Understand
The city was nearly completely destroyed in World War II, therefore there are not many historic buildings left. Traditionally Wiener Neustadt is an industrial town. It's also a commercial center for the surrounding area. There are many schools, among them the primary military academy of Austria. For travellers the city might be a starting point to explore the region: to the west there are the foothills of the alps, to the east Neusiedler See and Hungary are not far away, and to the north Vienna is just 30 minutes by train.
Get in
From Vienna you can easily connect Wiener Neustadt within half an hour. Each train stops in Wiener Neustadt and therefore more times in one hour.
With car: Sudautobahn, within 40 minutes from Vienna or 2 hrs from Graz. From Hungary 30 minutes.
Eat
Good and reasonable prices:
Hartig's Heuriger zum Dom/ Domplatz 2
Sleep
Hotel Corvinus, Beatrix Damm GmbH. A-2700 Wiener Neustadt, Bahngasse 29-33. Tel +43 26 22 / 24 134. www.hotel-corvinus.at
Wiener Neustadt (Hungarian: Bécsújhely) is a town located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land.
History
The city was founded by the Babenberger Duke Leopold V in 1194, who financed the construction of the city with the ransom paid for the English king Richard the Lionheart, who had previously been held as a hostage in Austria at Dürnstein. Wiener Neustadt, meaning more or less New Vienna, first served as a fortress to defend against nearby Hungary. Important privileges were given to the city in order to enable it to prosper. In the 15th century, Wiener Neustadt experienced a population boom, when Emperor Friedrick III took up his residence here and in Graz. The Wappenwand (coat of arms wall) at the local castle displays the coats of arms of his possessions in the middle. His son Maximilian I maintained his court in Wiener Neustadt and is buried there in the St. George's Cathedral.
King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary conquered the city in August of 1487 after having laid siege to it for two years. He dedicated the Corvinus Cup to the inhabitants. Maximilian I managed to reconquer his native city in 1490. During the 16th Century, Wiener Neustadt lost its status as imperial residence and much of its importance. However, it still fulfilled its function as bulwark against the Turks and the Kuruc. In 1751 it received greater attention when Empress Maria Theresa of Austria decided to dedicate the First Military Academy worldwide inside the imperial castle. In 1752, the Theresian Military Academy took up its operations, which have continued to this day with only a few interruptions. In 1768, Wiener Neustadt was destroyed by an earthquake. The castle, which had suffered strongly, was rebuilt using plans made by the architect Nicolò Pacassi. In 1785, Emperor Joseph II transferred the diocese of Wiener Neustadt to St. Pölten.
In the 19th century the city became an industrial town, especially after the opening of the Austrian Southern Railway in 1842.
In 1909, an airfield north of the city was inaugurated. It later served as a training ground for the flight pioneers Igo Etrich, Karl Illner and Adolf Warchalowski, who conducted their tests there.
In the late 1930s, Erwin Rommel spent time at the military academy in Wiener Neustadt, and returned again with his family for rest and recreation during World War II. During the war, the massively expanded airplane factory (Wiener Neustädter Flugzeugwerke, WNF) was a major centre for the manufacture of Bf 109 fighters, and a repair facility for Junkers bombers and destroyers. As a result the city was so was heavily bombed that 80% of the city were destroyed. Only 18 of 4,000 buidlings were totally spared (a degree of damage only comparable to Dresden, Hamburg, and Hiroshima) and very heavy loss of civilian life occurred.
Main sights
Transportation
Wiener Neustadt is one of the most important traffic junctions of Austria. It is connected to other major centers of population by railway and by highway. The city has two airfields (a military one which was the first airfield in Austria and a civil one owned by Diamond Aircraft) and is the starting point of Austria's only shipping canal, the Wiener Neustaedter Kanal, which was meant to reach out to Trieste but was never finished.
University, professional schools, vocational academies
Austria's first and largest Fachhochschule for business and engineering, the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, is located here.
City partnerships
Development of the city
The most recent extension of the city is the CIVITAS NOVA, Latin for new city, an ambitious project for an industrial, research and commercial center. In 2008, on the area of the Civitas Nova, a cancer research center for ion therapy will be opened under the name of Med Austron (link in German).
Culture
In 1996 Wiener Neustadt became internationally famous as a so-called "sidewalk" (http://www.dade.at/sidewalk/sidew.htm) designed by a Japanese artist was built around the main square. The aerodrome is a big music venue (link in German).
People
External links
