Linz is a town in the north of Austria of 191,767 inhabitants, the third largest Austrian town and the capital of the federal state of Upper Austria.

Linz lies in the north of central Austria, only 30 kilometers from the border with the Czech Republic, 160 km west of Vienna, along both banks of the Danube. Surrounded by the Linzer Becken valley surrounded by the mountains, today it is connected with the surrounding cities (Amstetten, Wels and Steyr) and formed a small metropolis.

Linz developed from the Roman military fortress - Lentia, which became an important shopping center in the Middle Ages. Linz is mentioned for the first time in 799 when Bavaria expanded to the south and occupied the area. By the 13th century, Linz had acquired all the external features of the city but had not yet had the status of the city. This status was acquired only in the 15th century when he was in the car of the Holy Roman Emperor - Fridrik III., Then became known for his fairs.

At the beginning of the 17th century, Linz had taught mathematics for the first time by the famous astronomer Johannes Kepler, today called the Johann Kepler's Local University, founded in 1966. [2] At the same time Protestantism expanded around the city and the surrounding area, which led the Jesuits to carry out the counter-Reformation. Numerous baroque buildings were built within the 17th century. Since 1785, Linz has become the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese. [2] During the War for the Austrian legacy, the city was occupied by the Bavarian and French troops in 1741, and in 1800 the city burned down the fire. In addition to Linz in 1809, the Battle of Ebelsberg between the Austrian and Napoleonic forces in the War of the Fifth Coalition.

The first European railroad (outside England) still hunted by horses was built between Linz and Budweis - 1832. During that period, the Danube was flourishing, so Linz became a major port for numerous industrial goods from the Czech Republic, which was transported by rail to Linz , and continued to drive ships along the Danube across the monarchy. A major leap in the development of the city was the construction of the 1861 railway to Vienna and Salzburg. Since 1880, Linz has a horse-drawn tram that was electrified in 1897. Since the middle of the 19th century, the industry has started to develop into metal processing and textile.

Adolf Hitler spent part of childhood and youth in Linz, where he attended high school with Ludwig Wittgenstein - jealousy for his humble life, allegedly had a decisive influence on his later attitudes about the Jews. In 1934, in Linz, the Schiff Nazi hotel tried to revolt against the Austrian authorities. After the Anschlus of Austria in the Third Reich in Linz, in 1938, construction of steelworks and other heavy industry plants began as a branch of the state-owned joint stock company "Hermann Göring" in Berlin. This large complex began with the production of war material in 1941 and was constantly being built with thousands of foreign workers, some of whom volunteered for themselves, but also with a large number of forcibly recruited workers and prisoners of concentration camps were used to construct manufacturing and armaments. By the end of the Second World War, these drives were the target of heavy allied bombings - so these post-war drives have been renewed for a long time.

Linz is one of the largest Austrian industrial centers, known for its large steel company Voestalpine, which was built at the time of the Third Reich. In addition to Voestalpine, Linz operates a number of other smaller plants that produce machines, electrical equipment, textiles, glass, furniture, beverages, footwear, rubber and tobacco products. With its numerous shopping malls and large wholesale stores, Linz is the trade center of that part of Austria.

Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic center. Skopje is located on the upper course of the Vardar River, and is located on a major north-south Balkan route between Belgrade and Athens. It was known in the Roman period under the name Scupi.

The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; remains of Neolithic settlements have been found within the old Kale Fortress that overlooks the modern city centre. On the eve of the 1st century AD, the settlement was seized by the Romans and became a military camp. When the Roman Empire was divided into eastern and western halves in 395 AD, Scupi came under Byzantine rule from Constantinople.

Being the capital of the Republic of Macedonia, Skopje is home to the largest cultural institutions of the country, such as the National and University Library "St. Kliment of Ohrid", the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the National Theatre, the National Philarmonic Orchestra and the Macedonian Opera and Ballet. Among the local institutions are the Brothers Miladinov Library which has more than a million documents, the Cultural Information Centre which manages festivals, exhibitions and concerts, and the House of Culture Kočo Racin which is dedicated to contemporary art and young talents.

The Skopje Jazz Festival has been held annually in October since 1981. It is part of the European Jazz Network and the European Forum of World Wide Festivals. The artists' profiles include fusion, acid jazz, Latin jazz, smooth jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Ray Charles, Tito Puente, Gotan Project, Al Di Meola, Youssou N'Dour, among others, have performed at the festival. Another music festival in Skopje is the Blues and Soul Festival. It is a relatively new event in the Macedonian cultural scene that occurs every summer in early July. Past guests include Larry Coryell, Mick Taylor & the All-Stars Blues Band, Candy Dulfer & Funky Stuff, João Bosco, The Temptations, Tolo Marton Trio, Blues Wire, and Phil Guy.