Facts about Vienna
Vienna (German: Wien, , Austro-Bavarian: We?n,) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria.
In 2005 the Ice Hockey World Championships took place in Austria and the final was played in Vienna.
Vienna is connected to Rotterdam and German Industrial areas via the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, and to Eastern European countries along the Danube to the Black Sea.
Vienna is well known for Wiener schnitzel, a cutlet of veal that is pounded flat, coated in flour, egg and breadcrumbs, and fried in clarified butter.
The best known are the local football clubs SK Rapid Wien (31 Austrian Bundesliga titles), FK Austria Wien (23 Austrian Bundesliga titles and 26-time cup winners) and the oldest team, First Vienna FC.
During the period of the First Republic (1918-1934), the Vienna Social Democrats undertook many overdue social reforms, improving the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of workers in the city.
Vienna's second and twentieth districts are located between the Donaukanal and the Danube River.
A variety of architectural styles can be found in Vienna, such as the Romanesque Ruprechtskirche and the Baroque Karlskirche.
Many of Vienna's famous parks include monuments, such as the Stadtpark with its statue of Johann Strauss II, and the gardens of the baroque palace, where the State Treaty was signed.
In 1805, Vienna became capital of the Austrian Empire, and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and played a major role in European and world politics.
Vienna has an extensive tram and bus network - the tram network being third largest in the world.
Cultural highlights include the Burgtheater, the Wiener Staatsoper, the Lipizzaner horses at the spanische Hofreitschule and the Vienna Boys' Choir, as well as excursions to Vienna's Heuriger districts.
Three national autobahns leave Vienna in the westerly (A1), southerly (A2), and easterly directions (A4).
Alongside the international and intergovernmental organizations, dozens of charitable organizations are based in Vienna, providing relief goods and assistance to tens of thousands of disadvantaged children and needy people in developing countries.
Viennese cafйs claim that when the invading Turks left Vienna, they abandoned hundreds of sacks of coffee beans.
Vienna has a single large brewery, Ottakringer, and more than ten microbreweries.
Vienna is also the seat of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law's secretariat (UNCITRAL).
The Hundertwasserhaus by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, designed to counter the clinical look of modern architecture, is one of Vienna's most popular tourist attractions.
Across the Danube are the newest districts, which include the location of the Vienna International Centre.
The "V" suffix indicates that the Sun, like most stars, is a main sequence star.
Classical concerts are performed at well known venues such as the Wiener Musikverein, home of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Wiener Konzerthaus.
Vienna is the world's only capital city with its own vineyards (although Paris also retains a single vineyard, and Prague has some also).
The museums dedicated to Vienna's districts provide a retrospective of the respective districts.
During the eighteenth century Vienna became a European cultural center and home to several important schools and universities.
Ever since Vienna obtained federal state (Bundesland) status of its own in 1921, the mayor has also had the role of the state governor (Landeshauptmann).
Today Vienna is a center of European culture, with more than one hundred art museums which, combined, attract more than eight million visitors annually.
The Ottoman invasions of Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were stopped twice just outside of Vienna (Siege of Vienna, 1529 and Battle of Vienna, 1683).
After 1683, when the Turks were no longer a threat, Vienna became the official residence of the Hapsburg family and many aristocratic families built palaces and residences in the city.
Exceptions include 1300 for the Vienna International Airport located in Lower Austria near Schwechat, 1400 for the UN Complex, 1450 for the Austria Center, and 1500 for the Austrian UN forces.
The name “ Wien” derived from the Celtic "Vedunia" for “river in the woods.” In 15 B.C.E., Vienna became a Roman frontier city ("Vindobona") guarding the Roman Empire against Germanic tribes to the north.
Vienna is also Austria's main center of education and home to many universities, professional colleges and gymnasiums.
Vienna is also home to a number of opera houses, including the Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera) and the Volksoper (Vienna Volksoper), the latter being devoted to the typical Viennese operetta.
The heart and historical city of Vienna, the Innere Stadt, was once surrounded by walls and open fields in order to deny cover to potential attackers.
Art and culture, including theatre, opera, classical music and fine arts, have a long tradition in Vienna.
Vienna is the seat of the Viennese Roman Catholic archdiocese, and its acting Archbishop is Cardinal Christoph Schцnborn.
Vienna's many churches also draw large crowds; the most famous are St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Deutschordenskirche, the Jesuitenkirche, the Karlskirche, the Peterskirche, Maria am Gestade, the Minoritenkirche, the Ruprechtskirche, the Schottenkirche and the Votivkirche.
Nearly all of Vienna's drinking water is brought to the city via two large water pipelines, built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Vienna lies in the very east of Austria, close to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.
Initially divided into four zones by the Allies, Vienna became a hot-bed for international espionage between the Western and Eastern blocs.
Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadium was the venue of four Champions League and European Champion Clubs' Cup finals (1964, 1987, 1990, 1995) and will host the final of Euro 2008.
The 1980 Diplomatic Conference that led to the adoption of the United Nations Convention of Contracts for the International Sale of Goods was held in Vienna.
The Donauinsel, part of Vienna's flood defenses, is a 21.1 km long artificial island between the Danube and Neue Donau dedicated to leisure activities.
Due to industrialization and immigration from other parts of the Empire, the population of Vienna increased sharply during its time as capital of Austria-Hungary (1867-1918).
In 1945, the Vienna Offensive was successfully launched by the Soviets against the Germans holding Vienna.
In 1918, after World War I, Vienna became capital of the First Austrian Republic.
Vienna possesses many park facilities and is one of the greenest cities in the world.
Vienna's principal park is the Prater which is home to the Riesenrad, a ferris wheel.
Vienna hosts many different sporting events including the Vienna City Marathon, which attracts more than 10,000 participants every year and normally takes place in May.
Other important sport clubs include the Chrysler Vikings Vienna (American Football), who won the Eurobowl title in 2004, the Vienna Hot Volleys, one of Europe's premier Volleyball organisations, and the Vienna Capitals (Ice Hockey).
At the height of the Jesus Movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the rapture figured prominently in popular songs by secular artists, such as "Are You Ready?"
Between the 1938 Anschluss and the end of the Second World War, Vienna lost its status as a capital to Berlin.
Many Roman Catholic churches in central Vienna also feature performances of religious or other music, including masses sung with classical music and organ.