Wien, Bundesland

Vienna: (Wien) area 414.953 km²; pop. 1,651,437; density of pop. 3,711 per km²; 153,693 buildings; 853,091 flats; 725,468 households; 23 districts, 9 court districts.

Vienna is the smallest province in geographical terms, but it has the largest number of inhabitants, is the most densely settled province, and is also the cultural and intellectual centre of Austria. The federal capital, with its 23 districts, is the largest city in geographical and population terms. It is the seat of the National Council (Nationalrat) and the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the Federal President and the Federal Government, all the central authorities of the Federal State and the diplomatic missions of other states. It is also the seat of the Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof), of the Constitutional Court, the Administrative Court, and of a number of specialised courts, such as Labour and Social Tribunals, Commercial Courts, Oberlandesgericht (Superior Provincial Court), Juvenile Court, Landesgericht (Provincial Court) for criminal cases, District Court for criminal cases, and various other District Courts. Until 1997, Vienna was also home to the Provincial Diet (Landtag), Provincial Government and provincial authorities of Lower Austria. Vienna is an international centre for congresses, conferences and fairs and plays host to major international organisations like the UN (Vienna Office), IAEA, UNIDO, and OPEC, a conference centre being situated in the immediate vicinity of the (Vienna International Center) and the Messegelände exhibition centre in the Prater gardens. Vienna, one of Austria's oldest cities, is also a European centre of cultural and artistic events as well as of tourism and is undoubtedly justified in claiming a position among the important capital cities of the world.

Geographical location: Vienna's development as one of Central Europe's biggest and most important cities is in part due to its favourable geographical location: Being situated between the north-eastern fringe of the Alps to the south-west, the Vienna Basin in the south-east, and (for the most part) south of the River Danube, the city lies at the intersection of major ancient transport routes, such as the west-east connection along the Danube and the historic north-south passage of the (Amber Route). The city has been a centre of European traffic and transport, particularly since the fall of the Iron Curtain, and traffic and transport connections as well as economic relations with Austria's eastern neighbours are becoming increasingly important.

Landscape: Vienna's altitude varies between 151 m in the Lobau and 542 m at Hermannskogel Hill, and the town area stretches over several landscapes: from the soft Flysch hills covered with deciduous forests of the Vienna Woods (Leopoldsberg Hill, Kahlenberg Hill, Hermannskogel Hill) in the north-west, west and south-west and the elevations of the Wienerberg Hill and the Laaer Berg Hill over glacial terraces drained by the Wienerwald streams to the low-lying flatlands along the Danube and the edge of the Vienna Basin near Schwechat in the south-east, and to the Marchfeld Plain in the east and north-east.

The numerous glacial terraces between the Vienna Woods and the Danube river afforded enough room for expansion during Vienna's first development phases. The medieval town quickly expanded outwards in a widening circles, enlarging the town area by the Baroque suburban towns and by the suburbs in the Age of Promotorism, with the old thoroughfares running through the town centre. The medieval town was situated on the town terrace about 10 metres above the level of the flatlands and extended within the walls of an ancient Roman camp. There is a considerable rise to the next level, the Arsenal terrace, which is followed by the Laaer Berg terrace. The construction of bridges across the Danube was not taken on until relatively late, in 1439, due to the breadth of the Danube flatlands, which is in some places as much as 6 kilometres. Floridsdorf, for example, was built at one end of a bridge in the 2^nd half of the 18^th century in the Marchfeld flatlands (in the north), and was integrated into the town area in 1904. The bulk of urban development, however, was headed west and south-west towards the Flysch hills of the Vienna Woods. The area north and north-east of the Danube was only systematically promoted and developed as a location for enterprises and as living area in the course of another expansion phase in the last few decades of this century.

The town area is divided into two parts which are distinguished by the time of construction: The "inner town" stemming from the Age of Promotorism, and the "outer town" added in the inter-war years and after the Second World War. The townscape of modern Vienna consists of a number of settlements that have merged with each other and which surround the town centre in two belts: the "Vorstädte" area of suburban towns covering (today's) inner districts 3 to 9, which extends between Ringstraße boulevard and Gürtel ring-road, and the "Vororte" suburbs outside the Gürtel (outer districts). The suburban towns developed as a business and residential area of the middle class, the suburbs outside the Gürtel were typical "workers' districts" (districts 12, 15, 16, and 17.). Areas in the south (23^rd district and parts of the 10^th district), south-east (11) and north of the Danube (21 and 22) are occupied by companies needing more space and were favoured for expansion programmes, particularly in the 1970s and 1990s, when big housing estates were built (e.g. Wohnpark Alterlaa, Wienerfeld-West and Wienerfeld-Ost, Per-Albin-Hansson estate (West and East), Großfeldsiedlung estate, Neu-Stammersdorf, etc.). The edge of the town is occupied by traditional allotment gardens (1992: 235 private gardeners' associations with altogether 25,377 members cultivating a total of 13 km²) and housing developments consisting of one-family houses. In the south-west (Hietzing) and north-west (Neuwaldegg, Währing, Döbling) are the districts of wealthy villa owners and the traditional winegrowers' and Heurigen (traditional Viennese wine taverns) villages, like Nußdorf, Grinzing, Sievering, and Neustift am Walde. The town area is interspersed with a number of gardens and parks, such as Stadtpark, Volksgarten, Burggarten, Augarten, Belvederegarten, Schwarzenberggarten, Liechtensteinpark, Türkenschanzpark, the gardens of Schönbrunn Palace including the Tiroler Garten and the Fasangarten. On the eastern town border lies the Prater, probably the most popular extensive green area, which includes an amusement park; on the south-western border of Vienna is the Lainzer Tiergarten Nature Preserve, in the north-east are the Donaupark gardens, and in the South is the Laaer Berg recreation area. The Donauinsel, a long-stretched island (21.1 km long, area 5.33 km²) extending in the south-east between Danube and Neue Donau ("New Danube"), which includes the nature preserve Toter Grund, is a recreation area unique in Central Europe. It is bordered in the north-east and south-east by the Lobau flatland area. The meadow and forest areas designated in the building regulations as protected areas (Wald- und Wiesengürtel) function as a clean air reservoir and recreational area and amount to some 70 km². Vienna's green areas amount to just over 205 km², most of which is used for agriculture (76.5 km²) or forestry (70.3 km²), a smaller area is taken up by meadows, allotment gardens and park and garden grounds (15.1 km²). In 1992, the Vienna Public Gardens Administration was in charge of 2,706 public gardens. The agricultural enterprise of the City of Vienna cultivated 17.5 km²in 1995. Among the 438 natural monuments counted in 1992 are the long "Obere Mühlwasser" lake and the forest on Johannser Kogel hill in the Lainzer Tiergarten. In 1992, there were nature preserves in Lainzer Tiergarten (22.63 km²), Untere Lobau (20.88 km²), in the Prater (4.98 km²), in Döbling (12.05 km²), in Obere Lobau (5.31 km²), and in Liesing (6.54 km²), and a number of other smaller areas.

