Set in Mitteleuropa, the geographic (and from a Germanic perspective, the cultural) heart of Europe, Austria conjures images of gilded cafés, velvet-draped opera halls and postcard-perfect Alpine vistas. Rising to the 12,461-foot summit of Grossglockner, the Alps cover two-thirds of the country, making skiing the national sport and the mountain village of Tyrol justly renowned. Austrian wines, both whites and reds, earn critical acclaim. Music lovers flock to the birthplaces of Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Bruckner, Strauss, Schoenberg, Webern and Berg and especially to the Salzburg Festival, a five-week celebration of music and drama beginning in late July. At the end of the 19th century — when it was home to Sigmund Freud as well as to artists such as Klimt, Schiele and Kokoschka — Vienna was widely regarded as the cultural capital of the world. It remains an alluring city, not yet ruined by mass tourism.