Residenzstadt und Metropole

In response to the onset of 'modernism' around 1900 we find in Vienna the emergence of the image of that city as the epitome of Gemütlichkeit and coziness. With its programmatic reference to the past (Alt-Wien) this image was the ideal counterpoint to the alarming social and cultural upheavals ravaging the metropolis at that point in time. This image was primarily disseminated and differentiated by popular musical theatre, notably its most important genre, the operetta. The present essay on the topography of popular musical theatre in Vienna points up the connections between theatrical entertainment and the urban setting.