Vienna

ve-en'a, the capital city of the Austrian Empire. It is situated near the right bank of the Danube, on what is known as the Danube Canal. The core of Vienna is what is known as the "Inner City." It is surrounded by a wide boulevard occupying the site of an early defensive wall and ditch.

The Church of St. Stephen is the most important edifice in the city. It is one of the great churches of Christendom. The building is of solid limestone and has the form of a Latin cross. Although fragments are of older date it may be said to have been erected between 1300 and 1510. It is 354 feet in length. The nave is thirty-four feet wide and eighty-nine feet high. The side aisles are twenty-seven feet wide. It is not lighted through the clerestory. The vaulting is groined richly and is supported by eighteen pillars adorned by a hundred statues. The tower of St. Stephen's is 453 feet high and commands an extensive view of the city, its suburbs, and the winding Danube. A number of battlefields are in view.

There are several markets and other open places adorned with statues of famous men. The most noted is the bronze monument of Emperor Francis I. The old Austrian palace, the home of Austrian princes since the thirteenth century, contains priceless art collections. The Imperial Library is richly decorated with gilding, paintings, and marble. It shelters over 400,000 volumes, 20,000 manuscripts, 12,000 volumes of music, and 300,000 engravings and woodcuts. A mineral cabinet contains specimens of minerals, stalactites, rock salt, crystals, emeralds, opals, and other precious stones from all parts of the known world. A fine collection of meteorites is to be seen here. This Inner City was for centuries the capital of Germany. It was the successor of Aix-la-Chapelle. It is not surprising, therefore, that the imperial treasury, a department of this same palace, should contain the richest collection of apparel and jewelry to be seen in Europe. There are heralds' robes, jeweled caskets, crystal goblets set with diamonds, precious stones, vases, drinking cups, and tankards in profusion. The private jewels of a long line of Austrian rulers are kept here. One diamond, set in a hat clasp, weighs 133 carats and is valued at a quarter of a million dollars. A decoration of the Golden Fleece contains 150 brilliants. A scarf is adorned with 548 diamonds. There are magnificent tiaras and necklaces ornamented with rubies and emeralds. Among the priceless relics brought to Vienna from Aix-la-Chapelle are the crown, the scepter, the globe, the girdle, the coronation robe, and the sword of Charlemagne. All these and many other relics are shown to visitors freely, but guards stand by all the time to see that no act of vandalism is perpetrated. A mere enumeration of the museums and collections of interest to be seen in Vienna would occupy pages. Next to the cathedral and old palace is the picture gallery lodged in an imperial chateau known as the Belvedere. There are about 1,500 paintings, many of them by Leonardo, Correggio, Durer, Holbein, Rubens, Vandyke, Rembrandt, Titian, Raphael, and other artists of note. The museum of weapons contains one of the most extensive and representative collections of war relics in existence. There are swords, sabers, pikes, lances, and daggers without number. The steel cap of Charles V is kept here. The bullet-pierced collar worn by Gustavus Adolphus at the battle of Lutzen is shown.

Since Prussia drove Austria out of the German Confederation, we hear less of Vienna than formerly, but it should not be forgotten that Vienna is of all cities the most characteristically German. It is in many respects the center of German culture and civilization. Historians state that Vienna was originally a center of the Celts. Soon after the birth of Christ the Romans built a fort here. Huns from Asia captured Vienna in the fifth century. Charlemagne took Vienna from the Asiatics and restored the valley to Europe. During the Crusades Vienna was in the direct route of travel and acquired importance as a trading city. It became the seat of the Hapsburg dynasty in 1276. The city was besieged twice by the Turks. It was occupied by the French soon after the battle of Austerlitz. The Congress of Vienna that rearranged the geography of Europe after Napoleon's downfall met here in 1814-15.

Vienna is one of the most attractively built cities in the world. There are palaces innumerable. The best streets are lined with attractive shops and cafes. The residence sections are occupied by attractive, many storied, we may say almost palatial, dwelling houses of the type known in the western world as flats. The university, founded in 1237 and reorganized by Maria Theresa, occupies handsome quarters. It has 350 professors and over 6,000 students. They have access to the museums already mentioned and to a university library of 320,000 volumes.

In a business way Vienna is the most important manufacturing town in the empire. Vienna specialties are leather, porcelain, musical instruments, firearms, hardware, and cotton and silk goods. The city is the center of numerous railway lines and is in communication by river and canal with all Europe. Water is brought to the city from the Alps. The population in 1907 was 1,999,912. There is religious tolerance.

The official religion is Catholic. Schools are organized on the German plan. The language of the city is, of course, German.

See Austria; Hungary; Budapest; Danube