Stephansplatz, Vienna

Trams in Vienna (German: Wiener Straßenbahn, in everyday speech also Bim or Tramway) are a vital part of the public transport system in Vienna, capital city of Austria. In operation since 1865, with the completion of a 2 km route to industrial estates near Simmering, it reached its maximum extent of 292 km in 1942. In February 2015, it was the fifth largest tram network in the world, at about 176.9 kilometres (109.9 mi) in total length and 1,071 stations.The trams on the network run on standard gauge track. Since 1897, they have been powered by electricity, at 600 V DC. The current operator of the network is Wiener Linien. In 2013, a total of 293.6 million passengers travelled on the network's trams. As of 2013, there were 525 tramcars in Vienna's tram fleet, including 404 trams or tramsets scheduled for service during peak periods, comprising 215 single cars and 189 motor and trailer sets.

The Vergilius Chapel (German: Virgilkapelle) is an underground crypt next to the Stephansdom in Vienna. It is rectangular in form (approximately 6 meters by 10), with six niches. Today, it lies approximately 12 meters beneath the Stephansplatz.

The Ducal Crypt (German: Herzogsgruft) is a burial chamber beneath the chancel of Stephansdom in Vienna, Austria. It holds 78 containers with the bodies, hearts, or viscera of 72 members of the House of Habsburg.

St. Stephen's Cathedral (German: Stephansdom; [ˈʃ͡tɛfansˌdoːm]) is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP. The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral, seen today in the Stephansplatz, was largely initiated by Duke Rudolf IV (1339–1365) and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first a parish church consecrated in 1147. The most important religious building in Vienna, St. Stephen's Cathedral has borne witness to many important events in Habsburg and Austrian history and has, with its multi-coloured tile roof, become one of the city's most recognizable symbols.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Vienna, Austria.

The siege of Vienna was a decisive siege in 1485 of the Austrian–Hungarian War. It was a consequence of the ongoing conflict between Frederick III and Matthias Corvinus. After the fall of Vienna it was merged with Hungary from 1485 to 1490. Matthias Corvinus also moved his royal court to the newly occupied city. However Vienna did not become the capital of Hungary.

48°12′31″N 16°22′23″E Pummerin is the name of the bell in the Stephansdom, St. Stephen's Cathedral, in Vienna.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna (Latin: Archidioecesis Viennensis) is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Austria. It was erected as the Diocese of Vienna on 18 January 1469 out of the Diocese of Passau, and elevated to an archdiocese on 1 June 1722. The episcopal see resides in the cathedral of Stephansdom in Vienna. The current bishop is Christoph Schoenborn, appointed in 1995 and elevated to cardinal in 1998. The Archdiocese is the metropolitan diocese of three suffragan dioceses: Roman Catholic Diocese of Eisenstadt, of Linz, and of Sankt Pölten. These four dioceses together constitute the ecclesiastical province of Vienna, one of only two ecclesiastical provinces of Austria, the other under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg.

The siege of Vienna, in 1529, was the first attempt by the Ottoman Empire to capture the capital city of Vienna, Austria, Holy Roman Empire. Suleiman the Magnificent, sultan of the Ottomans, attacked the city with over 100,000 men, while the defenders, led by Niklas Graf Salm, numbered no more than 21,000. Nevertheless, Vienna was able to survive the siege, which ultimately lasted just over two weeks, from 27 September to 15 October, 1529. The siege came in the aftermath of the 1526 Battle of Mohács, which had resulted in the death of Louis II, King of Hungary, and the descent of the kingdom into civil war. Following Louis' death, rival factions within Hungary selected two successors: Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria, supported by the House of Habsburg, and John Zápolya. Zápolya would eventually seek aid from, and become a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, after Ferdinand began to take control of western Hungary, including the city of Buda. The Ottoman attack on Vienna was part of the empire's intervention into the Hungarian conflict, and in the short term sought to secure Zápolya's position. Historians offer conflicting interpretations of the Ottoman's long-term goals, including the motivations behind the choice of Vienna as the campaign's immediate target. Some modern historians suggest that Suleiman's primary objective was to assert Ottoman control over all of Hungary, including the western part (known as Royal Hungary) that was then still under Habsburg control. Some scholars suggest Suleiman intended to use Hungary as a staging ground for further invasion of Europe.The failure of the siege of Vienna marked the beginning of 150 years of bitter military tension between the Habsburgs and Ottomans, punctuated by reciprocal attacks, and culminating in a second siege of Vienna in 1683.

The Palais Equitable is a mansion in Stock-im-Eisen-Platz (now part of Stephansplatz) in the Innere Stadt of Vienna, Austria, that was built in the 19th century for The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and that incorporates the Stock im Eisen on one corner. The building is on the site of five small medieval buildings that were demolished between 1856 and 1886, partly in order to expand Kärntner Straße. It was designed by Andreas Streit and constructed between 1887 and 1891. It is one of the few palaces or mansions in Vienna never to have been an aristocratic residence. The Palais Equitable has a richly detailed façade featuring American eagles. The Stock im Eisen, enclosed in glass, is in a niche on the Kärntner Straße corner of the building, and bronze reliefs by Rudolf Weyr on the main doors depict its history. The remainder of the ornamentation is by Viktor Oskar Tilgner and Johann Schindler. The interior is also extremely sumptuous: marble from Hallein and granite from Saxony were used for the dramatic stairway and the vestibule, and the glass-covered interior courtyard is completely clad in tile and maiolica. (The stairway was apparently intended to be adaptable for access to a future subway.) A painting on the ceiling of the lobby and the stucco ornamentation on the second floor are by Julius Victor Berger. Wilhelm Beck & Söhne, providers of uniforms to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, had its shop in the building, and the United States consulate was located there.The Palais Equitable was damaged in World War II but was restored in 1949. The entrance area was renovated by Rüdiger Lainer in 1997. Today the building houses offices of various companies and organizations including the Austrian division of Sal. Oppenheim, and a retail outlet for Augarten Porcelain.

Stephansplatz is an important destination and interchange station in the Vienna U-Bahn system. It is located under the Stephansplatz and is served by lines U1 and U3. It is located in the Innere Stadt district. Stephansplatz station opened on 18 November 1978. Designated officially as the central node of the U-Bahn by City in on-train announcements and on network maps by a pictogram of its namesake, the Stephansdom, the station serves the heart of the Altstadt and connects two of the busiest lines, making it one of the busiest stations in the city. The U1 between it and Karlsplatz has the highest ridership in the system: approximately 167,000 riders per day in 2004.

The Stock im Eisen (German: "staff in iron") is the midsection of a tree-trunk from the Middle Ages, a so-called nail-tree (Nagelbaum), into which hundreds of nails have been pounded for good luck over centuries. It is located in Vienna, Austria, in Stock-im-Eisen-Platz, now part of Stephansplatz, at the corner of the Graben and Kärntner Straße and is now behind glass on a corner of the Palais Equitable.