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0:37 Vienna is easily one of Europe's Most
0:40 Beautiful cities in fact I dare you to
0:42 try to find an ugly building around here
0:44 its architecture is almost exclusively
0:47 Baroque why well because of its curious
0:52 imperial history Vilan in
0:55 V Vienna the architecture the music the
0:59 coffee and the soccer Tor rivaling Paris
1:01 as Europe's most beautiful city with
1:03 centuries of Royal history you can't
1:06 help but feel a little Royal yourself as
1:08 you wander this beautiful city Vienna
1:11 was once the center of a major European
1:14 Empire covering thousands of miles ruled
1:16 by one royal family for hundreds of
1:19 years and where there are Royals you
1:22 need entertainment fit for Royals so it
1:24 was only natural that Vienna also became
1:27 a world leader of culture and classical music
1:30 music
1:33 so here's what I'm curious about in
1:35 Vienna why are there so many giant
1:38 ordinate public buildings all in a ring
1:41 around Vienna who were the habsburgs and
1:43 Maria Teresa and
1:46 CeCe where did a six-year-old musical genius
1:47 genius
1:50 perform when did Austria shrink to a
1:52 tenth of its original
1:56 size Why did Francis II become Francis
1:59 I what is this Greek goddess doing in
2:02 Vienna and what do these Eagles
2:05 symbolize and most importantly how do
2:16 once let's begin our curious journey
2:18 into Vienna's imperial history at the
2:20 heart of the city and the Heart of the
2:23 Empire at the sprawling palacial complex
2:26 known as hoffberg the hoffberg is one of
2:29 the largest Royal palaces in all of Europe
2:30 Europe
2:34 with 18 Wings 19 Courtyards and
2:37 2,600 rooms hard to believe it all began
2:40 as a humble medieval Fortress and you
2:42 can still see remnants of its medieval
2:45 Beginnings here in front of the palace
2:47 like many European cities Vienna can
2:49 trace its roots to early Celtic and
2:51 Roman settlements I guess if the
2:53 location is good just keep building on
2:56 top of it right the original Castle
2:59 dates back to the 13th century an
3:01 hoffberg just kept expanding and
3:04 expanding and expanding through the 19th
3:08 century but apparently even this wasn't
3:10 enough space for the royal family
3:12 because there is a Summer Palace too a
3:14 sunny yellow one called Shon [Music]
3:21 Brun shown Brun translates to beautiful
3:24 Fountain and this area here actually has
3:26 some very humble beginnings first it was
3:29 just a Farmstead and later on a simple
3:30 hunting lot
3:32 but once Maria Teresa got a hold of it
3:36 she did quite the makeover Maria Teresa
3:38 was the only female ruler of the
3:41 Habsburg Empire when she wasn't
3:43 redecorating Shon Brun she was busy
3:46 ruling her Empire for four Decades of
3:49 the 18th century during her Reign she
3:52 had several Wars waged against her some
3:53 to contest her right to rule the
3:57 Habsburg territories how rude but no
3:59 problem she dealt with it all and when
4:02 on to reform the government improve the
4:04 military and increase Austria's overall
4:07 wealth she also married for love not
4:10 power which was rare at the time and had
4:13 16 children one of which was the
4:16 legendary let them meat cake Marie
4:18 Antoinette in between all that Maria
4:21 Teresa received Shon run Palace as a
4:23 wedding gift beats a set of steak knives
4:27 right and it was here in 1762 that a
4:29 very important moment for Vienna and in
4:32 the world happened Leopold a very
4:35 ambitious uh musician he uh presented
4:38 his uh young boy a six-year-old child
4:41 prodigy Mo said he gave a concert here
4:43 at Chon Palace in front of Maria Teresa
4:45 and they were highly rewarded Maria
4:48 Teresa was a singer herself and because
4:50 of her love of Music Mozart returned to
4:53 perform in Shon Brun many times we will
4:56 explore his curious life in Vienna's
5:04 but back to that Habsburg Dynasty about
5:06 a century after Maria Teresa one of her
5:09 descendants Austria's legendary Emperor
5:12 France Joseph was born here at Shon Brun
5:14 Palace Emperor France Joseph ruled
5:17 longer than any other Austrian Emperor
5:20 68 years in total now shun Palace has
5:23 more than 300 rooms but what's
5:25 interesting is that France Joseph chose
5:27 to live most of the time in two small
