Shortly after the outbreak of the Spring of Nations in 1848, when citizens took to the streets of Vienna demanding the introduction of reforms in the country, Franz Joseph I took power, leading to the creation of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1867.

In addition to the dismantling of the city walls and the construction of the Ringstrase, along which representative public buildings were built, including the city hall, the Burgtheater, the university, the parliament, the Museum of Art History, and the opera house, Vienna gained a shipping connection to Budapest, operated by the Danube Steam Navigation  Society.