Vienna’s History

It is easy to be distracted by the beauty of Vienna. It really is one of the most beautiful baroque cities in Europe, and it is difficult not to be distracted by the architectural masterpieces this city contains. Although 18th century Vienna is well out of our focus, I’m taking a slight detour and spending a bit of time in medieval Vienna, or what remains of it anyway. What does remain is very little as far as buildings; however there are some artefacts here that just don’t exist anywhere else. So please join me on a short trip to Vienna.

Apparently, a title granted by the Pope, is a title that lasts as long as the job exists which it was granted to. The Queen of England, for example, still holds the Title of Defender of the Faith. The Pope originally granted this title to Henry VIII, of all people, before he left the Church in Rome and created his own Church. So when in the reign of Charlemagne, the Pope granted him the title of Roman Emperor, it stuck with the leadership for the next 1,000 years. The Holy Roman Emperor was not Holy, or Roman, although it could be argued that he ruled over an Empire.

The title of Roman Emperor, although granted to Charlemagne, wasn’t really used by him, but it was revived by Otto I, who was King of the Eastern Franks and crowned by the Pope in 962. He ruled an area of what is approximately equal to modern day Germany. From this point the “Empire” was centred on Germany, although it still held lands in Italy and other areas of central Europe.

The exact term ‘Holy Roman Empire’ wasn’t really in use until the 13th Century. The idea was that the Sovereign Ruler did not inherit his right to rule but would be chosen by his peers, although in reality it was often controlled by dynasties. The highest-ranking noblemen of the Empire would elect one of their peers as ‘King of the Romans’, and the Pope would later crown this chosen man as Emperor. This tradition of Papal coronations was discontinued in the 16th Century. The whole idea, while unusual in the middle ages, was not without merit. The noble leaders of the areas that fell within the Emperors lands had a say in who would have that role. In some ways, this has been thought to be a precursor to the European Union, where various areas would come together under an elected leadership, where they would still have a say in that leadership.

It was under Napoleon Bonaparte, that an end was brought to the Holy Roman Empire. Napoleon declared himself heir to Charlemagne and aimed to add Germany to his growing empire. The last Emperor, Francis II, dissolved the Empire on the 6th of August 1806.

Now, how Vienna fits into all this information on the Holy Roman Empire. The area of Vienna has been occupied since around 500BC, with the Romans fortifying the city they called Vindobona, where some 15,000 people lived, and guarded the town against the Germanic tribes to the north. Once the Romans left, the Celts continued to occupy the area with the Bavarians, and by 881 the city’s name was recorded as Wenia.

The overlords of Vienna were the Dukes of Babenberg. This was a Frankish dynasty from 1156 to 1246. Under their rule, the city became an important trading hub, the town provided supplies to Crusaders on their way to the East. It was at this time that Vienna became the capital. When the Babenberg line died out, the succession was in dispute through two female lines with Otakar II, who was the King of Bohemia, taking control until being defeated in 1278, by Rudolf I who was King of Germany. He invested his son with the Duchy of Austria, and in doing so secured the House of Habsburg.

For the next 200 years Vienna continued to grow and expand. It became the seat of the Habsburg dynasty in 1444, and in 1483 it officially became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, under the Habsburgs. Two years later it was occupied by Hungary, from 1485 to 1490, and became the front line in the wars between the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire. Afterwards, the city continued to flourish, and became a cultural centre of the Arts.  Vienna became the capital of the Austrian and Hungarian Empire in 1556, after the Habsburgs gained Hungary and Bohemia.

The last plague epidemic to hit Vienna ravaged the city in 1679, killing nearly one third of its population. A statue on the Graben, (a wide street in the centre of the city), was erected in 1694 as a memorial to the victims.

In the 18th Century, under the reign of Maria Theresa (1717-1780), the city underwent large-scale building works, where palaces and stately homes were erected in the Baroque fashion. It was at this time, that the child prodigy, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was born in 1756. Mozart was born in Salzburg, but often travelled with his parents to Vienna, where he would often play before Royalty.