Climate: The climate of Vienna is determined by oceanic influences from the west, characterised by moderate summers, mild winters and high amounts of precipitation and by continental influences from the east, characterised by hot summers, cold winters, and moderate amounts of precipitation. This mixed climate brings varying temperatures and varying amounts of precipitation in the town. Climatic changes in the past few years have led to a drop in precipitation amounts, to prolonged dry periods and milder winters. The average air temperature in 1992 was 11.4° C (52.5° F), the precipitation average was 602 mm; summer was 61 days long, and there were 52 days of frost.

Population: In modern times, the population growth in Vienna has been determined by immigration. At the end of the 19^th and the beginning of the 20^th century, large numbers of Czechs came to Vienna, along with smaller numbers of people from various ethnic and religious groups from all parts of the monarchy. The disintegration of the Habsburg Monarchy after 1918 drastically reduced the area from which immigrants were drawn, and until the1960s (start of recruitment of "guest workers") it was de facto limited to the eastern parts of Austria, i.e. Lower Austria and Burgenland. Despite the city's geographical expansion (278 km² in 1910, 414.95 km² since 1954), the population of Vienna shrank continuously after the First World War (1910: 2,083,630). The decline was particularly dramatic between 1934 (pop. 1,935.881) and 1951 (1,616,125 ), caused by departures in the inter-war years and, after 1938, the expulsion or extermination of the Jewish population, which had tended to concentrate in certain districts (esp. Leopoldstadt). The naturalisation of German-speaking refugees, particularly from the Sudeten areas, and migration from the Austrian provinces could not fill the gap. A slight population growth between 1951 and 1961 and a slight decrease until 1971 were followed by another sharp fall in population numbers between 1971 (pop. 1,619,885) and 1981 (1,531,346). The situation improved slightly in the 1980s, a trend which grew more dynamic in the 1990s (1991: 1,539,848; 1992: 1,611,859; 1995: 1,636,399). Only a small proportion of this increase is due to a minimal rise in the birth rate since 1991, the major causes being a migration surplus vis-à-vis the provinces and the immigration of foreigners, which varies considerably from district to district. In 1995, a total of 6,841 foreigners living in Vienna became Austrian citizens. At the end of 1991, altogether 280,811 foreigners and legally recognised refugees were resident in Vienna, compared with 300,675 in 1995. They came mainly from the former Yugoslavia (91,620), from Turkey (52,095), and from Poland (19,421). In 1991, almost a fifth (19,6 %) of the Austrian population lived in Vienna. Although, according to the 1991 census, Vienna has the smallest proportion of children of all the provinces (13,9 % children aged up to 15 years; Austrian average 17,4 %; average fertility rate: 1,48), a slight rise in the birth rate since 1981 has improved the age ratio. The number of persons of working age has increased to 973,868 since 1981 (63,2 % of the population), the proportion of old people (over 60) is still high (at 22,9 % in 1991), but has decreased from the 1981 figure (25,2 %), making Vienna the only province with a shrinking number of elderly people. In 1991, average life expectancy was 71.7 years for men and 78.6 years for women. Another unique feature of the demography of Vienna is the high excess of women over men. Vienna has 15.5 % more females than males, more than twice the Austrian average (7.7 %). New social trends are more pronounced in the conurbation of Vienna and its environs than in other towns or in the rural areas. The proportion of married people, at 50.7 %, for example, lies below the Austrian average of 54.9 % and has declined since 1981, also people marry later and get divorced more often in Vienna (10,4 % of adult persons are divorced; 5,701 divorces in 1995). Vienna also counts the highest number of single-person households (296,100, i.e. 40 % of households in 1995) in Austria, with an increase of 8.2 % between 1981 and 1991.

The Viennese dialect is used mostly by the lower classes, but on a decreasing scale. Owing to the comparatively large share of the Viennese in the overall population and their position as inhabitants of the political, economic and cultural centre of the country, they have played a decisive role in forming the stereotypical characteristics considered by many foreigners as "typically Austrian", such as Gemütlichkeit and love of life, artistic (esp. musical) talent, and also their propensity for grumbling.

Vienna's international renown was and still is due to Viennese music (Opera, Operetta, Viennese Waltz) and also to Viennese cuisine with its numerous specialities (partly from the Bohemian area), the Viennese "Kaffeehaus" culture, and to achievements in the fields of medicine and psychotherapy, in the economic sciences and in architecture, as well as in the area of modern communal and social institutions.

