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Vienna is a city of music, cafes, waltzes, parks, pastries, and wine, a
true cosmopolitan center, where cultural identities fuse to produce the
intriguing and, often cynical, Viennese.
From the time the Romans selected a Celtic settlement on the Danube
River as one of their most important central European forts, "Vindobona,"
the city we now know as Vienna, has played a vital role in European
history. Austria grew around the city and developed into a mighty
empire.
The face of the city has changed time and again because of war, siege,
victory, defeat, the death of an empire and the birth of a republic,
foreign occupation, and the passage of time. Fortunately, the Viennese
character -- a strict devotion to the good life -- has remained solid. |
