Vienna		Vienna
		Vienna's history goes way back to Roman times. Like many cities throughout Europe, it is based on a Roman military settlement called Vindobona. After the decline of the Roman Empire, the remains of this camp developed town under the reign of the Babenberger dynasty. In 1492 it became the seat and capital of the Habsburger's Holy Roman Empire and started growing to the big city it is today. Nowadays Vienna is the capital of the Austrian Republic, the seat of the government, home to about 1,7 million people and working place for even more residents from around the area. Vienna offers a lot of different sightseeing attractions. The St. Stephan's Cathedral, one of the oldest buildings, combines, because of its long construction time, a variety of different architectural styles. The Ringstrasse, the former fortifying belt of the city core, turned into a magnificent street in the 19th century, is also worth a walk. A must for tourists is the Schloss Schönbrunn, the former seat and residence of the Habsburgs, with its parks, the palm house, the butterfly house and zoo. Vienna is a traditional melting pot for what used to be a multinational empire during the Habsburg monarchy. The immigration of Hungarians, Czechs and Polish people left its influence everywhere, especially on the surnames of many Viennese inhabitants. Vienna is not only the political, but also the cultural capital of Austria. It offers a wide variety of theater, music, art and cinemas and the cultural tradition of the high art is well known worldwide. Vienna has been home to many famous musicians, like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Hayden, Ludwig van Beethoven and Falco. It is still a very popular stop and living place for artist from around the world.

Salzburg		Salzburg
		The birth of the town Salzburg can be set in the year 696 when the missionary St. Rubert arrived and founded the Benedictine Monastery of St. Peters. The town merged into an independent church state, ruled by a sovereign, the Archbishop. He was not only the spiritual leader but possessed also worldly powers. Its organisation was Vatican-like and Salzburg was not called the "Rome of the North" by accident. Located between the two mountains Kabuzinerberg and Mönchsberg and the River Salzach it is a picturesque city with small alleys, quaint colorfull town homes, rich castles and palaces, neat gardens and a high density of churches and monasteries. The Fortress of Hohensalzburg, a 900 year old building you cannot overlook, is considered to be the best-preserved Medieval Fortress throughout Europe. St. Sebastian is the city's most impressive church, built in the Gothic style, with a well-tended cemetery. The city of Salzburg lays proof of the wealth and power of the Archbishop and the Catholic Church and is a home to approximately 150.000 inhabitants today. Salzburg is also a city of music. It was the home and birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the memorial on the Mozart place is honouring this city's famous son. Nevertheless was Salzburg also a very popular stop for musicians from around the world, due the Archbishops' traditional keenness for music. This state has not changed through the centuries. Today Salzburg is known for its annual Festival (Salzburger Festspiele), which offers a variety of operas, concerts and theatre plays, reaching from classical to contemporary styles. The city is also a very popular place to get a decent musical or theatrical education and so many students from around the world enrol to one of the different schools offered in Salzburg every year.

Graz		Graz
		Graz is the capital of Styria, a county in the southeast corner of Austria. The city is located in between rolling hills, to the north, east and west, only open to the south. The first settlements date back to 800 AD and through the medieval times, the Styrian landowners, took over the town and turned it into a flourishing trading center. Because of its easily fortified and nearly invulnerable Schlossberg in the city core, Graz has always been a very important strategic point. Throughout the reign of the Babenbergers and the Habsburgs the city was considered a second capital to Austria. The city's architecture is dominated largely by the struggle of the Reformists and the Habsburgs' Counter Reformation. Protestant buildings like the Landhaus and many different palais encounter buildings like the old University, the Mausoleum and the Minoritenkirche, erected to represent Catholic believe. The Counter Reformation was very successful putting Protestants in a minority till today. The most important building of baroque architecture in Graz is without doubt the Schloss Eggenburg. A very significant city mark is the romantic Uhrturm, a tower still using the original clockwork from 1712 and a popular first kiss area for many inhabitants. The fortress on the Schlossberg has big influence on the townscape of the city and contains the largest collection of early modern weaponry and suits of armour throughout Europe. In the 19th century Graz grew to a large city and many representative buildings like the Karl-Franzens-University, the city hall and the opera house were erected. Today Graz is the second largest city in Austria and home to about 230.000 people. It presents a great deal of cultural events, like the Styriade, an annual exhibition, dedicated to contemporary art, theatre and performances.

