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Vienna (; German: Wien [viːn]) is the national capital, largest city, and one of nine states of AustriaVienna is Austria's most populous city, with about 1.9 million inhabitants (2.6 million within the metropolitan area, nearly one third of the country's population), and its cultural, economic, and political centreIt is the 6th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Until the beginning of the 20th century, it was the largest German-speaking city in the world, and before the splitting of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I, the city had 2 million inhabitantsToday, it is the second-largest German-speaking city after BerlinVienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations, OPEC and the OSCE.

The city is located in the eastern part of Austria and is close to the borders of Czechia, Slovakia and HungaryThese regions work together in a European Centrope border regionAlong with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitantsIn 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage SiteIn July 2017 it was moved to the list of World Heritage in Danger.

Additionally to being known as the "City of Music" due to its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be the "City of Dreams", because of it being home to the world's first psychoanalyst Sigmund FreudVienna's ancestral roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque cityIt is well known for having played a pivotal role as a leading European music centre, from the age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th centuryThe historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque palaces and gardens, and the late-19th-century Ringstraße lined with grand buildings, monuments and parks.Vienna is known for its high quality of lifeIn a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first (in a tie with Vancouver and San Francisco) for the world's most liveable cities.

Between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind MelbourneIn 2018, it replaced Melbourne as the number one spot and continued as the first in 2019For ten consecutive years (2009–2019), the human-resource-consulting firm Mercer ranked Vienna first in its annual "Quality of Living" survey of hundreds of cities around the worldMonocle's 2015 "Quality of Life Survey" ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world "to make a base within." The UN-Habitat classified Vienna as the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013The city was ranked 1st globally for its culture of innovation in 2007 and 2008, and sixth globally (out of 256 cities) in the 2014 Innovation Cities Index, which analyzed 162 indicators in covering three areas: culture, infrastructure, and markets.

Cologne (English: kə-LOHN; German: Köln [kœln]; Kölsch: Kölle [ˈkœlə]) is the largest city of Germany's most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth-most populous city in Germany With slightly over a million inhabitants (1.08 million) within its city boundaries, Cologne is the largest city on the Rhine and also the most populous city both of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, which is Germany's largest and one of Europe's major metropolitan areas, and of the RhinelandCentered on the left bank of the Rhine, Cologne is about 45 kilometres (28 mi) southeast of North Rhine-Westphalia's capital of Düsseldorf and 25 kilometres (16 mi) northwest of BonnIt is the largest city in the Central Franconian and Ripuarian dialect areas. The city's Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) is the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of CologneThere are many institutions of higher education in the city, most notably the University of Cologne (Universität zu Köln), one of Europe's oldest and largest universities, the Technical University of Cologne (Technische Hochschule Köln), Germany's largest university of applied sciences, and the German Sport University Cologne (Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln), Germany's only sport university.

Cologne Bonn Airport (Flughafen Köln/Bonn) is Germany's seventh-largest airport and lies in the southeast of the cityThe main airport for the Rhine-Ruhr region is Düsseldorf Airport. Cologne was founded and established in Ubii territory in the 1st century AD as the Roman Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, the first word of which is the origin of its nameAn alternative Latin name of the settlement is Augusta Ubiorum, after the Ubii"Cologne", the French version of the city's name, has become standard in English as wellCologne functioned as the capital of the Roman province of Germania Inferior and as the headquarters of the Roman military in the region until occupied by the Franks in 462.

During the Middle Ages the city flourished as being located on one of the most important major trade routes between east and western EuropeCologne was one of the leading members of the Hanseatic League and one of the largest cities north of the Alps in medieval and Renaissance timesPrior to World War II, the city had undergone several occupations by the French and also by the British (1918–1926)Cologne was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Germany during World War II, with the Royal Air Force (RAF) dropping 34,711 long tons (35,268 tonnes) of bombs on the city. The bombing reduced the population by 95%, mainly due to evacuation, and destroyed almost the entire cityWith the intention of restoring as many historic buildings as possible, the successful postwar rebuilding has resulted in a very mixed and unique cityscape. Cologne is a major cultural centre for the Rhineland; it hosts more than 30 museums and hundreds of galleries.