Economy: Vienna is the economic capital of Austria: In 1991, a total of 71,000 companies (mostly SMEs; 1981: 66,127) employed 744,516 people, about one fourth of all gainfully employed Austrians, among them 701,052 wage and salary earners. 18,317 enterprises (26 %) are run as family businesses and have no employees, 46 % (32,796) employ 1-4 persons. From among the bigger companies, 73 % employ less than 20 persons, 1,5 % more than 100, and 142 large-scale enterprises employ more than 500 persons. The percentage of foreigners as wage and salary earners decreased from 13.3 % to 12.6 % between 1991 and 1993; the unemployment rate in 1993 was 7.2 %. The majority of the Viennese, some 75 % or 555,008 persons, work in the service sector, which accounts for 85 % (60,157) of all jobs. Despite the declining importance of the manufacturing industry, a nation-wide trend, this sector comprised 8,081 plants or workshops and employed 135,964 persons in 1991, keeping Vienna at the top of the list of industrial centres. In 1991/92, the number of industrial enterprises in Vienna decreased by 77, the number of employed persons shrank by 3,753, and in 1993 another 6,740 jobs were lost. Many companies located outside Vienna have their headquarters in the city: 45 % of all industrial enterprises are managed from Vienna. The economy in Vienna is typified by a diversity of trades and by the production of consumer-orientated and high-quality finished products. The largest number of companies (2,926) operates in the metal production and metal processing industries, employing 74,278 people; the food and beverage industry ranks second, providing work for 16,769 persons in 907 companies, followed by the printing industry with 12,773 employed in 931 enterprises. Other important sectors are the production and processing of chemicals and rubber, oil and plastics, mechanical engineering, reinforced concrete construction, vehicle building, hardware and metal goods production, and the building and construction industry (48,573 gainfully employed persons). The value of industrial production rose by 1.8 % from ATS 133,000,000,000 to ATS 136,000,000,000 in the period from 1991 to 1993. Commercial firms and crafts enterprises in Vienna employed 121,504 persons in 13,907 enterprises in 1991. In the same year, 1,281 agricultural enterprises employed as few as 5,025 persons (owners, family members, permanent workforce), a number which diminished further to 4,700 in 1993, the year of the latest micro-census. An important factor for both the local and the national economy are the Vienna trade fairs and fairs open to the general public, such as the "Frühjahrsmesse" (spring fair), "Interieur" (interior design), "IFABO" (office technology), "Auto-Salon & Zweirad" (automobiles and [motor] bicycles).

Tourism: Having been the political and economic centre of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, Vienna is a historic and cultural capital with a wealth of sights, and tourism, which already counted around 200,000 visitors in the year 1883, is of particular importance for the economy of the city. Following the end of the Second World War, Vienna re-gained its leading position in Austrian tourism as a city with a unique choice of cultural assets and events. In the year 1995, a total of 6,064 establishments were active in the hotel and catering trade, 340 of them hotels (13 5-star hotels) and other providers of accommodation, providing 20,796 rooms and 41,144 beds. In the same year 6,111,568 overnight stays of foreign guests were registered, compared with 938,142 of domestic tourists. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain the number of tourists from Austria's eastern neighbours has risen dramatically, but most of these tourists are day-trippers and thus not included in the statistics. As is characteristic of city tourism, most guests stay for an average of 2.5 days; bed occupancy for the summer season is 52,2 %.

Transport: Vienna occupies a key position in Central European air and inland traffic networks. In 1994, the public transport system comprised 35 tram lines and 5 underground railway lines (1,412 tractive units and passenger carriages, 237 km of tracks built, 759 km operational length) and transported 506,300,000 passengers, while 120,400,000 people used the 75 bus lines (516 coaches, 617 km total line length). Alongside these, the 68 coach lines operated by the Postal Administration and by the Federal Railways transported 24,200,000 persons to and from destinations outside Vienna. The railway system (passenger traffic and goods transport taken together) had an operational length of 178 km and 32 railway stations, and sold 8,900,000 tickets in 1992. In short-distance traffic, the Schnellbahn suburban railway network makes the area around Vienna accessible, extending also into the provinces of Burgenland and Lower Austria, and accounts for the bulk of daily commuting traffic (around 180,000 commuters per day). The "Verkehrsverbund Ostregion" transport association, whose central areas of operation are the Vienna city area, large parts of Lower Austria and the northern section of Burgenland, was established in 1984.

During the Second World War, all the railway stations in Vienna were either heavily damaged or completely destroyed by bombs. Among the major stations that were rebuilt or altered are the Western Railway Station (Westbahnhof, rebuilt in 1951, altered in 1993/94 in the course of works to extend the U 3 underground railway line and to re-design Europaplatz square) and the Franz Joseph railway station (integrated into a multipurpose office building). The Western and Southern Railway stations (the latter including the former Eastern Railway station) handle most long-distance and international transport, while the relevance of Franz Joseph, Vienna-Nord/Praterstern, and Vienna-Mitte stations lies in domestic and regional transport.

Vienna's road network is some 2,800 kilometres long, with around 680 km being heavily used roads (autobahn, federal roads, main roads) accounting for around 85 % of total traffic (14,400,000 car kilometres). The network of bicycle routes totalled 545 kilometres at the end of 1995.

In Vienna there are 5 road bridges and 2 rail bridges across the Danube: Nordbrücke bridge (part of the northern gateway into the city), Floridsdorf bridge, Nordbahn bridge, Brigittenau bridge, Reichsbrücke bridge, Prater railway bridge (constructed simultaneously with the south-east beltway A 20), and Stadlau Ostbahn railway bridge. The Danube Canal is spanned by 23 bridges and footbridges, including the 800 metre-long Gürtel bridge (1962-1964) and the Erdberg bridge, which was constructed between 1969 and 1971 when the south-east beltway was widened.

The number of motor vehicles per 1,000 citizens rose from 94 to 434 between 1961 and 1995. In 1995, 710,827 motor vehicles were registered in Vienna, rendering it difficult to find a parking space in the densely settled town. The southern beltway (B 301), which is a much-used connection between autobahn A 2 and autobahn A 4, is intended to take pressure off residential areas and give access to important locations, such as the Danube river port Albern and the Metzger-Werke freight terminal.

