Famous landmarks in Austria

Austria is a landlocked country in Central Europe, best known for the Alps, classical music and grand palaces. Its capital is Vienna, a city on the Danube River, and about 9 million people live in the country. For centuries Austria was the heart of the Habsburg Empire, one of the most powerful families in European history, and the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born here.

On My Earth Toy you can visit Schönbrunn Palace, the Habsburgs' summer palace with its huge gardens; Hallstatt, a pastel lakeside village beneath steep mountains; and St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, with its zigzag tiled roof and tall Gothic tower.

Geography and nature

The Alps cover most of western and southern Austria, with glaciers, high meadows and ski slopes. The highest peak is the Grossglockner, about 3,798 metres tall. The Danube River flows across the north through Vienna. In the east the land flattens into farmland, vineyards and Lake Neusiedl, a shallow steppe lake shared with Hungary. Forests cover a large part of the country, and alpine animals such as chamois, ibex and marmots live in the mountains.

People, languages and culture

Austrians speak German, with their own regional words and accents. Music is a huge part of Austrian culture: Mozart, Haydn, Schubert and Johann Strauss all lived and worked here, and the Vienna Boys' Choir and the Vienna Philharmonic are world famous. Vienna's coffee houses are listed by UNESCO as cultural heritage. Popular foods include Wiener schnitzel, apple strudel and Sachertorte, a rich chocolate cake. Skiing is a favourite winter sport.

History in a nutshell

The Habsburg family ruled from Vienna for more than six centuries, and their empire once stretched across much of Central Europe. After World War I the empire broke up, and Austria became a small republic in 1918. It was taken over by Nazi Germany in 1938. After World War II, Austria regained full independence in 1955 and declared itself permanently neutral. It joined the European Union in 1995.