Vienna and the Danube

Vienna and the Danube

Vienna, the capital and the largest city of Austria, is recognized globally for its richness in innovation in music and fine arts. Being a major power of Europe during the middle ages, Habsburg empire turned the city into a major hub of culture from different countries of Europe. The city still today boasts its rich cultural heritage and has thereby been turned into one of the best tourist spots in Europe for cultural enthusiasts.

The city displays a lot of its grandeurs by two palaces made with lavish designs, by the Habsburg family named Hofburg palace and Schönbrunn palace. The later one being the dwelling place of the family during the summer boasts its beautiful garden and hundreds of rooms adorned with extravagant furniture and paintings. The family being a great admirer of arts, had the best among the contemporary artists and painters design the interior of their palace. Because the kingdom occupied a vast portion of Europe, the themes of the paintings also reflect the culture and tradition of various parts of the kingdom. Struggling Dutch sailor in the rough ocean of Netherlands, simple life of Hungarian farmers tending the cattle, altercation between the Catholics and Protestants, secularity of the Northern Renaissance with a village piper grabbing all the people’s attention away from the church; it seems that the history of the whole Europe has been captured in a frame in the form of a palace.

From the center of the city a walk towards the countryside will lead one to the foothill of Alps, a vineyard popular for Austrian young wine. The restaurant at the alley will be good enough for having a sumptuous dinner with Austrian traditional cuisine along with the taste of famous dry wine at the same time.

Vienna is also a treasure house of great architectural work symbolizing European history and culture, the most prominent of which is Art Nouveau that originated near the end of the reign of the Habsburg Empire. A display of pieces of architectural works as magnificent as Art Nouveau will be visible all throughout the city.

The modern Vienna like its predecessors is also a great patron of arts and music. In fact, Vienna is known as the city of Music in the world. While a large part of Europe is being dominated by modern rock or pop, the state Oprah house, one of the largest in Europe, is always crowded by a huge pack of audiences. So huge that, special arrangements are made by the local government for people to gather outside the house full hall room to enjoy the concert.

An integral part of Vienna from both commercial and recreational perspective, the Danube is a mighty river crossing the borders of dozens of countries in Europe. The town of Melk, easily commutable from the capital is the place one should visit to enjoy the serene beauty of the Danube. The newly restored Benedictine abbey standing at the valley is also a popular tourist spot. It boasts a huge library with an enormous collection of books of varied range of topics starting from ancient religious scripts to books on law, medicine etc. The library itself is a living example of how knowledge had been treasured by the rich civilization that happened to live in this part of the world.

Last but not the least, a major part of the arts of the mediaeval Europe has its root to Vienna; the reason the city is always filled with historians and music and art aficionados.

For anyone who is willing to learn about European civilization, Vienna, the beholder of modern European art and culture, is a must visit.    

-By Ahmed Mustahid