Ship traffic on the Danube has decreased substantially in the wake of the two World Wars, but the situation is expected to improve (increase of shipping on the Danube and of the freight volume) owing to the political and economic rapprochement of the former Eastern countries and also the opening of the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, from which Vienna harbour is likely to benefit in particular. In 1996, the amount of traffic dealt with by the port was 1,700,000 metric tons. The Vienna harbour consists of 3 parts: the main part is the Freudenau harbour, which includes the biggest container terminal within an inland harbour in Europe (total container traffic in 1996: 159,049 TEU), a warehouse centre, duty free zone, lorry terminal, and the headquarters of the 3 Vienna harbour associations; it still fulfils its original function as a harbour of refuge and wintering harbour. The Albern harbour, originally a grain harbour (storage volume of the grain silos: 90,000 metric tons), still plays an important role in grain export. The Lobau oil harbour also functions as a harbour of refuge and as a wintering harbour for vessels and is connected via pipelines (e.g. Barbara bridges) with the central tank storage unit of the OMV refinery in Schwechat. The Freudenau harbour has already been enlarged, while a further enlargement of the Albern harbour to increase its water-land transhipment capacities is in the planning stages. In 1962, the Wiener Hafen-Betriebs Ges. m. b. H. (today Wiener Hafen Ges. m. b. H.), was founded, followed by the Wiencont Containerterminal Ges. m. b. H. in 1979. The bulk of Air Transport (Aviation, Austrian Airlines) is handled at the airport at Schwechat near Vienna.

Public Utilities: The public utility enterprises are mainly owned by the municipality of Vienna and comprise Wiener Stadtwerke - Verkehrsbetriebe, or Wiener Linien (public transport), electric power plants (Wienstrom), gas works (Wiengas), and funeral services (Bestattung Wien). In 1995, these companies employed 15,118 persons, which made them one of Austria's major employers. Wienstrom provides electricity for the city of Vienna as well as for 110 Lower Austrian municipalities. The power plant at Simmering started operation in 1902 and today comprises 4 sections with a total capacity of 973 MW, 630 MW of which is fed into the district heating system. The power stations at Donaustadt and at Leopoldau can together produce a maximum of 480 MW electrical power and 170 MW long-distance energy. Following extensive environmental protection measures, the emission of nitrogen oxide was reduced by 87 % and that of sulphur oxide by 99 % between 1980 and 1996. Alongside its thermal power stations, Wienstrom also operates its own hydroelectric power stations at Gaming and Opponitz and holds the right to import electric energy from the power stations at Greifenstein and Freudenau. In 1995, the total energy consumption of Vienna was 9,385 GWh, half of which was generated by Wienstrom in its own stations, while the other half was supplied by "Verbundgesellschaft" (association of energy suppliers). For the supply of electric power, different networks with different voltage levels are in operation. The transport network uses a maximum voltage of 380 kV, while the distribution networks operate at 110 kV, 20 kV or 10 kV, and 230 V. There are 40 substations and more than 11,000 transformer stations, and the link between producers and consumers comprises around 21,000 kilometres of cable or aerial lines, as well as safeguarding installations ensuring the safe transport of electric energy.

Natural gas consumption in Vienna was around 2,038,000,000 m³ in 1996. To ensure sufficient natural gas supply, the storage capacity was increased to 725 m³ in 1993. The natural gas is supplied from domestic production as well as by Russian and Norwegian companies. The pipeline network of the Wiener Stadtwerke is around 3,345 kilometres long and supplies 725,415 consumers (figures from 1996). A high-pressure gas line of 15.5 kilometres length was constructed between Aderklaa and the steam power station at Donaustadt ("Ost 2").

In 1994, the total energy consumption of the federal capital was 31,689,44 gigawatt-hours. Use of solar energy is promoted through investment incentives.

Drinking water in Vienna consisted of around 97 % springwater in 1995. The remainder came from underground water from pumping stations in and outside Vienna, a small portion of treated surface water (Wiental water pipeline), and stored water. A number of institutions are engaged in the public water supply: the Vienna "Hochquell" water mains 1 (134 km) and 2 (200 km), 7 subsoil waterworks, 14 pumping stations, 9 pressure-raising stations, 1 treatment facility, 11 hydroelectric power stations, and a water pipeline network of 3,176 kilometres. 34 water containers can store a total of 1,465,870 m³. Water consumption was 1,280,000,000 litres in 1995.

In 1996, the Vienna sewage network comprised 2,134,776 metres of street conduits and 5,554,625 metres of house conduits; the two sewage treatment plants purified 198,000,000 m³ (main plant) and 19,900,000 m³ (plant at Blumental) of used water.

The annual fuel consumption of Vienna varies considerably. Most of the heat supply today is ensured by central heating systems in houses, by gas heating or district heating systems. In 1996, the proportion taken up by district heating was around 25 %, production capacity was 2,534 MW; 13 production units fed electricity into the Verbund electricity network. In 1995/96, the Heizbetriebe Wien Ges. m. b. H. sold 4,598 GWh and provided 157,787 homes and 3,467 large-scale users with heat; the district heating network is more than 735 kilometres long. The demand for district heating in Vienna is usually satisfied by the waste heat produced by the electric power stations at Simmering (installed production capacity of 280 MW and 350 MW in 1996) and at Leopoldau (170 MW), by the OMV refinery at Schwechat (170 MW), by the waste disposal enterprise at Simmering (40 MW), and by the domestic waste incinerators at Flötzersteig (50 MW) and Spittelau (60 MW, biggest district heating plant in Austria). Peak consumption is covered by oil and gas power stations at Leopoldau, Spittelau (395 MW), Arsenal (326 MW), Kagran (176 MW), and Liesing (340 MW). The role of mineral fuels (brown coal, hard coal, coke) for heating private houses is becoming less and less important.

A refuse storage dump is located at Rautenweg (22^nd district). In 1995, the amount of refuse produced in Vienna was 822,000 metric tons, 37 % of which was collected through the refuse separation system, 54 % collected as bulk waste and incinerated, 9 % stored.

Food and goods supply in Vienna is ensured by numerous markets: 1 livestock market hall, 1 central market, 2 retail market halls, 20 open markets, and 2 street markets. Among the temporary markets, the Vienna Christmas Fair Christkindlmarkt is particularly popular.

