Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/243

Rh VIENNA 221 burg, the main body of which is separated from the Ring- Strasse by the Hofgarten and Volksgarten, rise the hand some monument of the empress Maria Theresa and the imperial museums of art and natural history, two extensive Renaissance edifices with domes, matching each other in every particular and grouping finely with the new part of the palace. Hans Makart s painted dome in the natural history museum is the largest pictorial canvas in the world. Adjoining the museums to the west is the palace of justice (1881), and this is closely followed by the houses of parlia ment (1883), in which the Grecian style has been success fully adapted to modern requirements. Beyond the houses of parliament stands the new rathhaus, an immense and lavishly-decorated Gothic building, erected in 1873-83. It was designed by Friedrich Schmidt, who may be de scribed as the chief exponent of the modern Gothic tend ency, as Hansen and Semper, the creators respectively of the parliament house and the museums, are the leaders of the Classical and Renaissance styles which are so strongly represented in Viennese architecture. The central tower and the tapering steeple of the rathhaus are surmounted by a colossal bronze figure of a knight. Opposite the rath haus, on the inner side of the Ring, is the new court theatre, another specimen of Semper s Renaissance work. To the north stands the new building of the university, a Renaissance structure by Ferstel, rivalling the rathhaus in extent. Near the university, and separated from the Ring by a garden, stands the votive church in Alsergrund, erected to commemorate the emperor s escape from assas sination in 1853, one of the most elaborate and successful of modern Gothic churches, in which the efforts of the architect (Ferstel} are supported by a profusion of sculp ture and stained glass windows. The other important buildings of the Ring-Strasse include the magnificent opera house, the sumptuous interior of which vies with that of Paris, the Academy of Art, the industrial museum, and the exchange. On the north side the Ring-Strasse gives place to the spacious Franz Joseph s quay, flanking the Danube Canal. The municipal districts outside the Ring also contain numerous handsome modern buildings. Among the churches may be instanced those of Wieden (St Carlo Borromeo) and Lerchenfeld, the former an 18th- century imitation of St Peter s at Rome, the latter a plain but graceful building in an early mediaeval Italian style. The secular buildings include several large barracks and hospitals, various institutions connected with the univer sity, the arsenal (with a collection of weapons), the Belve dere (see below), and the polytechnic institute, market- halls, &c. In the outlying districts are numerous villas of great taste and elegance. Vienna is the intellectual as well as the material capital of Austria, emphatically so in regard to the German part of the empire. Its university, established in 1365, is now attended by nearly 6000 students, and the medical faculty enjoys a world -wide reputation. Besides an adequate supply of elementary and secondary schools, the other educational institutions include a large polytechnic, an agricultural academy, a military school, Roman Catholic and Protestant theological seminaries, a conservatorium of music, a training school for aspirants to a diplomatic career, a commercial college, and numerous technical and special schools. Its scientific institutions are headed by the Academy of Science. The Academy of Art was founded in 1707. Few European capitals possess more valuable art collections than Vienna. The picture gallery in the Belvedere Palace, formerly the residence of Prince Eugene, is unsurpassed for its specimens of Rubens, Diirer, and the Venetian masters. The Lower Belvedere, at the other end of the garden, contains the famous Ambras collection of armour, curiosities, and antiquities. The private picture galleries of Prince Liechtenstein, Count Harrach, and Count Czernin are of great extent and importance ; and the collection of drawings and engravings known as the &quot;Albertina,&quot; in the palace of the archduke Albert, is familiar to all connoisseurs. The collections of the various museums, &c., which are not unworthy of the handsome buildings in which they are exhibited, and the extensive military collections of the arsenal must also be mentioned. In 1880 the population of Vienna proper, i.e., the ten municipal districts, amounted to 705,402, a number which gave it the fourth place among the cities of Europe. . In cluding the suburbs, the total population rose to 1,082,812. The above figures are exclusive of the garrison of 20,700 men. The overwhelming majority of the inhabitants are Roman Catholics; the Jews number about 75,000, and the Protestants 26,500. Owing to the peculiarities of its situation, the population of Vienna is of a very cosmopolitan and heterogeneous character. The German element is, of course, largely in the ascendant ; but there are also large numbers of Czechs, Hungarians, and Slavs. As a general rule the Viennese are gay, pleasure-loving, and genial, and they possess a bonhomie which differentiates them markedly from the inhabitants of the other great German capital. The Viennese women are often distinguished by beauty and elegance ; and dress ing as a fine art is cultivated here with almost as great success as in Paris. As a rule the Viennese are passionately fond of dancing ; and the city of Strauss, Lanner, and Gungl provides the civilized terpsichorean world with waltzes and polkas. Opera, especially in its lighter form, flourishes, and the actors of Vienna maintain with success a traditional reputation of no mean order. The above description must not lie understood to convey a negation of more solid qualities, especially industry, frugality, and sobriety. Its chief place in the history of art Vienna owes to its musicians, among whom are counted Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. The Viennese school of painting is of modern origin ; but some of its members, for instance, Hans Makart, have acquired a European reputation. The Prater, a vast expanse (2000 acres) of wood and park on the east side of the city, between the Danube and the Danube Canal, is greatly frequented by all classes ; and here all phases of Viennese life may be studied, from the fashionable corso in the Haupt-Allee in May down to the bois terous and Derby- day-like jollity of a Sunday in the &quot;Wiir- stel Prater or people s Prater. The great exhibition of 1873 was held in this park, and several of its buildings, in cluding the large rotunda, have been left standing. Small er parks are the Hof garten, the Volks- Environ.s of Vienna. garten, and the Town Park, all adjoining the Ring-Strasse. The environs of the city of Vienna contain many points of beauty and interest. Among the most popular resorts are the parks and gardens belonging to the imperial chateaux of Sehonbrunn and Laxenburg. The position of the city on the chief European waterway running from west to east early marked out Vienna as one of the great com mercial emporia of eastern Europe. The valley of the March, which river here joins the Danube, forms the natural line of communica tion with the Oder and the Vistula. But the Austrian Government and the corporation of Vienna, by failing to keep the Danube in a proper state for navigation, have let slip the opportunity of making the city the great Danubian metropolis which its geographical position entitles it to be. An extensive trade is nevertheless carried on from Vienna in grain, partly as a direct importation from Hun gary and partly in transit between Russia and southern Germany. Other important articles are wine, cattle, colonial wares, and manu factured goods of the most varied description. Though not conspicu ous among cities of its own rank as an industrial centre, Vienna nevertheless carries on a considerable number of manufactures ; and some of its products, such as its bent-wood furniture and meer schaum pipes, are exported to all parts of Europe. In the number