|
Previous: Chapter 11 - Italy
CHAPTER 12 - AUSTRIA
IN A NUTSHELL. Once proud Austria, largest of European Empires, now has a land area of but 32,375 square miles and a population of about seventeen million. She compares with Maine or Indiana in size and her total population is less than that of New York City.
But although the Austro-Hungarian Empire is no longer the gigantic hodge-podge of nations it once was, Austria herself still lives and there is a unique feeling, in this little land, of glories of the past that never leaves you.
Vienna, for instance, once the capital of the empire, still retains the charms of yesteryear and there are few cities in the world more charming, more beautiful, more gay. And Vienna, despite the smallness of the country today is the 22nd largest city in the world with a population pushing two million. It is the great metropolis of Central Europe.
But Vienna isn't Austria, no matter how proud the Austrians may be of their capital. Austria, despite size, packs a great deal of wallop into her countryside. In the western provinces such as Vorarlberg and the Tyrol, we have Alpine grandeur equal to that of Switzerland, and the winter sports enthusiasts are as keen about this area as they are any place in the world. Salzburg, on the German border, noted for its music festivals and as the birthplace of Mozart, is proclaimed by many to be the most beautiful example of Germanic medieval city remaining in Europe. And Innsbruck, another age-old town, is in the most striking mountain setting I have ever seen.
But listing interesting and lovely Austrian cities could take several pages and we have space limitation. We should also touch on the Austrian countryside, because if the Austrians themselves are to be considered judges of the outstanding qualities of their land, it is the countryside that is above all appealing. I have never seen a people so prone to take off at the least sign of a gleam
| 