Vienna's social system constituted a leading example for many cities in Europe even in the inter-war years. Support is provided in the form of pecuniary assistance and social services (domestic helpers, home care for sick persons, "meals on wheels" delivery service, visiting service, family assistance). Vienna has a number of senior citizens homes and nursing homes, institutions providing advice and assistance, day centres and hostels, as well as hostels and workshops for the disabled. In 1995, 1,908 disabled persons were cared for, 3,915 children and young people asking for assistance were helped, and 4,511 children were in psychological care in homes. In the same year, 60,400 children were entrusted to the care of 1,356 children's day-care centres. Owing to a high percentage of senior citizens in Vienna, facilities for the aged were greatly expanded. In 1995, 19,388 seniors per day received care in 80 old-age homes (30 run by the City of Vienna), providing a total capacity of 20,233 places. Furthermore, there are 4 homes for disabled persons in Vienna, 13 asylums for homeless people, 2 family hostels, and 2 hostels for women in difficult family situations. In 1995, the City of Vienna spent ATS 23,500,000 for social services and housing promotion, which accounts for 16 % of the total budget.

The health sector employed 10,519 physicians in 1995. In 1994, Vienna had 56 hospitals with 20,849 beds, 5,143 doctors and 19,720 nursing staff; the City of Vienna operated a hospital and 4 nursing homes outside Vienna, providing treatment for 464,131 in-patients. 27 hospitals are managed by the City of Vienna, while 29 are run by other institutions. The usable floor space of the Vienna General Hospital (Wiener Allgemeines Krankenhaus, AKH) is 345,000 m², it comprises 45 departments and institutes of the University of Vienna, 2,184 beds, and around 5,800 staff, including some 1,000 doctors and other university graduates. The AKH was built at a cost of around ATS 37,000,000 over a period of 35 years, went into operation in several phases and was officially opened on 7 June, 1994. The most recent hospital in Vienna is the Donauspital at the SMZ-Ost centre (built from 1992 to 1994). In 1995, the City of Vienna operated 7 centres for medical check-ups, 3 advice centres for pregnant women, and 906 outpatient departments (independent or part of a hospital). The Vienna ambulances transported 359,802 persons in 1995. In the same year, ATS 27,200,000 were spent in the health sector, that is 19 % of the total budget.

On 21 September, 1923, the Vienna City Council adopted a 5-year construction programme, providing for 25,000 apartments to be built from tax revenues, a measure intended to alleviate the situation of the poor who often lived in overcrowded conditions (in 1910 there were 92,994 subtenants and 75,473 persons renting beds, 25 % of apartments consisting of a kitchen and one room housed 5-10 persons). Between 1925 and 1934, 337 housing estates with 64,000 council flats were built by the City of Vienna. Building activity stagnated between 1934 and 1945, and by 1945 war damage had rendered 86,875 houses uninhabitable. In 1954, the basis was laid for the construction of 100,000 new council flats, most of which were finished by 1958. Between 1945 and 1993, another 150,000 council flats were constructed. In June/July of 1994, 220,000 council flats (more than a quarter of all flats in Vienna) were managed by the City of Vienna, making the latter the number-one house owner in Austria. An extensive renovation programme for council houses got under way in the middle of the 1980s. In addition to that, the public authorities partly financed the activities of non-profit building associations and the construction of freehold flats. Between 1950 and 1980, some 300,000 new homes were built in Vienna, particularly on the outskirts of the city, while between 1980 and 1990 building activity receded with only around 6,000 new homes coming on the market every year.

Arts, Culture, Science: Vienna is home to the Austrian Academy of Sciences and numerous universities, such as University of Vienna, University of Technology, Vienna, University of Agricultural Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, University of Economics and Business Administration, Vienna, Akademie der bildenden Künste (Academy of Fine Arts), a School of Music and Performing Arts, and of the School of Applied Art (Kunsthochschulen). Adult Education also has an important function (Verband Wiener Volksbildung). Vienna has a number of libraries, such as the Austrian National Library, several university libraries (University Library, Vienna), the Vienna City and Provincial Libraries, academic libraries, libraries of official authorities, Central Pedagogic Library.

Viennese Theatre plays a central role in the cultural life of the city, Burgtheater, Akademietheater, Theater in der Josefstadt, Theater an der Wien, (see)Volkstheater, Raimundtheater, (see)Ronacher, Kabarett. - Vienna owes its reputation as a city of music (Music) largely to the State Opera, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and to the classic Viennese Operetta, which is cultivated at the Volksoper. Other representatives of Vienna's musical tradition are the Konzerthaus (Konzerthausgesellschaft) and the Musikverein (Musikfreunde). Young musicians are trained at the schools of music of the City of Vienna ("Konservatorium"). Theatre, music, and other cultural performances culminate in the annual Vienna Festival. There are film studios as well as numerous cinemas (after a considerable decline, Vienna had 97 cinema halls at the end of 1995). The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF Österreichischer Rundfunk broadcasts from the "Funkhaus" (sound broadcasting centre) and from the ORF centre at Küniglberg hill (television broadcasting). The fine arts are also well represented in Vienna (Architecture, Sculpture, Painting), and the city's museums also possess an international reputation and are a major tourist attraction Albertina, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Österreichische Galerie (Belvedere), Museum of Natural History, Museum of Military History, Ethnological Museum, Austrian, Ö. Museum of Applied Arts, Austrian, Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation, Vienna Museum of Technology, Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien, etc.

The City of Vienna supports the fine arts by providing grants, buying art objects, granting subsidies and awarding prizes; private galleries also play an important role. - In Austrian Literature, the works of authors who lived in Vienna have always been of central significance.

Vienna's history has created a rich heritage of historical buildings of cultural interest in the city centre (Innere Stadt), while most buildings outside the former city walls were destroyed during the two Turkish Sieges on Vienna, and only after the Turkish threat was banned did architecture thrive again in some districts (see entries dealing with the individual districts).

