The Founding Of Vienna: A Historical Perspective

Vienna, the capital of Austria, has a rich and varied history. The city was founded by the Romans in the 1st century, who established a military camp called Vindobona on the site of Vienna's present-day city centre. Vindobona grew to a population of around 15,000 and became an important trading post. The Romans remained until the 5th century, after which the area was inhabited by the Bavarians and the people became Christianised. The city's name was recorded as Wenia in 881 and as Wienis in 1030. In 1156, Vienna became the capital of the Babenberg dynasty, who ruled until 1246. During this period, Vienna developed into an important trading centre and walls were built around the city. In the following centuries, Vienna changed hands several times, falling under the control of various rulers and dynasties, including the Bohemian king Ottokar II, the Habsburgs, and the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus. In 1529, Vienna was besieged by the Ottoman Turks for the first time but successfully resisted the attack. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Vienna became a centre of science, fine arts, and music, with composers like Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven ushering in the city's first golden age of music. In the 18th century, Vienna entered a period of reform and enlightenment under the rule of Maria Theresa and her son, Joseph II. In the 19th century, Vienna faced turbulence with Napoleon's empire-building, which led to the French occupation of the city in 1805 and 1809. However, after Napoleon's defeat, the Congress of Vienna in 1814-15 redefined national borders and restored Austria's pride and influence. In the latter half of the 19th century, Vienna continued to grow and develop, with the construction of the Ringstrasse and the expansion of the city to include new suburbs. By 1910, Vienna had a population of 2 million, making it the fourth-largest city in Europe at the time.

The Roman Empire and the Celts

The Roman Empire arrived in the area of modern-day Austria in 200 BC and by 15 BC they dominated the entire area. The most important Roman settlement in Austria was Carnuntum, the capital of the Roman province of Pannonia in today's Lower Austria. Carnuntum was the centre of the Roman fortifications along the Danube.

The area of modern-day Austria was settled by the Celts around 400 BC. A Celtic state, Noricum, developed around the region's ironworks in the second century BC. The Hallstatt period, 750 - c.450 BC, is named after the region of Hallstatt, a large prehistoric salt-mining area.

The Romans remained in the area until the end of the first century BC, when various German tribes began making devastating incursions into Roman territories. By the mid-500s, the Bavarians controlled the territory between the eastern Alps and the Wienerwald region.

The Bavarians and Charlemagne

The Bavarians were a Germanic tribe that came under the dominion of the Franks in the 6th century, probably without a serious struggle. The Franks regarded this border area as a buffer zone against peoples to the east, such as the Avars and the Slavs, and as a source of manpower for the army. Sometime around 550 AD, the Frankish king placed the Bavarians under the administration of a duke, who was supposed to act as a regional governor for the Frankish king. The first duke known was Garibald I, a member of the powerful Agilolfing family. This was the beginning of a series of Agilolfing dukes that was to last until 788 AD.

The Bavarians and the Franks were in a state of flux during the 8th century, with the Frankish king Pepin the Short deposing two dukes for contumacy and maintaining Frankish authority over the Bavarians. However, the Bavarians were able to resist the Slavs on their eastern frontier and, by the time of Duke Theodo I's death in 717, had achieved complete independence from the feeble Frankish kings. When Charles Martel became the virtual ruler of the Frankish realm, he brought the Bavarians into strict dependence and deposed two more dukes. His son and successor, Pepin the Short, maintained Frankish authority over the Bavarians.

The Bavarians' incorporation with the Frankish dominions, due mainly to the unifying influence of the church, appeared already so complete that Charlemagne did not find it necessary to issue more than two capitularies dealing especially with Bavarian affairs. Charlemagne's measures for the intellectual progress and material welfare of his realm improved conditions, and the Bavarians offered no resistance to the change which thus abolished their duchy.

The Babenbergs

The Babenberg family can be divided into two distinct groups: the Elder or Franconian House of Babenberg, and the Younger or Austrian House of Babenberg, or simply the House of Babenberg. The Elder Babenbergs ruled from Babenburg Castle, the present site of Bamberg Cathedral, and were related to the Frankish Robertian dynasty. The Younger Babenbergs, or the House of Babenberg, were descendants of Margrave Leopold I, who ruled Austria from 976 onwards.

Leopold I, possibly a descendant of the Luitpolding duke Arnulf of Bavaria, was a loyal supporter of Emperor Otto I and his son and successor, Otto II. In 976, he became count of the Bavarian Eastern March, a district on the eastern frontier of the duchy, which grew into the Margraviate of Austria. Leopold extended the territory down the Danube River into what is today Lower Austria, at the expense of the retreating Magyars. Leopold was succeeded by his son, Henry I, in 994, who continued his father's policy.

In 1156, the Privilegium Minus elevated Austria to the status of a duchy. In 1192, the Babenbergs also acquired the Duchy of Styria. With the death of Frederick II in 1246, the line of the Babenbergs was extinguished, and they were succeeded by the House of Habsburg.

The Habsburgs

Rudolf I of Habsburg became the first Habsburg Duke of Austria in 1278, after defeating Ottokar II of Bohemia at the Battle of Dürnkrut. Rudolf's son Albert I was the first Habsburg King of Germany in 1298, and his grandson, Frederick the Fair, became the first Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor in 1452.

The Turks

The first siege of Vienna by the Turks in 1529 had a dramatic impact on the city's physical structure. Although the city was not conquered, the siege prompted the construction of modern fortifications and bastions built on the Italian model to replace the inefficient medieval walls. The suburbs, which had suffered the worst damage, saw much of the building activity in the subsequent decades, along with the construction of monasteries that mirrored the architectural upswing of these outlying areas. The successful repulsion of the Turkish besiegers earned Vienna great international prestige, and the city was characterised by tall buildings, narrow lanes, and a vibrant urban life.

The second Turkish siege in 1683 again drastically affected Vienna's physical structure. While the city was not conquered, its walls and individual buildings in the inner city suffered severe damage, and the suburbs were left in ruins. The end of the 1683 siege sparked a boom in the city's architectural development, with Baroque splendour adorning both the inner city and the outskirts. The whole city was steeped in Baroque grandeur, and construction activity shifted to the outskirts and suburbs, which were protected by the "Linienwall", a generous outer circle of city defences built in 1704.

The Turkish threat to Vienna, which included two unsuccessful sieges, prompted Poland, Venice, and Russia to join the Habsburg Empire in repelling the Turks. The combined forces of the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, under the command of King John III Sobieski, defeated the Ottomans in the Battle of Vienna in 1683, marking a turning point in Ottoman expansion into Europe. The defeat halted any further Ottoman gains, and in the ensuing war that lasted until 1699, the Ottomans ceded most of Ottoman Hungary to Leopold I, the Holy Roman Emperor.

The victory over the Turks had a significant cultural impact on Vienna and Austria. Composers were influenced by Turkish music, and painters began to depict men and women in Turkish dress. Writers also incorporated 'the Turk' into their works, initially as a dupe but later as a wiser and wittier character compared to the Austrian or European one. The mutual history of Austria and the Ottoman Empire has left many reminders in Vienna, with Turkish motifs found in various locations throughout the city.

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