Vienna has a long history as a tourism destination dating back to the Middle Ages when it was an important trading hub located on the Danube River. In the 15th-16th centuries, Vienna became a center for music and arts which led to the emergence of the Grand Tour, bringing wealthy visitors. World Wars I and II severely damaged Vienna's economy and tourism industry but reconstruction efforts and innovations like air travel helped tourism rebound in the postwar decades. Vienna continues to draw visitors with its historic sites and cultural offerings.

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Vienna is the Capital of the Republic of Austria and one of Europe’s most visited
tourist destinations. Vienna or (Wien) in German, attracts visitors with its numerous
historic sights and extensive array of events and entertainment (Dearsley 2016).
Vienna’s history dates back to the first post-Christian century when the Romans
established the military camp Vindobona. The city of Vienna has delighted in a long
history, conquering numerous contentions and issues throughout the hundreds of
years, with Duke Henry II of Austria honouring the city its prestigious title of Austrian
capital in 1155 (Austrian National Tourism Office, 2016). This essay will discuss in
chronological order, the history of Vienna from a tourism destination perspective.
The discussion will begin with identifying when Vienna was established as a
destination and take a look at Vienna throughout the ages up to the 21st century. In
doing so, will identify key historical social, economic, political, technological and
other developments which took place in and around Vienna which contributed
towards the establishments of tourism in that destination in order to get to where it
today as a renowned tourism hotspot.
Looking back to just before the beginning of the tenth century, it was the Babenberg
family who truly begun to invigorate the region to develop Vienna throughout the
Middle Ages. Vienna was located near the Austrian-Hungarian border and became
an important point of commerce as early as in the year 1000. Trade was the earliest
example of tourism development in Vienna, particularly because of the capital’s ideal
location alongside the Danube River which allowed the city to do trade with
Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade as well as other key cities located nearby
(Gingrich, Haidvogl & Krausmann, 2012). Trade via this route was not only for goods
as there was a high demand during the middle ages for skilled tradesmen,
particularly in building defensive walls and structures as this era was filled with great
conflict from surrounding nations wanting Vienna for themselves as it was so
strategically located. The flow of skilled labourers from numerous European locations
resulted in a population influx within the Austrian Capital which required housing,
religious establishments and further infrastructure improvements. These were started
by the Babenberg family until ruler ship changed hands to the House of Habsburg in
the 13th century (TravelSmart Ltd, 2016).
In the 13th century, optimistic not to be beaten by the flourishing city of Prague, the
Habsburg sovereignty dispatched numerous eager building ventures, including the

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extension of the effectively amazing St. Stephen's Church, beforehand finished in
1160. The outward sign of any medieval city was its surrounding wall. Vienna's city
wall was built around 1200. The community was granted its first privilege in 1221.
Vienna was termed one of the principal cities of the empire after Cologne
(TravelSmart Ltd, 2016). A major upgrading came with the granting of the so-called
"Stapelrecht". Under this privilege non-resident tradesman had to display their goods
for sale in the city. This afforded the Viennese the very profitable opportunity to act
as middlemen. The city's expansion and development is particularly reflected in the
increasing splendour and number of churches, although the foundations thereto had
been laid by the Babenbergs still. There was growing construction at the time even in
the suburban area, outside the walls, and development crystallised along the main
arteries leading into and out of the city (Vienna City Administration, 2016). The 14th
century saw the prompting of wary financial approaches because of Rudolf IV, Duke
of Austria, and Vienna delighted in a period of much abundance. Rudolf was
additionally in charge of the foundation of the University of Vienna in 1365, which
became the capital’s most influential educational institutions and one of the most
revered universities in Europe during that time (TravelSmart Ltd, 2016).
Amid the 14th century the monetary backbone of the city was, from one viewpoint,
exchange, and, then again, wine-developing. Viticulture existed mainly in the
suburbs and outskirts. Wine was the chief fare, and this extensive wine creation was
ensured by import bans on outside, especially Hungarian, wines. Because of this, it
is not really shocking this led to much political distress during the 15th century which
influenced Vienna's economy radically (FrommerMedia, 2016). Particularly the
"Stapelrecht" was turning out to be increasingly insufficient. The weight applied by
remote tradesmen who had been working together in the city for quite a while and
additionally the developing reliance of the Habsburgs on the money related ability of
effective exchange lines. In 1526, discontent within Vienna broke into civil war which
led to brutal repression and a new city charter that stated full control of the city was
now under Habsburg rule. If this was not disconcerting enough, in 1529 half of the
city was destroyed by fire and additionally in the same year Turkish armies laid siege
to the city for 18 days which left Vienna’s outer suburbs in smouldering ruins, despite
never beaching the walls. These events led to a mass departure of commoner level
citizens as the outer suburbs of Vienna became highly militarised and treacherous.

