VIENNA 



GOS3 



VIENNA 



in modern architecture, and in extent of mag- 

 nificent squares and parks, it is surpassed by 

 no other city in the world. It is a musical 

 center of first rank, preserving the traditions of 

 Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, each 

 of whom lived and worked there at some period 

 in his career. Within recent years, from Vienna 

 have come many notable light operas, and in 

 this field the city has a unique place. 

 * The Viennese themselves are known as a 

 hospitable people who love gayety, music, the' 

 dance and the theater, and enjoy life in a 

 whole-hearted way. The Viennese atmosphere 

 of hospitality and good-fellowship attracts every 

 year in normal times thousands of tourists and) 

 pleasure seekers, and art and music students 

 congregate there from all over Europe _ and) 

 America. 



General Description. As it is organized at the 

 present time, Vienna is divided into twenty-\ 

 one districts, all but ten of which were incor- 

 porated as a part of the city after 1891. A 

 rampart and fosse known as the Lines were 

 built around the original city the first ten 

 districts of modern Vienna in 1704, but in 

 1892, when a number of the outlying suburbs 

 were annexed, this girdle of fortifications was 

 demolished, and the site is now occupied by 

 the Giirtelstrasse, a handsome boulevard. The 

 Ringstrasse, another spacious boulevard, and 

 the city's most famous thoroughfare, encircles 

 the nucleus of Vienna, the so-called Inner 

 City. In this district are the imperial palaces, 

 government buildings and many other impos- 

 ing edifices. 



Until 1857, when the modernization of Vi- 

 enna began, the course of the Ringstrasse was 

 followed by a series of inner fortifications. An 

 arm of the Danube, known as the Danube Ca- 

 nal, intersects the city in a northwest-southeast 

 and is crossed by many beautiful bridges. 

 A small stream, the Wien, flows into the canal. 

 Many of the narrow, irregular streets of the 

 In IKT City remain, but others have been re- 

 placed by modern avenues, and the general ap- 

 pearance of the diMnet i> \ ssive. It 

 is noteworthy that over half of the area of the 

 newer districts is occupied by woods, private 

 gardens, parks and open spaces, and the work- 

 ing people are forced to live in sections far too 

 densely populated for comfort. Apartment 

 buildings arc the rule, private homes the ex- 

 ception. 



Notable Buildings. A conspicuous object 



tin central part of the Inner City is the 



Cathedral of Saint Stephen, one of the few 



medieval edifices of this essentially modern 

 municipality and the most famous church in 

 Austria. Its graceful spire rises to a height of 

 450 feet, and from the summit one may enjoy 

 an inspiring view of the great city, the winding 

 Danube and the distant hills. Southwest of 

 the church is a spacious area occupied by a 

 group comprising the imperial palace, or Hof- 

 burg. From the thirteenth century to 1918 this 

 great pile, representing hundreds of years of 

 building and many styles of architecture, was 

 the official residence of the Hapburg kings. 

 *One.of the handsomest of the buildings is the 

 Imperial Library, which contains 800,000 vol- 

 oimes, many priceless manuscripts and valuable 

 art collections. See HAPSBURC. 

 ,The main body of the Hofburg is separated 

 from the Ringstrasse by spacious gardens, and 

 on the boulevard, just opposite the palace, are 

 two beautiful domed buildings in Italian Ren- 

 aissance style the Imperial Museums of Art 

 and of Natural History. To the west of the 

 museums is the Palace of Justice, in German 

 Renaissance style, and beyond it are the two 

 Houses of Parliament, approached by a portico 

 of columns. The Parliament Houses represent 

 a modern adaptation of Greek architecture. 

 The Rathaus, or town hall, which stands in a 

 small park, is one of the finest buildings in the 

 city. It is an example of Gothic architecture, 

 and exhibits a wonderful elaboration of orna- 

 mental detail. Its clock tower is 320 feet high. 

 The Rathaus contains the city library, the His- 

 torical Museum and a municipal collection of 

 weapons. 



North of the Rathaus Park is the great 

 quadrangular building of the University of Vi- 

 enna (see subhead, below), a superb example 

 of the Tuscan Renaissance style. The Court, or 

 Hofburg, Theater, another Renaissance struc- 

 ture, is on the inner side of the Ringstrasse, 

 opposite the Rathaus. Other fine buildings on 

 the boulevard include the Opera House, a 

 worthy rival of the one in Paris, the Academy 

 of Art, the splendid home of the Stock Ex- 

 change and the Austrian Museum of Art and 

 Industry. Other handsome edifices rise in t In- 

 sertions outside the boulevard, and both the 

 Inner City and the districts beyond are beau- 

 tified with gardens, parks, squares and impos- 

 ing monuments. 



Institutions. Vienna possesses many educa- 

 tional, scientific, art and benevolent institu- 

 tions. The public picture gallery, in the Mu- 

 seum of Art, is noted for its collection of 

 paintings, especially those of Viennese artists 