History: Owing to its favourable geographic location (downstream of the Danube river gap, on the eastern slope of the Vienna Woods, traversed by numerous streams and rivers), settlements were established in the Vienna area (Hornstein mine at Antonshöhe hill in the Maurer forest, 23^rd district) from the New Stone Age. Finds on Leopoldsberg hill go back to a Celtic settlement (oppidum), in Leopoldau (22^nd district) and in the 3^rd and 11^th districts there is evidence of settlements from around the middle of the 4^th century B.C. The name of the River Wien ("Vedunia" = forest stream) goes back to the Celtic La Tène-period. From the early 1^st century A.D., the Romans chose Carnuntum, a settlement in a favourable location on the Amber Route, as the central town of the province of Pannonia and also established a camp at Vienna to protect the western flank of Carnuntum. The first parts of this settlement were at the limes road (now Rennweg street), and under emperor Domitian a horsemen's camp was positioned where the city centre is now located (A.D. 81-96). Under the emperor Trajan (98-117), a fortified legion camp was established in the same place, which was called "Vindobona", a name taken over from the Celtic language. Its walls were partly in use until the 12^th century and were still mentioned in the 2^nd half of the 13^th century. Under Marcus Aurelius, the limes had to be enforced when the Germanic Marcomanni approached in 167 A.D., raising Vindobona's strategic importance, and in 212 at the latest the civilian settlement in the area of today's 3^rd district was made a municipium, i.e. a self-governing community with town status. Vindobona's significance as a military and fleet base grew in the 4^th century due to the increasing threat to the Roman Empire from the north, but the town was largely destroyed around 400. It remained under Roman rule until the Huns entered the scene, and from the middle of the 5^th century most of the Roman settlers were withdrawn from Vindobona. Parts of the Romans and Celtic groups stayed behind and formed the ethnic stock that remained unchanged even after large-scale migratory movements, such as the migration of the Germanic Peoples. There is evidence that between the 5^th and 8^th centuries, the northeastern corner of the Roman settlement near Berghof (between what is now Hoher Markt and the church of St. Ruprecht) was still populated. In the 7^th century, the Vienna area was also populated by Slavs and Avars. A variation of the ancient name, "Vindomina", was last used around 550, in 881 the settlement was called "Wenia".

The settlement expanded again in the Carolingian era (9^th century), including the area around St. Peter's. The threat to Vienna by the Magyars is first mentioned in 881, and after the defeat of the Bavarian Count Liutpold at Preßburg (Bratislava) in 907, the settlement remained in the hands of the Magyars until the end of the 10^th century. The Magyar threat still stifled settlement in the 11^th century, but signs of an expansion between Bäckerstraße street and Sonnfelsgasse street can be traced to the middle of the 11^th century.

Under Margrave Leopold III, the Babenbergs, a reigning dynasty in Austria from 976, acquired Vienna, which was first described as a civitas (self-governing municipality) in 1137. Heinrich II Jasomirgott, Duke of Bavaria and Margrave, from 1156 Duke of Austria, moved his residence to Vienna around 1150, where he established a palace at Am Hof and founded the Schottenkloster monastery. He also initiated the process of making Vienna a chartered town. From the late 12^th century, the town expanded, and a new outer city wall was built on the site now occupied by the Ringstraße boulevard. The reign of Duke Leopold VI (1198-1230) is regarded as a golden era in the history of Vienna. Not only did he found numerous monasteries, he also granted Vienna the status of a town and the staple right, which meant that foreign merchants were obliged to deposit their goods in Vienna to enable intermediate trade (1221). Trade flourished in those days, and trading relations were established with Venice in 1200.

In the course of the power struggle between Emperor Friedrich II and Duke Friedrich II the Warlike, Vienna was made an imperial town (1237) but soon lost this status again. Following the death of the last male Babenberg in 1246, Vienna came under the rule of the Bohemian King Otakar II (1251-76), under whom the city experienced another economic upswing in spite of several devastating fires. During his last years as ruler, Otakar, who was favoured by the Viennese over Rudolf of Habsburg, started construction of the Hofburg Imperial Palace. In a peace treaty concluded in November 1276, Vienna was awarded to King Rudolf, from 1282 it was ruled by his sons. The hostile attitude Vienna exhibited towards the new town lords and rulers of the country over many years culminated in an uprising in the year 1288, which ended with the loss of important privileges. Tensions eased only when town status was again granted in 1296, but Vienna had to give up a certain degree of autonomy to the new rulers. In the course of the 14^th century, the appearance of the town was altered in Gothic style (e.g. rebuilding of Saint Stephen's Cathedral) in Gothic style), and the renewed flourishing of the city was only interrupted by the Plague in 1349. In 1365, Rudolf IV founded the University of Vienna, which in the early 15^th century acquired an excellent reputation for promoting the sciences and later, from around 1500, for cultivating Humanism, (K. Celtis, E. S. Piccolomini). Previously belonging to the church of Passau, Vienna was made an independent diocese in 1469. Around 1500, some 20,000-25,000 people were living in Vienna.

Vienna was the residential town of the German Kings and of the Roman Emperors (first in 1438, on a permanent basis from the early 17^th century) and was in this capacity home to some of the authorities of the German Empire as well as to the central authorities of the Habsburg Empire, which was on its way to becoming a Great Power. From 1485 to 1490, the town was under the rule of the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus. Until the early 16^th century, tensions and upheavals were rife as different sides favoured different pretenders to the throne and the Estates fought for more rights, a fight during which several mayors of Vienna were put to death (K. Vorlauf in 1408, W. Holzer in 1463, M. Siebenbürger in 1522). The victory of Ferdinand I brought Vienna new town regulations (1526), stripping the city of numerous privileges and greatly reducing its autonomy.

The year 1529 marked the first of the Turkish Sieges of Vienna. During the Reformation, most of the Viennese population converted to the Protestant faith. In 1551, the Jesuits were called to Vienna, and Rudolf II (1576-1612) systematically enforced the Counter-Reformation. In 1679, the plague claimed many lives. In the year 1704, an outer wall, the Linienwall was constructed to protect the villages outside the town from incursions by Kuruc rebels. Following the Second Turkish Siege of Vienna in 1683, the town rose to great splendour, particularly under Karl VI and Maria Theresia. Magnificent Baroque buildings were erected, including the Belvedere palace, Saint Charles's Church, and Schönbrunn Palace, which contributed greatly to Vienna's status as an imperial city of European significance .

