People\u27s Life and Music in Vienna in early 20th Century

Vienna is a unique city in Europe, located in the "Mitteleuropa, " the former territory of the Habsburg Empire. It was the center of politics and culture, keeping the throne of Holy Roman Empire of Germany for several hundred years, dominating the whole of Germany, until the Napoleon War early in 19th century. In fact, Viennese culture developed afterward through the century, as can be seen in science, literature, philosophy, arts, music, etc., It was the case after the Empire had lost its political influence on the whole Europe, therefore the time, the 19the century, being called "Golden Autumn" (H. Spiel, 1987). It is said that the 19th century continued until 1914 in Vienna, when World War I broke out. Kaiser Franz-Josef ascended the throne in 1848 during the time of revolution and stayed as Kaiser even after the unification of all Germany by Prussia, until 1916 when he died. It thus can be said that the period of Kaiser Franz-Josef was the high time for Vienna which, under hard situation of wars and revolutions, fostered its unparalleled culture. In order to look at this unique Viennese culture, we describe Wienerlieder and related music and discuss them in connection with people in Vienna during the time of turning of the century until Anschluss