Page 46 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Austria

44  INTRODUCING A USTRIA

The First Habsburg Monarchy

The Habsburgs rose to the ranks of the most influential
German feudal families during the first half of the 1300s,
and in the following centuries they became the rulers of
one of Europe’s most powerful countries. This advance ment
was due mainly to their far-sighted dynastic policy and
expedient marriages. Strategic matches brought under
their control territories far beyond the seat of their power Austria of Rudolf I
in Austria and Styria, to include Tyrol, Flanders, the Austria in 1278
Netherlands, Bohemia, Hungary and the possessions of the
Spanish crown in both Europe and South America. The
Habsburgs’ marriage policy was later summed up in the
motto “Let others fight wars, you, lucky
Austria, get married”.

Sauce Boat of Rudolf II
This sauce boat from the
famous collection of objets
d’art from the Mannerist
period, collected by Rudolf II,
can be seen in Vienna’s
Kunsthistorisches Museum
(see pp88–91).

Regalia of
Rudolf II
The intricate sceptre,
orb and crown
became the insignia
of the Austrian Empire.

Maximilian I

Ferdinand I, grandson of
Maximilian I, ruled Bohemia,
Austria and Hungary.

Relief of the Siege of Vienna in 1683
The 70,000-strong Christian army, led
by the Polish King Jan III Sobieski,
broke through the ring around Vienna
and forced the 110–115,000 Turkish
troops of the Grand Vizier Kara
Mustapha to flee.

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