Mark Meek's Ideas: Vienna And The Habsburgs

Vienna, on the Danube River the capital and largest city of Austria, was chosen as the best city in the world to live in 2018. It has long been known for being the world's center of classical music and the site of the headquarters of many international organizations.

When the Ottomans were well on their way to conquering Europe they were halted twice, both times at Vienna, nearly 150 years apart, in 1529 and 1683.

During the early part of the Cold War Vienna, like Berlin, was partitioned between the four Allied powers. But it was never as confrontational as it was in Berlin, there was nothing like the Berlin Airlift in Vienna, and the central part of the city was jointly patrolled.

But Vienna became the world's focal point of Cold War espionage and counter-espionage. Anyone who read Cold War spy stories became familiar with Vienna.

Vienna was also the center of something else. It is possibly the most influential royal house in history, known as the Habsburgs. The Habsburgs ruled the Holy Roman Empire from 1483 onward. The Habsburgs were named for their castle in Switzerland but moved their base of operations to Vienna. They replaced the Babenberg Dynasty as rulers of Austria, before ruling the Holy Roman Empire.

The Habsburgs dispensed with being crowned as Holy Roman Emperors by the pope, as had been the tradition previously. They would simply proclaim themselves as emperor.

The Habsburg Dynasty actually split into two lines, the Spanish and the Austrian, with the Spanish line being the senior one. But the two were cooperative.

The Spanish line died out in 1700 and the Austrian in 1740. Continuation of the Austrian line depended on the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, Maria Theresa. She married a duke of the House of Lorraine, who would later become Holy Roman Emperor Francis I.

This dynasty thus became known as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. Maria Theresa's grandson, Francis II, would be the final Holy Roman Emperor. He dissolved the thousand-year-old empire after the decisive defeat by Napoleon at Austerlitz. The great rival of the Habsburgs had long been France, first under the Bourbons and than under Napoleon. At the end of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austrian Empire began with Francis II as it's emperor.

The son of Francis II, Ferdinand I, was not an effective ruler and, during the wave of revolutions that swept Europe in 1848, had to abdicate to his nephew, Franz Joseph. He would reign as both Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary for an incredible 68 years.

The German-speaking states across central Europe, which included Austria, were moving toward unity. Austria was in the south and it's great rival for influence, in the north, was Prussia. Austria was defeated in a war with Prussia in 1866. Prussia then proceeded to unify the rest of the German-speaking states behind it, into one country, but with Austria left out. That is why Germany and Austria are still separate countries today, even though they speak the same language.

The Austrian Empire still ruled Hungary but responded to it's loss of influence over the German-speaking states by entering into an equal partnership with Hungary, known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was founded in 1867, a few months before Canada became an independent country.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire became one of the world's leading industrial powers. It built all manner of machines and electrical equipment. Before radio became widespread, residents of the empire could get news and music by telephone.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire is generally considered as a single nation, with a single currency, although both had their own governments and one would be a citizen of either Austria or Hungary but not both.

After the death of his son, Franz Joseph's heir apparent (what some monarchies call the crown prince) became his nephew, Franz Ferdinand. But while Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, were visiting the city of Sarajevo, they were assassinated by bullets. This precipitated what would lead to, before long, the First World War.

When Franz Joseph died in 1916 another nephew, Charles I, became Austro-Hungarian Emperor. As one of the losing Central Powers, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was ended and dismembered after the war. Austria and Hungary became separate countries. The remaining lands of the empire in the north became the new nation known as Czechoslovakia. The remaining lands in the south became the new nation of Yugoslavia.

Charles I renounced politics but didn't actually abdicate. On April 3, 1919, the nation of Austria officially decreed the end of Habsburg rule. Charles I was barred from the country and ultimately died in exile on Madeira.

Just as Russia went back to the flag of the Romanovs after the end of Communism the Austrians had earlier gone back to the flag of the Babenbergs, who had been supplanted by the Habsburgs in 1246.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babenberg#/media/File:Coat_of_arms_of_the_archduchy_of_Austria.svg

The Habsburgs have been officially gone for over a hundred years, but their magnificent capital city remains. What would they think about it being chosen as the best place in the world to live?

Vienna is centered on St. Stephen's Cathedral, which was begun in the 12th Century. In this view, from Google Earth, notice the double-headed eagle on the roof. This was the symbol of the Holy Roman Empire.

Here are more scenes of St. Stephen's Cathedral, from Google Earth and Street View.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@48.2084187,16.3734735,3a,75y,96.18h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNNDJdkvTZGU4YkhXH0uHsTj3GvBGZhEfRrNHCd!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNNDJdkvTZGU4YkhXH0uHsTj3GvBGZhEfRrNHCd%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-3.6976566-ya99.24313-ro-0.31048506-fo100!7i7200!8i3600

Another famous Vienna church is the Karlskirche. The first images are from Google Earth.