Talk:Vienna, Austria

From the Quicksilver Metaweb.

It's hard to think of a more pivotal city in the Baroque period than Vienna. One could almost say that the rise and fall of this city as the world cultural capital pretty much defined that city. It was not until the Enlightenment that the torch passed to Paris, and only in the 19th century did Vienna in any sense get it back.

Also it was the place where, notably in 1683, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Ottoman Empire came to blows, and more or less defined the modern map of Europe, ethnically and religiously.

The struggle against the Ottomans and the rise of such trends as Orientalism, and the demonizing of Islam, was intense during this period. It had of course started during the Crusades, which were also marked by attacks on Jews and Heretics - like the Cathars who had been wiped out for practicing 20th century hippie Christianity in the 12th century ('-) )