizzaner Stallions, to the dulcet-toned Vienna Boy's Choir, which tours the globe when not singing morning mass at the Hofburgkapelle during thesummer months.