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However, the effective aversion of the Turkish besiegers in 1529 had earned the city
global prestige which resulted in an influx of upper class citizens (burghers),
especially those looking to further educate themselves at the University of Vienna
(Vienna City Administration, 2016).
The 15th-16th century in Vienna marked the beginning of the Classical Period and
arguably the biggest turning point for tourism within the capital. At this time Vienna
became the musical centre of Europe and works of the period are frequently alluded
to as being in the Viennese style. Authors originated from all over Europe to prepare
in and around Vienna, and step by step they created and formalized the standard
musical structures that were to prevail European musical society for the following
quite a few years. The Traditional period achieved its lofty finish with the mind
blowing orchestras, sonatas, and string quartets by the three extraordinary arrangers
of the Viennese school: Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and
Ludwig van Beethoven (Sherrane, 2012). As a result of the explosion in arts and
culture during this time, this gave birth to the Grand Tour. The Grand Tour was a
traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly the upper-class European elite in an
effort to broaden their horizons and learn about language, architecture, geography
and culture (Rosenberg, 2016). This custom flourished from about 1660 till 1789
because of the break out of the French Revolution. In addition to this, in the 1700’s
Vienna became a Baroque city. The most critical architects of this period were
Johann von Erlach and Johann von Hildebrandt. Marvelous, lavish royal residences
sprung up in the rural ranges, the most prominent of which are Modena Royal
residence, Schwarzenberg Royal residence and Liechtenstein Castle (Austrian
National Tourist Office, 2016).
All through the late seventeenth and mid eighteenth Hundreds of years, Vienna
experienced a plague, however thereafter appreciated a steady population
development, achieving 200,000 occupants by 1790. Its development was ascribed
to the industrialisation and development of processing plants, with the main
production line built up in Leopoldstadt, the city's second Area isolated from the focal
point of Vienna by the Danube Trench (Europe-cities, 2016) In 1848 the French
philosophy of middle-classed revolution reached Austria, yet the rebellion was
instantly crushed, and the foreign minister Klemens von Metternich reacted by
chopping down common freedoms and presenting a strict oversight. Metternich's

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predominance of Austria between 1815 and 1848 ushered in another golden age
(Vienna Unwrapped, 2016). The Biedermeier period was recognized by the
expanded flourishing of the white collar class. For all intents and purposes kept out
of legislative issues, the bourgeoisie focused on society. They assembled manors
and the primary huge condos and energized painting, music, and writing. An
increase in technology changed the horizon of Vienna as the nineteenth century
advanced. The first steamship organization to explore the Danube was built up in
1832, and Austria's first railroad line opened in 1837. Meanwhile, regardless of his
brightness as a global ambassador, Metternich ordered local approaches that just
about ensured common agitation. They prompted the annihilation of social liberties,
the after war inconvenience of a police state, and the production of a monetary
atmosphere that favoured industrialization to the detriment of wages and workers'
rights (Vienna Unwrapped, 2016).
Franz Joseph I's severe comportment made the ideal foil for a blast of artistic
development in the recently revived city. A noteworthy achievement was the
immeasurable Ringstrasse, the road that circles Vienna's first Locale. Franz Joseph
requested it worked over the old city dividers, and the development of the
"Ringstrassenzone" turned into a work of homogeneous city design unparalleled all
through Europe (Timelines.ws, 2015). Then, propelled innovation dispatched Vienna
into the Industrial Age, changing the city into a sparkling showcase. The realm's
tremendous assets were utilized to keep theatres, cafés, show corridors, royal
residences, and homes sufficiently bright, cleaned, and kept up. The water supply
was enhanced, and the Danube directed. Another town hall was fabricated, and
another park, the Stadtpark, opened. In 1890, a considerable lot of the city's external
rural areas were consolidated into the City of Vienna, and in 1900 a last twentieth
region, Brigittenau, was likewise included. In 1906, ladies got the privilege to vote
(Timelines.ws, 2015). By 1910, Vienna, with a populace of 2 million, was the fourth-
biggest city in Europe, after London, Paris, and Berlin. Also of note in the latter half
of the 19th century, Vienna started to receive a significant influx of British tourism
thanks to the international tourism firm founded by Thomas Cook. In addition to this,
the industrial revolution during the 19th century saw the early formation of mass
tourism and organised packaged tours which saw in particular European travellers
visiting in Vienna in masses for the culture and arts (TravelSmart Limited, 2016).

