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