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Vienna is nice, but also a has-been much like Rome or Athens is. Not just in raw power, but in intellectual capacity - its best minds are gone, or possibly unde
by inglor_cz 2y ago
Vienna is nice, but also a has-been much like Rome or Athens is. Not just in raw power, but in intellectual capacity - its best minds are gone, or possibly underutilized and working some boring jobs. But given the Holocaust, I would bet on "mostly gone". (Same with Budapest, BTW. There won't be any new Jewish-Hungarian "Martians" like von Neumann or Teller.)
The only pre-WWI European capital that remained truly globally relevant is London.
Istanbul and St. Peterburg are also important megacities, though stripped of their capital status.
- archagon 2y agoHow do you define global relevance? Plenty of European capitals in this list: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization_and_World_Cities_Research_Network https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization_and_World_Citi...
- inglor_cz 2y agoLet us say "Top 10". In 1914, most of the Top 10 cities were in Europe. Today, London and Paris are.
- dlx 2y agoInteresting take. What in your mind are the top 10 intellectual cities of the current era?
- inglor_cz 2y agoThis is really an interesting question. Plenty of culture war topics that currently shape the Western civilization originate in Berkeley or Boston.