5:29 rooms this was one of them his bedroom
5:33 and look how small his bed
5:36 is of his many accomplishments France
5:38 Joseph's Legacy includes helping to form
5:42 the austr Hungarian
5:44 Empire and on a much lighter and
5:46 prettier note he is also known for
5:49 marrying the most beloved Empress in
5:52 Austrian history with a cute little
5:54 nickname Empress Elizabeth was known as
5:57 Cece and also known for her beauty her
6:01 charm and her long long hair there's
6:03 even a popular movie series about her
6:06 CeCe was widely loved and adored kind of
6:09 the Princess Diana of the 1800s she
6:11 traveled the world Charmed heads of
6:15 state wrote poetry and defied Convention
6:17 including battling her meddling
6:20 mother-in-law CCE remains an Austrian icon
6:31 today but before before Emperor CeCe
6:33 before France Joseph even before the
6:36 Austrian Empire Austria can trace its
6:38 roots back to the Middle Ages and one of
6:41 the most powerful royal families in
6:44 European history the habsburgs they came
6:46 from a territory which is today's part
6:50 of Switzerland and in the 1278 they got
6:52 control about the territory which is the
6:54 core of today's Austria and then they
6:56 very slowly started to build up an
6:58 Empire the Holy Roman Empire it's not a
7:02 nation as you would think of it today so
7:04 actually the French philosopher voler
7:06 put it quite uh into a nutshell when he
7:09 said the Holy Roman Empire is neither uh
7:12 holy nor Roman and not an Empire at all
7:15 so the habsburgs ruled over that non
7:19 holy non-roman non- Empire for centuries
7:21 although the titles of those rulers
7:22 changed in the early
7:26 1800s when Francis Napoleon the started
7:29 causing trouble in Europe so ahab's B
7:32 descendant named Francis did something
7:35 drastic to save the Empire he ended it
7:37 and what's even more Curious this
7:41 particular Francis was born Francis II
7:44 but died Francis the first what the heck
7:46 how did Francis II become Francis the
7:47 first because that doesn't normally
7:49 happen well yeah that's a typical
7:53 Austrian solution so he's Francis II as
7:55 the Holy Roman Emperor and Francis the
7:58 first as the first Austrian Emperor
7:59 excellent he just didn't want to be
8:00 number he wanted to be number one that's
8:03 all it was and it's important to note
8:05 that this Austrian Empire covered a
8:07 whole lot more than just modern-day
8:10 Austria at its peak it covered 10 times
8:13 the size of today's country starting
8:16 from the West today's Austria uh then
8:18 portions huge portions of Northern
8:21 Italy uh then uh in the north there was
8:24 all of today's Czech Republic the cisive
8:27 parts of Southern Poland all of Slovakia
8:29 all of Hungary the Western portion of
8:32 the Ukraine then uh 2/3 of today's
8:36 Romania then uh all of Slovenia then
8:40 Croatia and also northern part of Serbia
8:43 also Bosnian herova oh is that all so
8:46 how and why did this huge Empire split
8:49 apart well a growing resentment towards
8:52 Imperial Rule and a little thing called
8:56 World War I happened in October 1918 the
8:58 various Nations then various ethnic or
9:01 language groups groups of the Empire
9:04 started to declare thems independent and
9:06 here's where it gets really interesting
9:08 after those little states were created
9:11 there almost wasn't a little Austria
9:15 left at all Austria actually was then uh
9:17 nicknamed uh the country that nobody
9:20 wanted because at the time actually even
9:22 the austrians people were not so
9:24 convinced about the viability of this so
9:26 much smaller country in part because the
9:28 smaller country was incredibly
9:31 vulnerable after World War I as the
9:33 world crept towards World War II and so
9:36 there was a very strong tendency of
9:41 being fused or merged with uh Germany so
9:44 after two world wars and some serious
9:46 downsizing Austria had a bit of an
9:49 identity crisis so it is no surprise
9:52 that today's austrians and vienes like
9:54 to identify with happier times and the
9:57 proud Legacy of their Habsburg and
10:00 Imperial Roots especially as a vienes
10:02 person you always have this Habsburg
10:04 background the history background you
10:06 always feel like still especially when
10:11 you wander along the ring stra you think
