1.
Vienna
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Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north
2.
Austrian Empire
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The Austrian Empire was an empire in Central Europe created out of the realms of the Habsburgs by proclamation in 1804. It was an empire and one of Europes great powers. Geographically it was the second largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire and it was also the third most populous after Russia and France, as well as the largest and strongest country in the German Confederation. Proclaimed in response to the First French Empire, it overlapped with the Holy Roman Empire until the dissolution in 1806. The Ausgleich of 1867 elevated Hungarys status and it became a separate entity from the Empire entirely, joining with it in the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Changes shaping the nature of the Holy Roman Empire took place during conferences in Rastatt, on 24 March 1803, the Imperial Recess was declared, which reduced the number of ecclesiastical states from 81 to only 3 and the free imperial cities from 51 to 6. This measure was aimed at replacing the old constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, taking this significant change into consideration, the German Emperor Francis II created the title Emperor of Austria, for himself and his successors. In 1804 the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, who was ruler of the lands of the Habsburg Monarchy, founded the Empire of Austria. In doing so he created a formal overarching structure for the Habsburg Monarchy, to safeguard his dynastys imperial status he adopted the additional hereditary title of Emperor of Austria. Hungarys affairs remained administered by its own institutions as they had been beforehand, thus under the new arrangements no Imperial institutions were involved in its internal government. The fall and dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire was accelerated by French intervention in the Empire in September 1805, on 20 October 1805, an Austrian army led by general Karl Mack von Leiberich was defeated by French armies near the town of Ulm. The French victory resulted in the capture of 20,000 Austrian soldiers, Napoleons army won another victory at Austerlitz on 2 December 1805. Francis was forced into negotiations with the French from 4 to 6 December 1805, the French victories encouraged rulers of certain imperial territories to assert their formal independence from the Empire. On 10 December 1805, the prince-elector Duke of Bavaria proclaimed himself King, finally, on 12 December, the Margrave of Baden was given the title of Grand Duke. In addition, each of these new countries signed a treaty with France, the Treaty of Pressburg between France and Austria, signed in Pressburg on 26 December, enlarged the territory of Napoleons German allies at the expense of defeated Austria. Certain Austrian holdings in Germany were passed to French allies—the King of Bavaria, the King of Württemberg, Austrian claims on those German states were renounced without exception. On 12 July 1806, the Confederation of the Rhine was established, comprising 16 sovereigns and this confederation, under French influence, put an end to the Holy Roman Empire. On 6 August 1806, even Francis recognized the new state of things and proclaimed the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, as he did not want Napoleon to succeed him
3.
Austria-Hungary
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The union was a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and came into existence on 30 March 1867. Austria-Hungary consisted of two monarchies, and one region, the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia under the Hungarian crown. It was ruled by the House of Habsburg, and constituted the last phase in the evolution of the Habsburg Monarchy. Following the 1867 reforms, the Austrian and the Hungarian states were co-equal, Foreign affairs and the military came under joint oversight, but all other governmental faculties were divided between respective states. Austria-Hungary was a state and one of the worlds great powers at the time. Austria-Hungary was geographically the second-largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire, at 621,538 km2, the Empire built up the fourth-largest machine building industry of the world, after the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. After 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina was under Austro-Hungarian military and civilian rule until it was annexed in 1908. The annexation of Bosnia also led to Islam being recognized as a state religion due to Bosnias Muslim population. Austria-Hungary was one of the Central Powers in World War I and it was already effectively dissolved by the time the military authorities signed the armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918. The realms full, official name was The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council, each enjoyed considerable sovereignty with only a few joint affairs. Certain regions, such as Polish Galicia within Cisleithania and Croatia within Transleithania, enjoyed autonomous status, the division between Austria and Hungary was so marked that there was no common citizenship, one was either an Austrian citizen or a Hungarian citizen, never both. This also meant that there were always separate Austrian and Hungarian passports, however, neither Austrian nor Hungarian passports were used in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia. Instead, the Kingdom issued its own passports which were written in Croatian and French and it is not known what kind of passports were used in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was under the control of both Austria and Hungary. The Kingdom of Hungary had always maintained a separate parliament, the Diet of Hungary, the administration and government of the Kingdom of Hungary remained largely untouched by the government structure of the overarching Austrian Empire. Hungarys central government structures remained well separated from the Austrian imperial government, the country was governed by the Council of Lieutenancy of Hungary – located in Pressburg and later in Pest – and by the Hungarian Royal Court Chancellery in Vienna. The Hungarian government and Hungarian parliament were suspended after the Hungarian revolution of 1848, despite Austria and Hungary sharing a common currency, they were fiscally sovereign and independent entities. Since the beginnings of the union, the government of the Kingdom of Hungary could preserve its separated. After the revolution of 1848–1849, the Hungarian budget was amalgamated with the Austrian, from 1527 to 1851, the Kingdom of Hungary maintained its own customs controls, which separated her from the other parts of the Habsburg-ruled territories
4.