Music in Vienna flourished in particular during the Enlightenment (Joseph II), (Viennese Classicism, C. W. Gluck, J. Haydn, W. A. Mozart), and theatre also gained in importance with the foundation of the old Burgtheater. Important developments took place in education and in the field of medicine (Gerard van Swieten), luxury trades established workshops in Vienna (Porzellanmanufaktur in 1718, from 1744 in the Augarten gardens), and industrialisation set in during the 2^nd half of the 18^th century. The centralisation of administration greatly increased the number of civil servants. In the first census in 1754, 175,400 persons were counted as resident in Vienna (including the suburban areas inside the "Linienwall"). Reorganisation of the Magistrat (local authority) in 1783 curbed self-governance considerably. Following two occupations by Napoleonic troops (in 1805 and 1809), Vienna was the scene of the splendid Congress of Vienna in 1814/15.

In the 1^st half of the 19^th century, the bourgeoisie became the major force in society. It determined the cultural scene during the Biedermeier period and rose against the rule of Metternich in the Revolution of 1848. One lasting result of the revolution was communal self-governance, established in 1850. The years 1857/58 saw the beginning of the razing of the fortifications around the inner city. In their place and on the grounds of the glacis, the Ringstraße boulevard, with its magnificent monumental buildings, was created. At the same time, the suburbs were incorporated into the territory of the city. Vienna became a city of global importance, not least owing to the Vienna World Exhibition of 1873. In the world of theatre, the Burgtheater became the leading German-speaking theatre, and the court opera (State Opera) was the foremost musical theatre in Europe. However, industrialisation also brought great social misery (Labour Movement). Between 1869 and 1875, the River Danube was regulated between Kahlenberg hill and the village of Fischamend. Between 1890 and 1892 the second enlargement of the city incorporated the suburban districts (districts 11-19), raising Vienna's total population to 1,365,000. In 1900, the 20^th district was created by splitting parts off the 2^nd district, and in 1904/05 the 21^st district was created, an industrial area which reaches far beyond the Danube into the Marchfeld lowlands. In 1895, the Christian Social Party, representing the lower middle-class, won the majority of seats in the municipal council. Under the party's popular mayor K. Lueger the gas and electricity works as well as trams and funerary services were taken over by the municipality and the Vienna Stadtbahn, the 2^nd Vienna "Hochquell" water pipeline as well as a home for senior citizens were built.

After the First World War, Vienna became the capital city of the Republic of Austria. Having been the imperial town of an empire encompassing 12 nations and 50,000,000 inhabitants, it now had to adapt to suit the requirements of a small country. In a constitutional act of 29 December, 1921, Vienna was made an independent province. The majority of seats in the municipal council was claimed by the Sozialdemokratische Partei, who saw its major obligation in carrying out social and cultural reforms. From 1923 to 1934, K. Seitz was the mayor and at the same time the provincial governor of Vienna. He was assisted in prominent positions by the city councillor for financial affairs H. Breitner and by the city councillor for social affairs J. Tandler, two leading personalities of their time. Reforms were introduced in the Viennese school system under O. Glöckel, and modern municipal housing developments changed the townscape. Kindergartens, public baths, outpatients departments, a stadium, a crematorium and new parks and gardens were created.

The Uprising, February 1934, the dissolution of the Social-Democratic Party and the proclamation of the Corporate State ended Vienna's existence as a province, and the city was reduced to the status of "bundesunmittelbare Hauptstadt" (capital city under direct federal control). Construction of the Höhenstraße scenic road opened access to the Vienna Woods for car drivers. Under the rule of the National Socialists, 97 Lower Austrian municipalities were incorporated into the Reich gau district of "Groß-Wien" (Greater Vienna, 1,215 km², 26 districts, 1,930,000 citizens). During the Second World War, 52 air strikes claimed the lives of 8,769 persons, and 2,266 were killed during 10 days of fighting for Vienna in April 1945; 21 % (21,317) of houses were partly or fully destroyed, as were all main traffic structures and industrial sites as well as numerous cultural sights.

From 1945 to 1955, Vienna was occupied by the Allied troops (Second Republic). During those years, the Socialist mayor T. Körner and his coalition government were responsible for the reconstruction of the city. In 1954, 80 municipalities (800 km², 150,000 citizens) were again ceded to Lower Austria, while the Lainz Tiergarten nature preserve and several border municipalities remained part of Vienna. All war damage was repaired, and only the 6 massive Anti-aircraft Towersremained, which could not be demolished.

Reconstruction was concluded under F. Jonas as mayor (1951-1965). In the 1950s, the focus was on town enlargement, and new housing estates and housing blocks were built, while from the middle of the 1960s re-vitalisation of old and dilapidated buildings was promoted more intensively. From that time onwards, Vienna was also more closely linked with the surrounding regions of Lower Austria and northern Burgenland through the "Verkehrsverbund Ost-Region" transport association, with Vienna as the cultural, economic and socio-political centre of the region. The political scene was marked by great stability: Until 1996, the Socialist Party (SPÖ) held the absolute majority of seats in the municipal council (largest number of seats: 66, in 1973). The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) supplied a deputy mayor for several decades, but lost participation in the town government from 1973 to 1996; since then, the People's Party has again been entitled to the positions of one deputy mayor and one municipal councillor. The Communist Party (KPÖ) has not had any representatives in the municipal council since 1969, whereas the Freedom Party (FPÖ) has been represented since 1959, the Green Party since 1991, and the Liberal Forum since 1996.

Not long after 1955, Vienna began to establish itself as an international conference venue (meeting between J. F. Kennedy and N. Khrushchev in 1961, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) and as the seat of international organisations, and it saw itself as a mediator between East and West.