Innsbruck		Innsbruck
		The Inn valley has always been very important for its geographical and trafficable favourable position. First settlements date back to the Bronze Age. When the Roman Empire expanded to the North, the valley became an important military transportation route. They built a fortified road stop, Veldidena, which is now Innsbruck's district of Wilten. With the settlements of the Bajuwaren, the area turned Bavarian and was later given to the Bishops of Brixen, who lost more and more control of the area to the native Tyrolean counts. In the year 1187 the name "Innsbrucke", which means Bridge over the River Inn, is first mentioned. Soon they built out Innsbruck as the center of their domain. In the 15th century the emperor Maximilian I made the city to his center of his new administration-, culture- and finance politics. He erected the "Goldene Dachl" in the core of Innsbruck's now historic center, a renaissance oriole, decorated with gold painted copper shingles. In 1665 Empress Maria Theresia built the Triumph Gate and expanded the "Hofburg", the residence of the Habsburgs in Innsbruck. Nowadays the architecture of this period still characterises the cityscape. In 1805 Napoleon's armies defeated Austria and Tyrol was given to the Bavarians. The Tyrolean resistance fighter Andreas Hofer managed to free Tyrol from the German and French troops for a while an in 1814 it was returned to the Austrians. Andreas Hofer is a Tyrolean National hero and a large painted round panorama picture, the "Rundgemälde", was dedicated to his fight on the Mount Isle. Nowadays Innsbruck, with its 150.000 inhabitants, is, because of its favourable position in the Alps, an international center for winter sports and was the host of the Olympic Winter Games twice, in 1964 and 1976. It is also kind of an unofficial capital for snowboarding in Europe.

Linz		Linz
		Like most cities of Austria, the city of Linz is based on the Roman expansion to the North. The bending of the River Danube made this territory a strategic point and a small castle fortified it. The castle and its settlements where named Lentia. Linz was first mentioned in 799 AD, when the Bavarians expanded to the South and this area grew more important. The settlement became influent as a point for trade and the execution of custom fees. Sold to Austrian Lords those fees were the main income for them. In the 15th century, Linz grew more and more important and was turned into kind of a capital, first in the Princedom of Austria, later during the Babenberger's Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. But although it was a very popular temporary residence to many Austrian Aristocrats throughout history, it was always overruled in importance by Vienna. Starting in the beginning of the 16th century the ideas of Reformation reached Linz and where happily welcomed. By 1542, the first protestant major was elected and the Landhaus was erected. In 1600 the Habsburgers initiated the Counter Reformation. By 1700 the cityscape was formed to this day, with Baroque buildings and the erecting of different monasteries. A wool fabrication plant was built, giving work to up to 50.000 people, making Linz to Austrian's main textile fabrication and trade center. With the industrialisation of the early 19th century Linz grew more and more to and industrial city, which made it an aim for above average air raids, during World War II. In 1966 it became a university city with the construction of the Johannes Kepler University. Nowadays Linz is the second largest city in Austria and a very important location for industry. It is home to approximately 200.000 people and host to the annual Bruckner Festival and the Ars Electronica, a fair dedicated to technology and contemporary electronic art.

Bregenz		Bregenz
		The city of Bregenz is located at the Bodensee close to the four-border corner of Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The roots of this capital of Vorarlberg can be found in Roman times. Bregenz was then the military and trade base Brigantinum. Around 610 AD it was conquered and destroyed by the Allmanni. Up from 10th century Bregenz became the seat of the Uldarichinger count and started flourishing and extending in the 13th and 14th century. Bregenz was bought in two halves by the Habsburgs in 1451 and in 1523. From 18th to the 19th the traffic network was expanded enormously through railroad and steamship connections. In 1923 Bregenz became the capital of Vorarlberg and in 1945 it suffered severe damage by the French troops, when around 72 houses were destroyed. Today Bregenz is home to around 27.097 people. With its location at the Bodensee and the Alps it has a bi-seasonal tourism with around 234.000 people from all around the world staying overnight. The economy is dominated by small businesses, especially textile industry. The Upper town district is the oldest, with buildings form the 13th to 16th century. In this part of town you can still find parts of the original fortifying town walls. The Martin's Tower is the landmark of Bregenz, a building with a late Roman core and mainly baroque style architecture. The fresco in the chapel dates back to 1362. A further very impressive building is the gothic parish church of St. Gall, with a Roman-Romanesque foundation from before 1380 and a Baroque altar. The cultural biggest event is the Bregenz Festival in the summer, with operas and plays, held on a stage build into the Bodensee.