A prolific artist, Austrian composer Wolfgang Mozart created a string of operas, concertos, symphonies and sonatas that profoundly shaped classical music.

Ludwig van Beethoven was a deaf German composer and the predominant musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras.

Nineteenth century Austrian painter Gustav Klimt is known for the highly decorative style of his works, his most famous being The Kiss and the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.

Erwin Schrödinger was a Nobel Prize-winning Austrian physicist whose groundbreaking wave equation changed the face of quantum theory.

Maria Theresa was an Austrian archduchess, and Holy Roman Empress of the Habsburg Dynasty from 1740 to 1780. She was also Marie Antoinette’s mother.

The son of Napoleon Bonaparte, who named him as his successor, Napoleon II never actually ruled France, but was considered the titular Emperor.

Simon Wiesenthal was a survivor of the Holocaust who worked as an author and Nazi hunter, wishing to ensure that what befell his community would be remembered.

Kurt Waldheim served two terms as the fourth secretary-general of the United Nations and was elected president of Austria 1986–1992.

Antonio Vivaldi was a 17th and 18th century composer who’s become one of the most renowned figures in European classical music.

Austrian composer Johann Strauss surpassed his father, Johann Strauss the Elder's popularity and productivity, becoming known as the "Waltz King."

Franz Schubert is considered the last of the classical composers and one of the first romantic ones. Schubert's music is notable for its melody and harmony.

Austrian Expressionist painter Egon Schiele (1890–1918) was part of the Viennese Sezession movement with works like "The Self Seer" (1911) and "Embrace" (1917).

Antonio Salieri was one of the great composers of 18th and 19th century Europe, known for operas like Armida and Tarare.

Austrian composer and conductor Gustav Mahler became popular in the late 19th century for his emotionally charged and subtly orchestrated symphonies.

Leopold II was Holy Roman emperor and one of the most capable of the 18th-century reformist rulers known as the “enlightened despots.”

Leopold I was Holy Roman emperor during whose lengthy reign Austria emerged from a series of struggles to become a great European power.

Thomas Klestil was an Austrian statesman and the 10th president of Austria.

Holy Roman emperor Joseph II tried to strengthen the Habsburg empire with his enlightened reforms, but the changes he made were met with fierce opposition.

Over the course of his 106 symphonies, Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn became the principal architect of the classical style of music.

Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist who wrote symphonies, concerti, chamber music, piano works, and choral compositions.

As Emperor of Rome from 161-180, Marcus Aurelius kept the empire safe from the Parthians and Germans, but is best known for his intellectual pursuits.

W.H. Auden was a British poet, author and playwright best known as a leading literary figure in the 20th century for his poetry.