From around 1960, municipal efforts were mainly focused on the expansion of the transport system (Underground Railway, Vienna) and of medical care ("Allgemeines Krankenhaus" general hospital). Vienna's position as a city of international significance was greatly enhanced with the construction of the Vienna International Centre, the Vienna Office of the United Nations, in 1979. The general conditions for urban development today are marked in particular by the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 and by the accession of Austria to the European Union in 1995.

Provincial Constitutional Law: The 1921 Separation Act made Vienna an independent Province coterminous with the City of Vienna as of 1 January, 1922. The 100-member municipal council, elected for a 5-year term, is at the same time the provincial legislature (Landtag), the 13-member town senate (figures from 1995) is simultaneously the provincial government, the mayor's dual function is that of mayor and provincial governor (Landeshauptmann), and the city authority is also the office of the provincial government. The town senate comprises one mayor, 2 deputy mayors and a number of city councillors and is elected by the municipal council for a 5-year office term. The decentralised administrative offices are headed by an elected chairman and elected representatives. Vienna has 11 seats in the "Bundesrat" (Federal Council), and 41 in the "Nationalrat" (National Council). Since 1945, the provincial governor has been recruited without interruption from the SPÖ. The provincial government is composed of 7 SPÖ members, 4 FPÖ members, 2 ÖVP members, and one member from the Green Party.

Vienna is an archdiocese with 20 deaneries, 163 parishes and numerous local offices in schools and hospitals; 57,8 % of the population adhere to the Roman-Catholic faith, compared to 81,6 % in 1961. 5,4 % of Viennese are Protestants, and the Protestant Church in Vienna is composed of 20 parishes adhering to the Augsburg Confession and 3 adhering to the Helvetic Confession. Besides these two main groups, there are 6 parishes of Old Catholics, 4 of Methodists, 7 of the Russian, Rumanian, Serb-Orthodox and Greek-Oriental Churches, and 2 places of worship of the Buddhist Religious Community; the Vienna Jewish Community counts 6,600 members, the Islamic Religious Community has 62,300 members; around 304,600 citizens of Vienna are without denomination, the religious affiliation of 100,700 Viennese (1991) is unknown.

Literature: Geschichte der Stadt Wien, ed. by Altertumsverein, 1897-1918, Nationalrat 1955ff.; Jahrbuch des Vereins für Geschichte der Stadt Wien, 1938ff.; F. Walter, Wien. Die Geschichte einer deutschen Großstadt an der Grenze, 3 vols., 1940-1944; Bibliographie zur Geschichte und Stadtkunde von Wien, ed. by Verein für Landeskunde von Niederösterreich und Wien, 4 vols., 1947-1958; City of Vienna (ed.), Mttlg. aus Statistik und Verwaltung der Stadt Wien, 1947ff.; R. Till, Geschichte der Wiener Stadtverwaltung in den letzten 200 Jahren, 1957; H. Küpper, Geologie von Wien, 1965; K. Ziak, Wiedergeburt einer Weltstadt, Wien 1945-65, 1965; E. Lichtenberger, Wirtschaftsfunktion und Sozialstruktur der Wiener Ringstraße, 1970; Austrian Academy of Sciences (ed.), Theatergeschichte Österreichs, Wien, vol. III, 2 nos., 1970, 1971; F. Starmühlner and F. Ehrendorfer (eds.), Naturgeschichte Wiens, 4 vols., 1970-1974; D. Bernt, Der Erholungsraum der Wiener, 1972; F. Czeike, Wien und seine Bürgermeister, 1974; F. Baltzarek, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft der Stadterweiterung, 1975; E. Lichtenberger, Die Wiener Altstadt, 2 vols., 1977; Kammer der gewerblichen Wirtschaft, Vienna section (ed.), Wiener Wirtschaft, 1977ff.; E. Lichtenberger, Stadtgeographischer Führer Wien, 1978; H. Matuschka, Sozial- und Gesundheitswesen, 1978; O. Harl, Vindobona, 1979; F. Czeike, Geschichte der Stadt Wien, 1981; P. Csendes, Geschichte Wiens, 1981; R. Schediwy, Grün in der Großstadt, 1982; E. Bodzenta, Strukturverbesserung für Wien, 1983; P. Marchart, Wohnbau in Wien 1923-83, 1984; City of Vienna (ed.), Wien und Großstädte Europas, Statistische Mttlg. 3/1986; H. Jeglitsch, Die Industrie in der Ostregion Österr., 1987; E. Lichtenberger, Stadtentwicklung und dynamische Faktorialökologie, 1987; Federation of Austrian Industry (ed.), Wiener Industrie, 1987; City of Vienna (ed.), Bevölkerungsbewegung und -struktur 1956-86, Statistische Mttlg. 2/1987; K. Arnold (Federation of Austrian Industry, ed.), Wiener Industrie-Atlas, 1988; J. Auer, Klima von Wien, 1989; City of Vienna (ed.), Der Wald in Wien, Statistische Mttlg. 1/1989; N. Nemetschke and G. J. Kugler, Lexikon der Wiener Kunst und Kultur, 1990; E. Lichtenberger, Stadtverfall und Stadterneuerung, 1990; City of Vienna (ed.), Neue Entwicklungstendenzen für Wien, Statistische Mttlg. 1/1990; F. Czeike, Historisches Lexikon Wien, 1992ff.; Magistrat of Vienna (ed.), Statistisches Jahrbuch der Stadt Wien, 1995; City of Vienna (ed.), Die Entwicklung der Umweltsituation in Wien, Statistische Mttlg. 3/1993; F. Czeike, Wien in der 2. Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts, in: J. Rauchenberger (ed.), Stichwort Demokratie, 1994; Magistrat of Vienna, section MA 18 (ed.), Stadtentwicklungsplan für Wien (= Beiträge zur Stadtforschung, Stadtentwicklung, Stadtgestaltung, vol. 53), 1994; Magistrat of Vienna, Verkehrskonzept Wien. Generelles Maßnahmenprogramm (= Wiener Verkehrskonzept, no. 9), 1994.