The Innere Stadt (;

Central Bavarian Central Bavarian form a subgroup of Bavarian dialects in large parts of Austria and the German state of Bavaria along the Danube river, on the northern side of the Eastern Alps. They are spoken in the ' Old Bavarian' regions of Upper Bavaria (wi ...

: ''Innare Stod'') is the 1st municipal district of Vienna () located in the center of the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n capital. The Innere Stadt is the

old town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Until the city boundaries were expanded in 1850, the Innere Stadt was congruent with the city of Vienna. Traditionally it was divided into four quarters, which were designated after important town gates: ''Stubenviertel'' (northeast), ''Kärntner Viertel'' (southeast), ''Widmerviertel'' (southwest), ''Schottenviertel'' (northwest). The

Ringstraße The Vienna Ring Road (german: Ringstraße, lit. ''ring road'') is a 5.3 km (3.3 mi) circular grand boulevard that serves as a ring road around the historic Innere Stadt (Inner Town) district of Vienna, Austria. The road is located on sites where ...

circles the Innere Stadt along the route of the former

city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

. The first district is, with a workforce of 100,745, the largest employment locale in Vienna. This is partially due to tourism, as well as the presence of many corporate headquarters due to the district's central location.

Geography

Innere Stadt is the central district of Vienna. It borders

Leopoldstadt Leopoldstadt (; bar, Leopoidstod, "Leopold-Town") is the 2nd municipal district of Vienna (german: 2. Bezirk) in Austria. there are 103,233 inhabitants over . It is situated in the heart of the city and, together with Brigittenau (20th distr ...

in the northeast,

Landstraße Landstraße (; Central Bavarian: ''Laundstrossn'') is the 3rd municipal district of Vienna, Austria (german: 3. Bezirk). It is near the center of Vienna and was established in the 19th century. Landstraße is a heavily populated urban area with ...

in the east,

Wieden Wieden (; Central Bavarian: ''Wiedn'') is the 4th municipal district of Vienna, Austria (german: 4. Bezirk). It is near the centre of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but its borders were changed later. Wieden is a small region ...

and

Mariahilf Mariahilf (; Central Bavarian: ''Mariahüf'') is the 6th municipal district of Vienna, Austria (german: 6. Bezirk). It is near the center of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850. Mariahilf is a heavily populated urban area with many res ...

in the south,

Neubau Neubau (; Central Bavarian: ''Neibau'') is the seventh district of Vienna (german: 7. Bezirk). It is located near the center of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but borders changed later. Neubau is a heavily populated urban area, ...

and

Josefstadt Josefstadt (; Central Bavarian: ''Josefstod'') is the eighth district of Vienna (german: 8. Bezirk, Josefstadt). It is near the center of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but borders changed later. Josefstadt is a heavily po ...

in the west, and

Alsergrund Alsergrund (; Central Bavarian: ''Oisagrund'') is the ninth district of Vienna, Austria (german: 9. Bezirk, Alsergrund). It is located just north of the first, central district, Innere Stadt. Alsergrund was incorporated in 1862, with seven suburbs. ...

in the north. The district border, starting at Urania, follows Wienfluss, Lothringerstraße, Karlsplatz, Gedreidemarkt, Museumsplatz, Museumstraße, Auerspergstraße, Landesgerichtsstraße, Universitätsstraße, Maria-Theresien-Straße and the Donaukanal.

History

: Before 1850, Innere Stadt was physically equivalent with the city of Vienna. See

History of Vienna The history of Vienna has been long and varied, beginning when the Roman Empire created a military camp in the area now covered by Vienna's city centre. From that humble beginning, Vienna grew from the Roman settlement known as ''Vindobona'' to b ...

for details about the history of Vindobona and Vienna, as well as historical significance after 1850. On November 2, 2020, a

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

occurred in the municipality at 6 locations, killing 4 people and injuring 22 at 20:00.

Places of interest

Albertina The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt (First District) of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as well ...

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (literally:"Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater"), originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in Vi ...

Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz is a square in Vienna, Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states ...

Graben In geology, a graben () is a depressed block of the crust of a planet or moon, bordered by parallel normal faults. Etymology ''Graben'' is a loan word from German, meaning 'ditch' or 'trench'. The word was first used in the geologic contex ...

Hofburg Imperial Palace The Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty. Located in the centre of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the imperial winter residence, as Schönbrunn ...

* Kapuzinergruft *

Kärntner Straße Kärntner Straße (''Carinthian Street'') is the most famous street in central Vienna. It runs from the Stephansplatz out to the Wiener Staatsoper at Karlsplatz on the Ringstraße The Vienna Ring Road (german: Ringstraße, lit. ''ring road' ...

Lutheran City Church The Lutheran City Church is a Lutheran church building in Innere Stadt, the first district of Vienna. Location and architecture The Lutheran City Church is located at Dorotheergasse 18, next to the Reformed City Church and opposite of the auct ...

* Museum of Art History *

Museum of Natural History A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more ...

