ABSTRACT
The reorganization of the monarchy was an enormous and difficult task and the restoration of traditional religion in all its splendour seemed a wild dream. The event from Ferdinand's reign that is best remembered by the Viennese is the first Turkish siege; a brief drama - it lasted only a month from mid-September to mid-October 1529 — but significant. The town discovered that it was no longer safe, that in the heart of Europe it was no longer protected by Belgrade and the Hungarian bulwark but had become the foremost fortress of Christendom. For the Turks, Vienna was the focus of their mythology of conquest. They did not cease to dream of the city, 'the golden apple', its treasures and the symbol which it represented. 1