10:12 that Austria is still a power that
10:14 matters which we don't but you know you
10:23 Empire what is this ring straa or vienes
10:26 friend speaketh of it is the oso Grand
10:30 Boulevard of Vienna a circular one hence
10:33 the name ring stasa or ring Street a
10:35 grand project of grand buildings parks
10:39 and Gardens All Began around 1858 under
10:42 the reign of France Joseph much like
10:44 paris's Houseman project Vienna's ring
10:47 stasa tore down the old city to erect
10:49 the new while the ring follows the
10:52 medieval city walls those actual walls
10:55 were torn down only a few fragments of
10:58 the original wall still remain like I
10:59 said throughout his
11:01 if the location is good just keep
11:05 building on top of the same spot as you
11:07 play Ring Around The stasa you'll see
11:09 each public building is a Temple
11:12 dedicated to its function from a temple
11:15 to music the Vienna opera house to a
11:18 temple to the Empire The hoffberg Palace
11:20 and instead of one style for all the
11:23 buildings the ring stasa is a gorgeous
11:25 gallery of all different European
11:27 architectural Styles beginning with
11:30 Greek and Roman the parliament buildings
11:32 are perhaps the most stunning of the
11:34 Ring stasa buildings and you can't help
11:36 but notice it kind of looks like a greek
11:38 temple right well that's no accident Not
11:41 only was neoclassicism the architectural
11:43 style of the time but the Architects
11:45 wanted to make the statement that the
11:48 ostroh Hungarian Empire was just as
11:51 powerful as Greece or Rome and standing
11:53 proudly at the entrance we have the
11:56 goddess Athena the goddess of wisdom and
11:58 at her feet surrounding her we have four
12:00 allegories of the four rivers of the
12:06 Empire next around the ring stasa we
12:09 start to see double this is the
12:12 beautiful kst hisor Museum or Fine Arts
12:16 Museum built between 1871 and 1891 to
12:18 house the massive art collection of the
12:20 Habsburg family now the building itself
12:22 is just one of the many beautiful
12:24 Baroque buildings as part of the Ring
12:27 Strauss project in fact the architecture
12:34 they built a duplicate that's right it's
12:36 twin right across the plaza and this
12:43 Museum and right in the middle is our
12:45 friend Maria Teresa still holding Court
12:51 Vienna next for something completely
12:53 different Vienna's beautiful city hall
12:55 is a little bit different than the other
12:57 buildings along the ring stasa whereas
13:00 many of them are the broke style this
13:03 one is Neo Gothic and was modeled after
13:05 many other beautiful Gothic churches and
13:08 secular buildings found across Europe
13:11 now in German City Hall translates to
13:13 rat house so if you hear someone
13:15 referring to the rat house know that is
13:17 not a commentary on politicians being
13:19 rats last but not least all the way at
13:21 the top we have a beautiful statue
13:24 called the rat house man which came to
13:31 and just across from City Hall is
13:34 Vienna's temple 2 theater the Berg
13:36 theater was the last of the beautiful
13:38 buildings to be built here along the
13:40 ring stasa we have all around the
13:42 building gorgeous decorations of
13:44 playwrights and literary figures from
13:46 throughout the centuries at the top we
13:48 have the god Apollo with The Muse of
13:51 tragedy on his right and comedy on his
13:54 left and inside we have gorgeous
13:56 paintings by Gustav climp Vienna's
14:06 now for our last building remember how
14:08 the medieval wall was torn down for the
14:10 ring stasa well there are a few medieval
14:13 buildings still standing within the ring
14:15 stasa and there is one that stands
14:18 taller Above the Rest St Steven's
14:21 Cathedral is a beloved icon of Vienna
14:23 and it is believ the version that we see
14:25 today is the Third Church to stand on
14:27 this very spot the most interesting
14:30 feature of course are those Twin Spires
14:31 you can see the South one here that
14:33 extends all the way into the heavens
14:35 with the gold on top and then of course
14:37 the matching North one on this side at
14:40 the exact same height oh wait that one
14:42 was never finished why wasn't it ever
14:44 finished well there are many legends
14:47 about that including financial troubles
