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Vienna: Empire, Dynasty and Dream

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Simon Sebag Montefiore

Dominic Ozanne

Richard Downes

Mike Smith

Vienna: Empire, Dynasty and Dream: Episode 1

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Episode 1

BBC Four - Vienna: Empire, Dynasty and Dream, Episode 1

Vienna marked Europe's front line in the defence of Christendom and the Catholic Church.

Simon Sebag Montefiore looks at the Habsburgs' rise to power and how Vienna marked Europe's front line in the struggle to defend both Christendom and the Catholic Church.

Vienna was the capital of the Habsburg dynasty and home to the Holy Roman Emperors. From here, they dominated middle Europe for nearly 1,000 years. In this series, historian Simon Sebag Montefiore describes how the Habsburgs transformed Vienna into a multinational city of music, culture and ideas. Napoleon, Hitler, Mozart, Strauss, Freud, Stalin and Klimt all played their part. 

In this first episode, we follow the Habsburgs' rise to power and discover how Vienna marked Europe's front line in the struggle to defend both Christendom from the Ottomans and the Catholic Church from the Protestant revolutionaries that plotted to destroy it.

Knowledge, arts, music and culture from the UK and the world.

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Factual: History

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

History of the city from the Romans, Babenbergs and Habsburgs until WWII.

The rise of one of the great cities of the world, and how the fabric of the city today is a window into a past of power, religion and culture.

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