Vienna, the German capital?

Palace of Vienna

Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, Francfort, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Dresden, some of the most important cities in our days' Germany, besides Berlin, the capital. If we go back one century, we would have to add centers like Breslau, Posen or Königsberg, which today belong to Poland or Russia.

But there is another city which for a long time rivalled Berlin in importance, a city no one calls German today, as it is the capital of another state I'm speaking of Vienna. 

Before the creation of the German empire in 1871, Austria was considered a part of that vast territory comprising an impressive number of duchies, counties and margraviates, but lacking a central authority, which went under the name "Germany". 

Austria was indeed one of the two biggest states of that aggregate, besides Prussia. Other large German states were Bavaria, Saxony and Hannover.

But there was no place in a unified Germany for two leading stars. If Prussia would command it, Austria would have to stay outside. Besides, Austria never wanted a unified Germany, which would challenge its privileged position as a giant among a myriad of dwarfs. 

So, in 1871 Berlin, since centuries the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia - a state which started as a humble North german duchy and step by step became the largest one in the German sphere -  became the capital of the German empire and subsequently of the Weimar Republic. In fact, Berlin has been the German capital ever since, except for the period 1949-1990, when it was replaced by the Rhenish town of Bonn. Still, Berlin was not completely "decapitalized" during those years : its eastern part could still boast a "capital" title; that of the GDR, the East German communist state. 

See also: 

http://www.weimarberlin.com/2018/05/the-two-german-capitals.html