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Despite the global depression in the 1890s, tourism in Vienna in the early 20th
century saw another explosion in arts and culture. However, this was no longer just
in the areas of music and architecture but had also diversified into the areas of
expressionist painting, writing and producing/acting. In amongst those of significance
included Anton Bruckner conducting his 9th Symphony, world famous Hollywood film
director Fred Zinnemann was born as was Otto Preminger another film director and
producer (FrommerMedia, 2016). In addition to the arts, tourism in Vienna, particular
within the Jewish community which was quite prominent at that time in Europe saw a
significant increase in regards to medical sciences. The first cornea transplant was
performed by Dr. Eduard Zirm and world renowned neurologist Sigmund Freud
made significant contributions into the studying and founding psychoanalysis. Also
taking off at this time (originating in Germany) was expressionism both in painting,
poetry which was quickly adopted by Venetian artists/poets at this time. Furthermore,
architects begun to adopt expressionism into their buildings and sculptures which
once again contributed towards tourism development within Vienna as tourists
flocked from all over to see these works of art. In 1897 a gigantic Vienna Ferris
Wheel was built in Prater which became a popular tourism attraction and survived
the preceding war (Brauner, 2015).
In 1914-1918 tourism in Vienna saw World War I which was its biggest threat since
the French Revolution. Although the war was not an immediate threat to Vienna in
general, it did lead to a significant lack in supplies due to the economic embargo
imposed by the Entente powers. This resulted in a huge shortage of food and
clothing not to mention the costs to economy during the war due to borrowing money
from other nations which resulted in inflation skyrocketing. In addition Germany tried
to (and succeeded in many cases) seize art works from Vienna galleries during the
war. This resulted in Austria enacting legislation in 1918 in order to keep artworks
from leaving the country (Gallagher, Gardner & Kadri, 2007). After the war Vienna,
as did most of Europe went through the great depression which once again dealt a
blow to tourism within Vienna. However, film producers, conductors, writers and
other individuals involved in the arts continued to persevere in order to sustain
tourism within the capital. To make things more difficult for the economy Austria had
formed an alliance with the United States in order to help fight Communist Russia.
However this did result in the United States lending Austria a great deal of money to

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sustain their efforts which allowed Austria to start to repay other nations they had
previously loaned money from and gradually begin to reduce inflation levels within
their economy as well as build many low cost residential estates (Schutter, 2010).
In 1939 with World War II, tourism within Vienna took one of the most significant
blows to date. Germany took over and fully occupied Austria which resulted in a
majority of the population within Austria now being German. The previously mass
percentage of Jewish population who had previously occupied Vienna either fled,
were placed in concentration camps or killed. During World War II, the city of Vienna
was bombed 52. The circumstance of the city was a long way from empowering.
More than 20 percent of the housing stock was halfway or totally obliterated, just
about 87,000 pads had gotten to be appalling. In the urban range, more than 3,000
bomb holes were included, numerous extensions were shambles, sewers, gas and
water funnels had endured extreme harm. The basic of the prompt after war period
was to take care of the most essential issues and recover the city to some degree of
working order. The above all else needs of the new city government were to
guarantee welfare programs for the youthful and the elderly, to repair the city-
possessed utilities and rebuild the city (Durning, 2014).
In 1948, there was an enormous economic upsurge felt across Europe. An important
contributing factor towards this was the Marshall Plan which was an American
initiative in order to aid Western Europe to help rebuild after the war. The tourism
industry in Vienna was seen as a vital part of economic benefit and amendments
were made to legislation within the industry increase pay for workers. Aviation
technology had significantly increased due to the war which made air travel more
comfortable, safer and faster which helped make way for the first ‘official’ mass
tourism. Expansions were made to the Vienna international airport in 1959 in order to
cater for larger and more frequent flights. In addition to international tourism through
air travel, there became a huge increase in the volume of private motorised traffic
both domestically and from surrounding nations. This resulted in a number of road
building programmes which unfortunately meant the destruction of historical
buildings and mass clearance of trees (
The 1960s-70s saw yet more innovations in technology and changing trends from a
social perspective in the tourism industry. In particular in the 1960’s cinematic