Karlsplatz Stadtbahn Station
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Karlsplatz Stadtbahn Station is a former station of the Viennese Stadtbahn. The buildings above ground on Karlsplatz are an example of Jugendstil architecture. These buildings were included in The Vienna Secession, as they followed many of the styles of that movement. These stations allowed Otto Wagner to achieve his goal of creating two modern axes of architecture in a city that was becoming one of the most modern cities of its time and these buildings went on to become the most modern monument of the modern city. Architectural critic and poet Friedrich Achleitner commented on the Stadtbahn stations as follows, the station was opened as Akademiestraße in 1899. When the Stadtbahn line was converted to U-Bahn in 1981, the station was scheduled to be demolished. However, as a result of public outcry, it was decided to keep the station buildings, both buildings were disassembled, renovated, and then reassembled two metres higher than their original location after completion of U-Bahn construction. One of the buildings is now used as a space by the Vienna Museum, with an U-Bahn entrance in its rear. ^ * Architecture in Austria in the 20th and 21st Centuries, ISBN 3-7643-7694-5 ^ * Borsi, Franco, and Ezio Godoli. New York, NY, Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.1986, ISBN 0-8478-0616-2 ^ * Arnanson, Harvard H. 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice Hall, Inc.1986
5.
Austrian Postal Savings Bank
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The Austrian Postal Savings Bank building is a famous modernist building in Vienna, designed and built by the architect Otto Wagner. The building is regarded as an important early work of architecture, representing Wagners first move away from Art Nouveau. It was constructed between 1904 and 1906 using reinforced concrete, the building houses the headquarters of the Österreichische Postsparkasse bank, formerly the k. k. It is located at Georg-Coch-Platz 2, in the first district Innere Stadt, up to eight stories high, the building occupies an entire city block. The massively simplified facade of the bank clearly owes something to classicism, Wagners key idea was to celebrate modern materials by developing new forms. The entire facade is covered with marble plates. These are attached to the brick structure with mortar and ornamented with iron bolts with aluminum caps. The buildings harmonious synthesis between form and functionality was highly acclaimed by critics, the metal rivets do not obstruct the facade but resemble decorative elements. The use of marble also makes the maintenance and cleaning of the very easy and inexpensive. The architect kept the design very minimalistic and simple, his aim was to convey the sense of a strong, impenetrable bank in which customers would know their money was safe. Only at the part of the exterior, near the roof, did Wagner add more elaborate decorations. These were sculpted by frequent Wagner collaborator and fellow Secessionist Othmar Schimkowitz, through the main entrance at Georg-Coch-Platz the visitor ascends a flight of stairs to the grand Kassenhalle, where customer services are located. The main hall is thus effectively on the first floor, the hall is designed like an atrium, with a large glass skylight allowing natural light to enter the heart of the building at all times. Natural light is not used only for reasons, but also to reduce the cost of electric lighting. Even the floor of the hall is constructed of glass tiles, allowing natural light to reach further down to the floor below. Wagner kept decoration in the hall to a constrained minimum, using only glass. The decorative effect is created by the simple but elegant use of the material itself, the frosted glass skylight is pierced by steel columns, their slim design making them as unobstructive to the falling light as possible. The hall is one of Otto Wagners most famous masterpieces, the buildings office space is divided according to the axis of the outside windows, again making use of natural light as much as possible
6.
Kirche am Steinhof
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Kirche am Steinhof, also called the Church of St. Leopold, is the Roman Catholic oratory of the Steinhof Psychiatric Hospital in Vienna, Austria. The building designed by Otto Wagner is considered one of the most important Art Nouveau churches in the world and it is located on a hillside below the Galitzinberg in the 14th Vienna district, Penzing. It has a status as part of the surrounding hospital. The great majority of the smaller details are the work of Otto Wagner himself. The statues on the two towers represent Saint Leopold and Saint Severin and are the work of the Viennese sculptor Richard Luksch. Unusually the church lies on a North-South axis, at the centre-top of the hospital complex, Otto Wagner incorporated numerous features specifically related to its function within an asylum, e. g. There were toilet facilities easily accessible within the church in case of patient need, originally the pews were of different widths to accommodate different categories of patient, calm / restless / disturbed. The floor is raked as in a theatre though not as steeply,26 centimetres, standing at the back the view to the altar is thus less obstructed. The central ceiling below the dome bears images relating to the four evangelists, the man for Matthew, the lion for Mark, the calf for Luke. Among the numerous saints attending the ceremony is Saint Dymphna the patron saint of those afflicted by epilepsy or mental illness, also visible is St. Clement Hofbauer or Clemens Maria Hofbauer, the patron saint of Vienna. The dome of the church is not visible from inside the building, even so, the church seats 800 people when full. The Church of St. Leopold, better known as the Kirche am Steinhof, was built during the construction of the Steinhof Psychiatric Hospital, on October 8,1907, the church was opened by Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The Archduke and Wagner were at odds on a variety of issues, but opinions regarding Wagners unusual design were varied. The most recent, and most extensive, restoration began in June 2000. All told,22 construction companies and 15 consultants worked on the restoration and their first undertaking was to completely re-gild the exterior dome using 2 kg of. 01mm-thin sheets of gold leaf. The base of the dome was renewed with copper sheets that, between 2002 and 2004, the entirety of the churchs 1, 800m² façade was replaced with 3000 plates of Carrara marble, each tile having been examined by ultrasound to ensure quality. The angelic and holy figures were removed and transported to a workshop where they were restored, construction began on the interior of the church in 2005. Among other projects, each of the mosaic windowpanes were glazed and remounted in a specially designed support structure, the windows, which have been valued at 5 million Euro, are now better protected from the elements and vandalism
7.
