Austria General Information

Austria is a country of astonishing contrasts, from the Danube Basin in the east to the Austrian Alps in the west. It is famous as one of the world’s premier skiing regions and for its historical buildings, world-class museums and galleries, remarkable scenery, outstanding mountains and well-known hiking trails.                                     

In addition to natural wealth, the country contains countless and famous architectural riches, including everyday reminders of the once-powerful Hapsburgs, who conquered central Europe for seven centuries. It must be said that Austria bears the hallmarks of past Emperorship brilliantly: the capital, Vienna, is superlative with its elaborate Opera House and the previous majestic residence of the Hofburg; Austria’s other cities are equally infused with a historical magic, especially Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart, with spectacular Baroque churches set before a background of snow-covered peaks.


In Austria many places are themselves admirable of artistic acclaim, so it is not a surprise that Austria has shaped and inspired a catalogue of cultural figures. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, Austria – and, in particular, Vienna – became one of the most important centre of the cultural revitalization associated with the terms Baroque and The Enlightenment. The musical achievements of this period are particularly notable and their memo in cultural history still resounds. Miscellanies of Mozart’s legacy areareubiquitously. 

                                                

However, Austria strives to develop its inheritance of the future. The country is a conservatory of striking contemporary architecture, at the forefront of engineering, creation and design, and with a modern, well-organized social system. Austria still has a understandable reputation for music, literature and the arts, with Elfriede Jelinek recently winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2004. In terms of gastronome culture, the well-known Gemütlichkeit – a relaxed pleasure of life – is evident in the cafes where the art of coffee-drinking has been transformed to a high art, and the many Heurigen, where the most recent vintages are accompanied by an enormous quantity of food. Nightlife is adaptable, offering relaxed taverns, beer gardens and tremendous après-ski, as well as fashionable clubs and dance venues crowded to the small hours.
It seems as if Austria is eager on not to be regarded just as a ‘historical’ country, but one that also proudly fosters the cultural and social present.