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tourism, especially across Europe took off. In 1960 Vienna launched its first
International Film Festival. Vienna film producers also inspired the Broadway musical
‘The Sound of Music’ which became the highest grossing film of all time. In addition
to film, Vienna begun to truly utilize the other areas of arts to benefit from cultural
tourism. They constructed a new opera building, the Vienna School of Realism and a
number of other important universities/galleries which specialised in promoting and
showcasing the numerous both current and historical art works in order to boost
tourism (WienTourismus, 2016). The 1970’s saw the creation of the 747 jumbo jet
which resulted in Vienna once again making further developments to their
international airport in order to maximize accessibility to Vienna as a prime tourist
destination. In addition to this, public transport in Vienna was improved by the
introduction of the new U-Bahn network, the first part of which was opened in 1978.
In the 1980’s tourism within Vienna continued to grow despite the slight dip in air
travel after Palestinian guerrillas opened fire inside the Rome and Vienna airports
killing 20 people. The late 1970’s and early 1980s also saw the opening of the first
underground railway line and the opening of Danube Island which became a new
recreation area. Both these major developments helped to further tourism within
Vienna (Dearsley, 2016).
Finally the 1990s saw rapid growth in tourism development in particular from the
internet which helped aid package tours and domestic and international travel. This
allowed Vienna to further promote and market their tourism products, particularly
within the art and culture areas but also begin to target other potential niche markets.
The Museumquartier complex was constructed in the 1990’s which helped Vienna
further promote both art, literature, history and architecture unique to that area.
Another type of attraction which rapidly took off were balls with Vienna being the last
great capital to showcase the 19th century ball. There are over 450 balls per year in
Vienna, some featuring as many as nine live orchestras. The final area of focus
which became popular in Venetian tourism during the 1990’s and still is today is
gastronomy. In particular wine, beer and coffee houses, many of which date back
centuries which have significantly helped launch tourism development in Vienna into
the 21st century (Austrian National Tourist Office, 2016).
In conclusion, looking back over the vast historical development of tourism within
Vienna, the ‘City of Music’ has come a long way. Starting out as just a city utilized for

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trade in the 10th-13th to the musical centre of Europe in arts and culture in the 15th-
16th century, which in turn benefited through the ‘Grand Tour’ as aristocratic class
travellers flocked to Vienna for educational and cultural purposes. The 17th and 18th
centuries saw tourism in Vienna further develop through diversification within the arts
with an upsurge in early film production and scientific developments which allowed
tourism to further flourish. The 18th century saw a boom in economic activity within
Vienna and benefitting from Thomas Cook’s organised expeditions which led to
Vienna hitting the 2 million populace at the end of the century. The first half of the
20th century saw tourism take a huge blow from the World Wars and Global
Depressions whereas the 1950s saw a huge economic upsurge which resulted in
Vienna further developing its accessibility, infrastructure and greatly benefitting from
the birth of mass tourism. Finally, the 1960’s ushered in the age of film, the 1970s
the 747 jet and the finished construction of the U-Bahn and the 1980s and 90s an
upsurge in package tours and organised mass tourism including through the internet
which helped Vienna reach a larger target market. In addition the 90’s has seen the
significant boom in gastronomic tourism through wine, beer and cafes in Vienna.
Based on how tourism has developed within Vienna over time it is clear to see that
Vienna is a resilient tourist destination. Despite the hardships and challenges it has
faced over time tourism within Vienna has not managed to sustain itself but flourish.
Carrying on along the trend tourism in Vienna is travelling now it is arguable that
Vienna will still remain one of Europe’s top tourist destinations well into the future.

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