Rumbach Street Synagogue
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The Rumbach Street synagogue is located in Belváros, the inner city of the historical old town of Pest, in the eastern section of Budapest. The synagogue in Rumbach Street was built in 1872 to the design of the Viennese architect Otto Wagner and it served the more conservative members of the Neológ community of Pest. It was built not as a replica of, but as an homage to the style of the octagonal. The synagogue sometimes hosts plays and photo exhibits*, there is some labeling of items in the synagogue many of which are in a state of ruin*. The Rabbi of the Rumbach Street synagogue was Rabbi Shloime Boruch Schmalhausen until the Holocaust, Synagogues built in the Moorish Revival style, Leopoldstädter Tempel, Vienna, Austria Central Synagogue, New York City, United States See Moorish Revival Synagogues for more examples. Moorish Style, Orientalism, the Jews, and Synagogue Architecture, Jewish Social Studies History Culture and Society. The Gozsdu Court in the Jewish Triangle and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Gotthard Deutsch, Alexander Büchler. New York, Funk & Wagnalls Company, Jewish. hu - The Synagogue Triangle Kaufman, Rachelle Kaufman An American Jew in Budapest 2015 Media related to Rumbach Street Synagogue at Wikimedia Commons
8.
Wiener Stadtbahn
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The Wiener Stadtbahn was a public transportation system operated under this name from 1898 to 1989. Today, the Vienna U-Bahn lines U4 and U6 and the Vienna S-Bahn run on its former lines. The name derives from the usage of the term around the turn of the 19th/20th century to denote a full-scale railway in an urban area and it is not related to the usage of the term Stadtbahn in post-World War II Germany. The Stadtbahn is one of Viennas better-known examples of early Art Nouveau architecture, other preserved historical stations are the elevated stations along the Gürtel and in some of the suburbs. The Stadtbahn was built between 1894 and 1901 along with the regulation of the Wien River and the Danube Canal. Of the lines that were not built, two lines should have crossed the city, and one would have extended the Gürtel line along the southern Gürtel road to Südbahnhof railway station. These would have helped the Stadtbahn be an appealing and useful transportation system. When the lines opened, in four stages between 1898 and 1901, they failed to attract mass riders due to costs, affluent passengers were discouraged by dirt from engine smokestacks. While primarily a railway line, some trains continued on the mainlines to the north. In 1918, services came to a due to the coal shortage after World War I. Subsequently, the Wiental, Donaukanal, and Gürtel lines were leased by the city of Vienna and they were electrified and reopened in 1925 under the name Wiener Elektrische Stadtbahn. Under the new scheme, each line was assigned a single letter which could be combined with other letters to indicate the lines served. Also notable is line 18G, which was operated until 1945 and ran from Heiligenstadt to Gumpendorfer Strasse station, many stations and numerous sections of the lines were destroyed in World War II. Reconstruction of the lines took until 1955, and some of the stations were never rebuilt. In 1968 it was decided to integrate the Stadtbahn lines into the new subway system. Conversion of line WD to line U4 was completed in 1981, conversion of lines G, since then, the term Stadtbahn has disappeared from official use. A special type of engine, kkStB class 30, was designed by the Austrian engineer Karl Gölsdorf specifically for use on the Stadtbahn. The engine was optimized for quick acceleration, to suit the tight curves and steep inclines of the lines, and to emit a minimum of smoke, the passenger cars were 2-axle trailers that were rather freely based on a design by Otto Wagner
listen); 13 July 1841 – 11 April 1918) was an Austrian architect and urban planner, known for his lasting impact on the appearance of his home town Vienna, to which he contributed many landmarks.
