Once a mighty imperial capital and residence of the Habsburgs, Vienna is a city of enchantment, festive and lavish, with great powers of attraction. The Austrian capital's charm has beguiled many a musician. Beethoven, Mozart and Brahms, Haydn, Schubert and Strauss, were all Viennese by birth or adoption and music has become the spirit of this musical metropolis. Vienna the nostaalgic, cherishes a rich architectural heritage with the added diversity of Historicism and the Secession, two uniquely Viennese periods. The charming Viennese enjoy strolling along the banks of the Danube, lingering to read their newspapers in one of the elegant coffee-houses of the city center or singing while sipping local wines in a friendly open-air wine tavern on the outskirts of the capital.