History of the city

Founded by the Babenbergers

At the end of the 12th century, the Babenberg Duke Leopold V decided to found a heavily fortified town in the middle of the south-eastern Steinfeld plain. Part of the ransom money for the English king Richard the Lionheart, who was held prisoner in Dürnstein, was used to build the "Neuenstat". A total of 23 tons of silver were paid, equivalent to the entire silver stocks of the British Kingdom. The new city prospered with the granting of important privileges. As early as 1200, construction of the late Romanesque parish church "To Our Lady", today's Wiener Neustadt Cathedral, began. The four-towered castle complex in the south-east corner of the city, which later became the military academy, was also built in the Babenberg period.

Heyday beyond the Habsburgs

The city of Wiener Neustadt experienced its heyday in the 15th century, when Emperor Friedrich III. served as a residence for many decades. Here, in the Neustadt Castle, Friedrich's famous son, who later became Emperor Maximilian I, was born in 1459. He found his final resting place in the castle's magnificent St. George's Cathedral (1519). In 1469 a diocese was founded in Wiener Neustadt.

Siege and conquest by Matthias Corvinus

After a siege by the Hungarians for almost two years, the excellently fortified and exemplary defended city of Wiener Neustadt finally had to open its gates to the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus and his troops in August 1487. A large, silver, gold-plated ceremonial goblet richly decorated with Hungarian wire enamel, the "Corvinus cup" - according to legend a gift from the Hungarian king to the people of Wiener Neustadt - is still a reminder of this time. The Corvinus cup is in the Museum St. Peter an der Sperr. Only in the summer of 1490, i.e. after three years of Hungarian occupation, did the young King Maximilian I succeed in recapturing his native city. In the 16th century, the city of Wiener Neustadt, which was no longer a residence, lost much of its importance. However, even in modern times the city fulfilled its original function of serving as a bulwark against the east and held up bravely against the Turks and kurucs.

Maria Theresa founds a military academy

Of greatest importance for the city was the decision taken by Maria Theresa in 1751 to set up a noble cadet house in the imperial castle in Wiener Neustadt: this famous "Theresian Military Academy", in which classes began in 1752, existed (apart from short-term interruptions) until today. This makes it the oldest military academy in the world. The Military Academy is the only training center for officers of the Austrian Armed Forces. For several years, the military academy has also been recognized as a technical college course for "military leadership", which has further upgraded the training.

The Wiener Neustadt airfield

In 1909, the municipality had an airfield built in the north of the city to promote mechanical aviation, on which the 1st Austrian Flight Week was held in 1911. The Wiener Neustädter airfield, where aviation pioneers such as Igo Etrich, Karl Illner and Adolf Warchalowski attempted to fly, was the first official Austrian airfield and is today the oldest natural airfield in Europe.

Destruction in World War II and reconstruction

After Austria's "annexation" to the German Reich in March 1938, industries essential to the war effort were concentrated in Wiener Neustadt. In 1940 the "Wiener Neustädter Flugzeugwerke" already supplied a quarter of the total production of the Me(Messerschmitt)-109 fighter planes. In the facilities of the established former Wiener Neustadt locomotive factory "Rax-Werken" not only locomotive tenders were built, but also here in 1943 the assembly of A-4 rockets started. All of this meant that Wiener Neustadt was almost completely destroyed by bombs during the Second World War: around 50,000 bombs reduced the old Babenberg town to rubble and ash.

n the last days of the Second World War, the "Burg zu Wiener Neustadt" burned down completely. On December 14, 1958, the foundation day of the military academy, the reconstructed building was handed over to the army in a state act as an officer training facility.

Before reconstruction could begin, thousands of tons of rubble had to be removed from the city: in 1946, the city administration called on the population to do voluntary work. This call to clear debris was followed without exception. When Austria regained its freedom through the State Treaty in 1955 and the occupying troops left the country, the reconstruction of the most heavily damaged city in Austria was largely completed. Now nothing stood in the way of a prosperous development of Wiener Neustadt into the undisputed center of south-eastern Lower Austria.

Wiener Neustadt today

With around 45,000 inhabitants, Wiener Neustadt is now the center of south-eastern Lower Austria and a city with important functions for industry, trade and research. The attractiveness of the city is shown not least by the fact that the population increases almost annually by around 7%. A high quality of life, the quick accessibility of the capital Vienna and jobs on the doorstep are just a few arguments for the rapid growth of the metropolitan area. With RIZ (Regional Innovation Center), TFZ (Technology and Research Center), "MedAustron", Austria's first and largest technical college, with Lower Austria's largest event hall "ARENA NOVA" and with the CIVITAS NOVA business park project, Wiener Neustadt is also a city with large future prospects. Wiener Neustadt is an administrative city, administrative center, transport hub for railways, motorways and expressways as well as the second largest shopping city in the federal state, also the largest school city in Lower Austria and a garrison city. Through targeted investments in a wide range of areas, the "always faithful" has developed from a gray industrial city into a modern center for southern Lower Austria - and also northern Burgenland - over the past few decades. The city cherishes and cares for its history, but does not rest on its laurels, but always looks to the future, because it is precisely here that the following applies: "Standing still means going backwards". Today, Wiener Neustadt is a lovable and livable city, which both the guests and the residents of the city repeatedly mention in praise.

European city and sister city of Monheim am Rhein, Desenzano del Garda and Harbin

Wiener Neustadt has also been a “European city” since 1975, because the efforts to make a contribution to a new Europe were already recognized back then: this year, the city of Wiener Neustadt was awarded the European flag as the tenth city in Austria by unanimous decision of the Council of Europe. A special honor was bestowed on the city of Wiener Neustadt at a ceremony on the occasion of the national holiday in 1989: Wiener Neustadt was the first city in Austria to receive the plaque of honor from the Council of Europe. Wiener Neustadt has been a twin town of Monheim am Rhein (Germany) since 1971. In addition, the city has friendly ties with the Burgenland state capital Eisenstadt and the Hungarian city of Sopron (Hungary) in a “3-city friendship”. Wiener Neustadt is also a member of the “Neustadt in Europa” working group, which currently includes 34 “Neustädte” in Austria, Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In 2002, Wiener Neustadt entered into another town twinning. In a ceremony in the Neustadt town hall, Desenzano del Garda (Italy) became the second partner city of the "always loyal ones", whereby a north-south axis was established through the partner cities of Monheim and Desenzano. In 2006 a partnership was concluded with the city of Harbin (China), which opened the doors to the Far East.

Lower Austria State Exhibition 2019

In 2019, Wiener Neustadt was the cultural and tourist center of Lower Austria when the Lower Austria State Exhibition took place from March 30th to November 10th. The motto of the event was "World in Motion". This was deliberately and appropriately chosen for Wiener Neustadt and its history, since the city can be described as the cradle of aviation, aircraft, locomotive and automobile factories. The Wiener Neustädter Canal used to be an important transport route and the entire city was therefore “on the move” from its foundation. The regions around Wiener Neustadt were also included in the state exhibition, true to the motto "City and country together". The Viennese Alps are an integral part of every visit to southern Lower Austria.