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Vienna Facts & Worksheets

Vienna is the capital city of Austria, iconic for its cultural events, imperial palaces, and cozy wine taverns and coffee houses.

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Vienna is the capital city of Austria, iconic for its cultural events, imperial palaces, and cozy wine taverns and coffee houses. One of the nine states of Austria, Vienna offers a vibrant blend of modern architecture and baroque streetscapes.

See the fact file below for more information on the Vienna or alternatively, you can download our 23-page Vienna worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

ETYMOLOGY

  • It borrowed its name from the Italian word Vienna or the French word Vienne.
  • Vienna or Wien’s etymology is still subject to scholarly debates. Some say it got its name from the Celtic word Vedunia, meaning “forest stream”, which then resulted to Ueenia (Old German Writing), and finally Wien (New German Writing).
  • Other researchers claim that it came from the word Vindobona, meaning “fair village”. Wieden, one of Vienna’s districts, may serve as a proof of this theory.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

  • The city of Vienna faced a lot of conflicts over the centuries, from its ancient and medieval growth, development as an imperial city, to its evolution as a modern city in the 21st century.

ANCIENT CITY AND MEDIEVAL GROWTH

  • Illyrians subsequently inhabited Vienna, after some traces of human occupation during the Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age). Celts, Indo-European people from the 2nd millenium BCE to the 1st century BCE, settled the site on the Danube River around 500 BC.
  • In 16-15 BCE, the foothills of the Alps, a small segment of mountain ranges from the Atlas Mountains to the Himalayas, were occupied by the Roman camp, led by TIberius. A century after, the Celtic town of Vindobona was used by the Romans to guard their empire against the Germanic tribes, where Emperor Marcus Aurelius died defending the city in 180 CE.
  • Before the Bavarians occupied the site and christianized the people, the Romans lost their throne in Vienna to the 5th-century invasions. In 881, Vienna was named Wenia and turned into Wienis in 1030.
  • During the Frankish Dynasty, 1156 to 1246, the dukes of Babenberg turned the city into a trading port, a one-stop shop for crusaders on their way to the East. From the 13th century to the 1700s, walls were built around the city. The Babenburg overlords kept a brilliant court and encouraged artists, such as Walther von der Vogelweide, the greatest German lyric poet of the Middle Ages.
  • The king of Bohemia, Otakar II, dominated Vienna as soon as the last male heir of Babenberg died in 1246. He came into war and lost a battle with the German king, Rudolf I of house Habsburg, in 1278.
  • The Habsburgs took over for more than 600 years, improving Vienna’s economy through trading with Trieste, Venice, and Hungary. In 1485, Vienna was under siege, headed by Matthias I of Hungary.

DEVELOPMENT OF IMPERIAL VIENNA

  • Vienna’s large medieval walls saved the city from the attacks of the Ottoman Turks in 1529.
  • As soon as Ferdinand I was crowned emperor in 1558, Vienna regained its political status and became the administrative seat of the kingdoms under the Habsburgs.
  • More forts were built in the 17th century due to a lot of protests. Viennese people were required to remain Roman Catholic; thus, many Protestants left the city.
  • The bubonic plague struck Vienna in 1679, killing one third of its population. In 1683, the Second Turkish Siege lasted for two months; however, Vienna once again defended their city.
  • The Linienwall, a second line of fortifications, was built in 1704. Vienna became a baroque city – many imperial palaces were completed.
  • In 1805 and 1809, France owned Vienna because of their victory in the Napoleonic Wars.
  • Vienna was ruled by Emperor Franz Joseph I in the middle of the 19th century. The forts that were built were replaced with the Ringstrasse boulevard; thus, the character of today’s Vienna was born.

EVOLUTION OF THE MODERN CITY

  • The early 20th century was the birth for artistic movements, especially in architecture, painting, and design.
  • In 1919, social democrats took control of the Vienna City Council, signaling the start of the Rotes Wien period (Red Vienna).
  • In 1922, Vienna was declared the federal province of Austria, with the mayor also serving as the governor of the province.
  • Vienna was divided by the Allied Powers into four in the summer of 1945: France, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and United States.The first district of the city served as an international zone, a centralized area run by each occupying power for a period of time.
  • In 1965, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) moved its headquarters to Vienna.

GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

  • Bounded by the Alps on the east, Vienna is in the northeastern part of Austria, with an area of 160.1 mi² (414.65 km²), making it the largest city in Austria with 23 districts.
  • Vienna has an oceanic climate and features, experiencing hot summers with periodical precipitation in July and August , and cold winters. Autumns are usually cold, with possible snow falls as early as November.

HIGHLIGHTS AND ATTRACTIONS

  • The Stephansdom is one of the most known landmarks of Vienna. It was the first church that was consecrated in Vienna, in the year 1147. It is considered to be Vienna’s gothic masterpiece, with the Romanesque Giant Gate (Riesentor) and Towers of the Heathens (Heidenturme).
  • Since the 13th century, the Hofburg Palace was the main residence of the Habsburgs monarchs, from 1273 to 1918. The Schweizerhof (Swiss Courtyard) is the oldest section in this cultural heritage.
  • The first public park in Vienna, Volksgarten, has been accessible to the public since 1825. The white Theseustempel located in the plant diversity section is an iconic photo subject.
  • Constructed in Greek-Roman style and completed in the year 1883, the Parliament belongs to the most important buildings at the Wiener Ringstrasse.
  • The Rathausplatz Town Hall is constructed in neo-gothic style and was finished in the year 1883.
  • The Staatsoper, Vienna’s first opera and ballet venue, is a neo-Renaissance structure known for its finest concert halls.
  • The Burggarten was originally designed in the year 1818 as a private garden for the emperor. The Mozart Statue is the main highlight of the garden.
  • The Wiener Prater is Vienna’s best known amusement park, with the oldest still operating ferris wheel in the world.
  • Schloss Belvedere is one of the world’s famous baroque palaces with landscaped gardens; a masterpiece designed by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt.
  • The Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, a neoclassical building, houses the works of Europe’s finest painters, sculptors, and artisans.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

  • Vienna is considered as the wine capital of the world, home to over 1,700 acres of vineyards and 320 vintners.
  • Aside from being dubbed as the City of Music or the World’s Capital of Music, Vienna is also called the City of Dreams, because of Sigmund Freud, who lived in worked in the city for much of his career.
  • The Tiergarten Schoenbrunn (Vienna Zoo), home of over 700 different animal species) is the world’s oldest and only baroque zoo, built in 1752 for Emperor Franz Stephen and Maria Theresa.
  • Invented by Erwin Perzy in 1900, the snow globe was an accidental invention. The Basilica of Mariazell was the first snow globe featured.

Vienna Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Vienna across 23 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Vienna worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Vienna which is the capital city of Austria, iconic for its cultural events, imperial palaces, and cozy wine taverns and coffee houses. One of the nine states of Austria, Vienna offers a vibrant blend of modern architecture and baroque streetscapes.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Vienna Facts
  • Game of Thrones
  • 20th Century Vienna
  • Getting to Know Vienna
  • Vienna Facts
  • Guess Where
  • Get in My Belly
  • Architecture: Then and Now
  • Who is Otto Wagner
  • Vienna Bucket List
  • Viennese Chant

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Link will appear as Vienna Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, October 8, 2019

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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