Maria am Gestade Maria am Gestade (Mary at the Shore) is a Gothic church in Vienna, Austria. One of the oldest churches in the city—along with St. Peter's Church and St. Rupert's Church—it is one of the few surviving examples of Gothic architecture in Vienna. ...

Church *

Palais Ephrussi ''Palais Ephrussi'' is a former ''Ringstraßenpalais'' in Vienna. It was built for the Ephrussi family of financiers by Theophil Freiherr von Hansen, the architect of the Austrian Parliament Building. It is on the Ringstrasse, specifically the ...

* Pestsäule (a

plague column Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

) *

Peterskirche The ''Peterskirche'' ( en, St. Peter's Church) is a Baroque Catholic Church, Roman Catholic parish church in Vienna, Austria. It was transferred in 1970 by the Archbishop of Vienna Franz König, Franz Cardinal König to the priests of the Opus ...

Rathaus, Vienna Vienna City Hall (German: ''Wiener Rathaus'') is the seat of local government of Vienna, located on Rathausplatz in the Innere Stadt district. Constructed from 1872 to 1883 in a Neo-Gothic style according to plans designed by Friedrich von Sch ...

Ruprechtskirche St. Rupert's Church (german: Ruprechtskirche) is a Romanesque church in Vienna, Austria. Traditionally considered to be the oldest church in the city, St. Rupert's Church is dedicated to Saint Rupert of Salzburg, patron saint of the salt merchant ...

Schottenstift The Schottenstift ( en, Scottish Abbey), formally called Benediktinerabtei unserer Lieben Frau zu den Schotten ( en, Benedictine Abbey of Our Dear Lady of the Scots), is a Catholic Church, Catholic monastery founded in Vienna in 1155 when Henry I ...

Stadtpark, Vienna The Stadtpark (City Park) in Vienna, Austria is a large municipal park that extends from the Ringstraße in the Innere Stadt first district up to the Heumarkt (Hay Market) in the Landstraße third district. The park is divided in two sections by t ...

Stephansdom St. Stephen's Cathedral (german: Stephansdom) 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, ...

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August S ...

* Virgilkapelle * Parliament Building * Palace of Justice * Main Building of the University of Vienna * Volksgarten

Population

Over time

Population has been declining ever since its peak of 73,000 in 1880, until it hit the lowest recorded value of 17,000 in 2001. Although population has been increasing slightly since then, Innere Stadt continues to remain the least populated district in Vienna.

Structural

In 2001, 28.1% of the district's population was over 60 years of age, above the city average of 22.2%. The percentage of people under 15 years of age was 9.8%. The female population of 53.3% was also above city average.

Origin and language

At 15.5%, the percentage of foreign residents in Innere Stadt was 2% under city average for the year 2001. 2.8% of the population had EU Citizenship (Germany excluded), 2.7% were citizens of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

and

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

, and 2.2% were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

citizens. In total, 25.6% of the population were born in a foreign country. 79% of residents listed German as their language of choice. 4.0% spoke primarily Serbian, 1.8% Hungarian, and 1.4% Croatian. 14.3% spoke other languages.

Religion

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

s made up 51.3% of the Innere Stadt population in 2001, followed by 6.6%

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

s, 5.1%

Orthodox Christians Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churc ...

, 3.3%

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. 22.7% were listed as non-confessional.

Politics

The ''Bezirksvorsteher'' (district director) has been a member of the conservative

ÖVP The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria. Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...

party since 1946. Former Bezirksvorsteher

Ursula Stenzel Ursula Stenzel (born 22 September 1945 in Leopoldstadt, Vienna) is an Austrian politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1996 to 2006. Until September 2015, she was a member of the Austrian People's Party. She is also a ...

has spoken out against holding events in the

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

, citing concerns regarding noise pollution. Her comments have drawn criticism from other parties, especially the social democratic

SPÖ The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...

Coat of arms

The first district's coat of arms is a white cross on a red background. It is also the coat of arms for the City of Vienna and the State of Vienna. The current coat of arms dates back to around 1270, when it first appeared on the minted "Wiener Pfennige" coins. It may have been based on the flag of the

King of the Romans King of the Romans ( la, Rex Romanorum; german: König der Römer) was the title used by the king of Germany following his election by the princes from the reign of Henry II (1002–1024) onward. The title originally referred to any German k ...

' forces during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, as the combat flag of

Rudolph I of Germany Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum which h ...

featured a similar design.

Notes

References

* "Wien - 1. Bezirk - Innere Stadt", Wien.gv.at, 2008, webpage (15 subpages)
Wien.gv.at-innerestadt
(in German). * Grabovszki, Ernst: ''Innere Stadt, Wien, 1. Bezirk''. Verlag Sutton, Erfurt 2002,

External links

*
History of Innere Stadt
at the City of Vienna homepage. *
UNESCO rationale
for inclusion of Vienna inner district into world cultural heritage list. *
General information about Innere Stadt
from the Green party. *
Historical core of Vienna
{{Authority control Districts of Vienna World Heritage Sites in Vienna Historic districts Katastralgemeinde of Vienna