Simple courtesy
by KennetRose
Apart from the Ferris wheel I'll remember Vienna best for the man at the Südbahnhof who carried my bags from my trolley into the Prague train and put it on the rack. I could hardly begrudge him the 2 euro deposit on the trolley, which he wheeled back to its proper place. I strongly suspect his need was far greater than mine, but he was a perfect gentleman.
Vienna history: two world wars on the wrong side
by Pavlik_NL
Under the last emperor tensions grew within the empire and throughout Europe. Meanwhile an insignificant young art student, living in Vienna, felt extremely frustrated as his drawings and paintings scored very low grades. His name, would later become extremely infamous. We talk about a certain A. Hitler ...
The Austrian-Hungarian empire eventually collapsed after the Great War (WW1) in which the Austrian-Hungarian empire was more or less bounded to fight alongside Germany. Especially for the empire, the war was a large debacle that costed many soldiers their lives. After the war the empire was split up in several new countries. Vienna, remaining the capitol of Austria, stagnated in growth.
When former mentioned student took power in Germany and created Nazi-Germany, Austria was taken into this by fixed elections during the "Anschluss" and was dragged into the second worldwar. After this devistating war, Austria was devided in an Eastern and Western part, leaving Vienna for more then a decade in Sowjet hands. Eventually Austria was reunited, when the Sowjets pulled their occupation army away.
In December 1883 Austria´s...
by andreavienna
In December 1883 Austria´s Chamber of Deputies and Upper Chamber moved to the new Parliament. Tours of the Parliament are given regularely except when the Governement is in session. (When the Houses convene, flags are flown on the poles at the front of the building.)
Judenplatz
by yooperprof
Judenplatz is at the center of what was once the Jewish ghetto. The ghetto changed locations within the city several times, but Judenplatz never changed its name. Now the square is dominated by the large bleak and painful Holocaust Memorial, a "sculpture" which is in deliberate and conscious conflict with its surroundings, not only in Judenplatz but with the entire city of Vienna itself. There's nothing pretty about this Memorial, nothing sentimental about it - and Vienna is a very sentimental city. The Holocaust Memorial shares its space in Judenplatz with a statue of the German Enlightenment writer Gotthold Lessing, who had argued in favor of toleration for the 'Jews. Naturally, the Nazi's did not tolerate the Lessing statue; they had it melted down; the current statue was finally returned to Judenplatz in 1982.
Wiener Schmäh...
by sabsi
What's this special Wiener Schmäh everybody is talking about (especially since UNESCO started thinking about adding it as world heritage!) Is it the grumpyness of waiters, shop assistants, local people you meet in the streets? Is it the dialect the Vienna people speak? Is it that people who you ask in the streets rather lie to you than to admit they don't have a clue about what you want to know? I think it's all part of it. The people might not be friendly. But somehow their "Granteln" adds to the charme of the city.
However, when I really needed advise or directions, I rather asked one of the many Mozarts in town. None of them was local, they weren't even Austrian. But all of them were more than helpful during our treasure hunt through Vienna...