14:49 the threat of a Turkish Siege and plain
14:52 old this Gothic style has gone out of
14:55 style problems so today it's fun to
14:57 ponder all these possibilities but more
15:00 importantly St Steven Cathedral is the
15:02 symbol of Vienna the original church was
15:05 built in the 12th century and has a
15:07 quite curious history it was severely
15:10 damaged by fire during World War II but
15:12 miraculously rose again in just a few
15:15 short years lovely Saint Steven's
15:17 Cathedral has stood tall in the center
15:20 of Vienna's inner city for more than 700
15:24 years Joseph heyen was a choir boy here
15:29 and Mozart got married here
15:31 and that unfinished North Tower was
15:33 capped with a Renaissance spire and
15:35 houses the largest Bell in all of
15:38 Austria that soaring south tower is
15:40 still the highest point in Vienna's
15:44 inner city but most curious of all is St
15:47 Steven's cathedral's rooftop with
15:50 230,000 multicolored glazed [Music]
15:52 [Music]
15:55 tiles on one side there's a
15:57 double-headed eagle and the other two
15:59 single-headed Eagles
16:01 why well the double-headed one
16:03 represents the Habsburg Empire
16:06 symbolizing many things including its
16:09 rule over East and West rule granted by
16:12 God and the elected people and later the
16:16 Dual monarchies of Austria and Hungary
16:18 and what about those single-headed
16:20 Eagles this one on the left is the code
16:23 of arms for the Republic of Austria with
16:25 the one-headed eagle representing
16:27 Austria's sovereignty it is often
16:29 depicted with broken chains at the
16:32 Eagle's feet symbolizing Austria's
16:34 Liberation from Germany in
16:37 1945 and this one on the right is the
16:40 city of Vienna's coat of arms the shield
16:42 on the Eagle's chest with a white cross
16:45 over a red background is believed to
16:47 have been part of the Seal of Vienna
16:53 century all that heavy history
16:55 surrounded by light and mirth here at
16:59 Stevens plots at Christmas time [Music]
17:09 so let's continue with some light and
17:12 mirth and beautiful classical music
17:20 for from the 16th to the 20th centuries
17:23 music wasn't just a light Pastime here
17:25 it was a status symbol for the Imperial
17:28 family of Austria and Vienna became a
17:31 leading European Center for music with
17:34 names like Strauss Beethoven and heyen
17:37 and that fine music Legacy continues
17:39 today going to see a classical music
17:42 concert in Vienna in a setting like this
17:46 is as common as going to the movies and
17:48 this luxurious setting is the lovely
17:53 palet alburg built between 1706 and 1710
17:55 it is considered Vienna's oldest Baroque
17:58 Palace and it is a pretty darn perfect
18:00 place to to listen to the world's best
18:03 classical music because not only did
18:05 Emperor France Joseph attend balls here
18:08 but some of the world's best composers
18:11 performed here including a very special
18:20 Gang Wolf Gang Amadeus Mozart is one of
18:23 the greatest composers in the history of
18:26 classical music The Magic Flute Don
18:28 Giovani the marriage of figuro and the
18:31 haunt requium Mozart is universally
18:38 genius It is believed that Mozart began
18:42 playing music at the age of three and as
18:45 an adult his genius flourished as he was
18:47 able to create music in all the
18:50 different genres of his time and his
18:52 impact on Vienna is as Grand as his
18:56 music even today you can't pass a corner
18:58 in Vienna without seeing something Mozart
18:59 Mozart
19:01 especially tasty Mozart cougal
19:05 chocolates but I digress but Mozart was
19:08 born in salsburg so why is he so linked to
19:13 Vienna well the perfect person to ask
19:15 that question to is our guide at the
19:18 Mozart house who just happens to have
19:21 the same name as Mozart's wife castanza
19:23 what brought him here to VI he came here
19:26 because his them boss the salburg AR
19:30 Bishop hos told him to come to Vienna
19:32 and to work from Vienna for him but then
19:34 again Mo was a very Freedom kind of
19:36 loving person and he was really fed up
19:38 this badly paid position so he had a
19:40 little bit of luck maybe because he had
19:43 a huge fight with the Archbishop and
19:45 then he just said okay here in Vienna I
19:47 can become a freelance composer and he
