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Next to the Burggarten is a monument to one of the greatest writers in the German language, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The statue, seated on a massive base and cast in bronze, was created by Edmund Hellmer in 1900. Opposite the monument is a memorial to another distinguished writer of German literature and Goethe’s contemporary, Friedrich Schiller (see p110).

Vienna is the only capital in the world where wine grapes are grown within the city boundaries – some 1,670 acres of vineyards are found here. The most widely known wine-growing community in the capital is Grinzing. Once a small vintners’ village on the outskirts of the city, it is today the hub of Heurigen , with crowds of both locals and tourists flocking to the wine taverns (see pp74–5). The narrow streets still boast an old-fashioned rural charm.

After the death of the last Babenberg and a period of social disorder, the Habsburg Rudolf I was elected king in 1273. Vienna became the centre of the Holy Roman Empire and remained the imperial city of the Habsburgs until 1918.

The composer Ludwig van Beethoven often came to Heiligenstadt to spend his summers – Vienna’s bourgeoisie favoured the area as a holiday resort in the late 18th century. Beethoven lived in various houses in Heiligenstadt. In 1802 he stayed at Probusgasse 6 and visited the nearby spa to gain relief for his deafness; when nothing helped he wrote the Heiligenstädter Testament, a desperate letter to his brothers. Today the house is a museum.

Situated on the former imperial hunting grounds of the Lainzer Tiergarten, Emperor Franz Joseph had this little palace built for his wife Elisabeth. Between 1882 and 1886 architect Karl von Hasenauer constructed the splendid villa with its opulent interior, and the imperial couple used to spend May and June here every year. Elisabeth’s bedroom, with a large 18th-century bed once owned by Maria Theresa, is painted with frescoes following Hans Makart’s designs of Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream . The villa’s name derives from the Hermes statue in the park.

The former imperial palace may have relinquished its regal position after Austria became a republic in 1918, but the elegance of days gone by is still tangible in its sumptuous state apartments, landscaped gardens and various architectural styles (see pp12–17).

In the Hofmobiliendepot (imperial court furniture depot), which was established by Empress Maria Theresa in the late 18th century, all the Habsburgs’ furniture was stored, repaired and kept in a good state to be distributed to imperial households whenever required. Today the museum tells how imperial families used to live and has thousands of exhibits spanning more than five centuries. Among them are curiosities such as Baroque armchairs on wheels, an imperial travel throne, velvet-covered praying stools, Rococo spittoons and toilets disguised as stacks of books. There are also fully furnished rooms on display ranging from Empress Elisabeth’s rustic rooms from the Schönbrunn Meierei and a typical girl’s room as it would have looked in the Biedermeier period.

Stadtpark is dotted with monuments of Austrian artists and composers, but the gilded statue of Johann Strauss (see p52) is allegedly the city’s most photographed. The Viennese Waltz King is portrayed playing the violin amid ecstatic dancers and is framed by a marble arch. The monument was crafted by Edmund Hellmer in 1921 and has been attracting tourists ever since.

Known as a tolerant ruler, Joseph II (1765–90) carried out further reforms started under his mother Maria Theresa.