10 Surprising Facts about Vienna, Austria

Tap to Read ➤ Visiting Vienna, Austria’s capital, is like going back in time and stepping up in class. Dubbed as the “City of Music”, it will give you a distinct experience every time. Keep going for some fascinating tidbits about Vienna, Austria. Sucheta Pradhan

Vienna is home to more than 1,700 acres of vineyards and 320 vintners, making it the only capital in the world to produce significant quantities of wine within the city limits.

Rightly called the “Music Capital of the World”, Vienna is home to many famous Western Classical musicians including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Johann Straus, and Johannes Brahms.

Vienna has one of the largest botanical exhibits in the world. Opened in 1882 in the Schönbrunn Palace Park, Palmenhaus Schönbrunn is a large greenhouse featuring around 4,500 plant species from around the world.

Contrary to popular belief, Croissant, the famous French pastry, has Viennese origins. Called the “Austrian kipferl”, it was first made in crescent shape in 1683 to celebrate Austria’s victory over the Ottoman Turks.

Vienna hosts the oldest operating ferris wheel in the world, constructed in 1897. Called Wiener Riesenrad, it is located in Wurstelprater amusement park and is Vienna’s most popular tourist attraction.

Every year, Vienna hosts more than 450 balls. Popularly known as the “Viennese Ball Season”... ... that runs from New Year’s Eve to Shrove Tuesday, it attracts loads of tourists from around the world every year.

Vienna is home to Europe’s largest cemetery, the Zentralfriedhof ... ...which has about three million graves, including those of famous composers such as Brahms, Schubert, Beethoven, Gluck, Strauss, and others.

Vienna has one of the longest and oldest tram networks in the world that was founded in 1865 and is about 112 mile-long today.

In 2012, the Economist Intelligence Unit’s study ranked Vienna as the 2nd most liveable city in the world, after Melbourne, Australia.

Some of the great geniuses of psychology, like Viktor Frankl and Sigmond Freud call Veinna their home. In fact, in 2000, the city was recognized as the birthplace of psychotherapy.