19:50 became one oh yes from the beginning the
19:53 only thing that rivaled Mozart's Talent
19:55 was his rebellious Spirit while it was a
19:57 struggle at first eventually Mozart
20:00 thrived in Vienna calling it quote the
20:03 land of the piano and some of his most
20:05 famous works were performed for the
20:07 first time here in Vienna and written
20:10 here in Vienna too some of them in this
20:12 beautiful little 17th century apartment
20:15 this is the apartment of morz uh Moz
20:17 spent his last 10 years of his life in
20:19 Vienna and during the time he moved 13
20:22 times so he had 14 Apartments this is
20:24 the only apartment which still exists
20:27 today all other apartments are gone and
20:29 he moved in here on the 29th of
20:33 September in 1784 and he moved out again
20:37 on the 23rd of April in 1787 so he lived
20:38 here for over 2 and a half years which
20:41 was the longest time he spent in an
20:43 apartment but why did Mozart move so
20:45 much did he just have fickle tastes
20:47 needed new inspiration for each
20:50 composition nope the reason was much
20:53 more practical he never saved money if
20:56 he had money he just spent it all and so
20:57 sometimes he had to move to small
20:59 apartments he was known for that for the
21:00 for the money he would get he was spend
21:03 it out on you know parties and and all
21:06 sort of you know unsavory things he he
21:08 had a good time but whereas maybe we
21:10 think of him as this very serious genius
21:12 he was not a serious person at all no he
21:14 was very very funny and he loved to make
21:17 jokes and he uh loved to make up names
21:20 for for people and uh but he also worked
21:22 very hard I think that's very
21:24 fascinating about him and you can see
21:26 some of his most famous works here at
21:29 the Mozart House Museum during the time
21:31 he lived here he composed so many pieces
21:34 like the Opera lenot de figuru ate piano
21:38 concertos so sonatas and quartets so
21:40 many things were composed here it's
21:42 unbelievable how he did it and today you
21:45 can stand in the very same room where
21:47 Mozart would try out his new works for
21:50 his friends but in this room also house
21:53 music evenings would take place so um
21:56 string uh people for string quets would
21:58 come in and play the new music of more
22:00 he would invite his friends guests and
22:02 they would listen to the music so this
22:03 all happened in this room that's
22:05 exciting so it's possible that he was
22:07 sitting in this room looking out down
22:10 this same very Street sure he did yeah
22:11 because the view you have here is an
22:13 authentic view because the houses to
22:15 your left and right were still standing
22:19 um were standing 250 years ago as well
22:20 so um yeah you have the same view that Mo
22:21 Mo [Music]
22:23 [Music]
22:26 had and today you can almost hear
22:29 Mozart's music Still spilling out of
22:39 Vienna from a Holy Roman Empire that was
22:41 neither holy nor Roman nor really an
22:43 Empire to a once humble Celtic
22:46 settlement and Roman Fort that became
22:48 the Royal Palace that just kept
22:52 expanding and expanding and expanding to
22:54 a hunting lodge built on a spring that
22:57 became the sunny Summer Palace where a
22:59 Young Mozart gave a concert for Habsburg
23:02 Queen whose descendant changed his name
23:05 from the second to the first and created
23:08 a new Empire which paved the way for
23:10 Austria's longest reigning Emperor who
23:13 put a ring on Austria's most beloved
23:16 empress and another type of ring around
23:18 beloved Vienna that followed those
23:21 medieval walls and then decorated it
23:23 with temples to music art science
23:26 culture government and of course the
23:29 people in all manner of shape Styles and
23:33 symbols and inside that ring is a proud
23:35 vestage of those medieval days a church
23:38 with a wonky Tower and important symbols
23:41 of Austria's turbulent history and just
23:44 steps away on a lovely little Street if
23:46 you close your eyes you just might hear
23:49 the music of an Austrian born musical
23:52 genius trying out his latest composition
24:08 about thank you for joining us on our
24:10 educational journey and hopefully now
24:12 you're even more curious about the who
24:16 what where why when and how of Vienna as